Texas · County property tax · ACS 2024
Harris County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Harris County pays $4,489 a year, an effective rate of 1.62%, far above the U.S. average.
- $4,489
- Median tax / yr · Highest-decile bill
- 1.62%
- Effective rate · Highest-decile rate
- +125%
- vs U.S. average
- #24 of 250
- rank in TX
The verdict
Homeowners in Harris County pay a median $4,489 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 1.62%, more affordable than 8% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $4,489
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 1.62%
- Effective rate on median home
- #2893 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +125%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($276,600). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Texas. Population: 4,838,303. Owner-occupied homes: 961,437.
The median annual property tax in Harris County is $4,489, which is 6% higher than the Texas state average and 125% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 1.62% on a median home value of $276,600. Property taxes represent 6.0% of the median household income in this county.
Why Harris County's ACS bill runs high vs the U.S.
Primary signal
The bill sits well above the national median
Homeowners in Harris County pay a median annual property tax of $4,489, far above the national median and modestly above the Texas state median. On a $276,600 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 1.62% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
Income carries a heavy tax share
Property taxes in Harris County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 6.0% of the $74,983 median household income.
Decision signal 3
The effective rate is a national headwind
Harris County's 1.62% effective rate is among the highest of 3,135 tracked counties: only about 92% pay more.
Decision signal 4
Low among Texas counties by effective rate
Harris County ranks #24 of 250 counties in Texas by effective rate (90% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Harris County as reported to the Census Bureau; your parcel can differ. Not tax, legal, or financial advice: check the county assessor or a qualified professional before decisions that depend on these numbers.
A falling rate took the edge off
Harris County's effective rate fell 16.2% across the 4-year span while its median home value rose 46.0%, leaving the median bill 22.4% higher at $4,489. That rate move is larger than the one in 69% of counties, so a good deal of the market's rise never reached the bill.
Effective rate is the published median bill divided by the published median home value, so the two multiply back to the bill exactly; the rate's movement here is derived from those two figures rather than read from the rounded published rate. Both are ACS 5-year survey estimates for the median owner-occupied household, compared across non-overlapping releases. They describe what the Census published, not a local policy, assessment, or exemption change.
How to read this county's bill
Bills rose across 2020-2024, from $3,667 to $4,489, a gain of 22%. This is a comparison of published ACS medians, not an explanation of a particular property's assessment or tax bill.
The heaviest band is also the fullest one here: 593,162 of 961,437 owner-occupied homes (61.7%) report annual real-estate taxes above $3,000. That band has no upper edge in the source, so the county median understates the burden carried by the plurality rather than describing it.
The rate is in the national top quarter while earnings are only moderately above the midpoint, so the median bill claims 6.0% of median household income. A high rate is affordable only relative to something, and this is what it is relative to here.
The share above is the median annual bill divided by median household income, a ratio of two county-level medians rather than a household-by-household figure.
What Harris County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Harris County homeowners, 593,162 of 961,437 owner-occupied homes (61.7%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 7.7% (74,062)
- $800 to $1,499 7.5% (72,272)
- $1,500 to $1,999 5.4% (52,036)
- $2,000 to $2,999 9.9% (95,112)
- $3,000 or more 61.7% (593,162)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
74,793 homes here (7.8%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Texas handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in Harris County pay a substantially higher bill, 55% more, pointing to a wide home-value gap between the two groups.
Harris County's bill vs state & U.S. medians
Median annual bill bars around Harris County's HEAVY ACS 2024 figure.
Harris County's median bill is 6% above the Texas median and 125% above the U.S. median.
Among the highest-taxed counties in the country
At 1.62%, Harris County sits in the top 8% of all U.S. counties by effective property-tax rate. That is the rate, not the bill: a high rate on a modest home can still produce a smaller cheque than a low rate on an expensive one, which is why the $4,489 median bill is the number to compare against another county.
Harris County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Harris County | Texas Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Highest-decile bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Highest-decile rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Highest-decile income burden | 6.0% | - | - |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates. Tax-burden differences across rows reflect millage decisions, assessment-ratio practices, and the residential-vs-commercial mix of each tax base.
Is Harris County's $4,489 median bill appeal-worthy?
At Harris County's $4,489 ACS median (HEAVY), a 10% assessment cut is worth about $449/yr before exemptions. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for Texas.
Harris County bill trail · HEAVY
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $4,489 +2.4% | 1.62% |
| 2023 | $4,382 +5.1% | 1.72% |
| 2022 | $4,168 +8.6% | 1.77% |
| 2021 | $3,838 +4.7% | 1.91% |
| 2020 | $3,667 | 1.94% |
Each row is a separate ACS 5-year release, and consecutive releases share four of their five survey years. The percentage beside each bill is therefore movement in the published estimate against the previous release, not a single year's tax change. The two releases largely describe the same households. For change over time, compare releases that do not overlap.
Harris County: tax takes 6.0% of income
Counties near Harris County's median bill
On effective rate, Harris County sits nearest Lake County (OH), Lewis County (NY), Marion County (KS).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Bristol County (MA), Uintah County (UT), Keith County (NE).
How peers are chosen
These are the nearest cross-state matches in the published Census data, not neighboring counties or recommendations. Peers are rebuilt with each data release; see the calculation method.
Similar effective rates
Similar published median-tax changes, 2020–2024
Harris County: only 6% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 139,060 of 2,147,630 returns from Harris County reported real estate taxes, averaging $11,819 - 40% of those reporters sat in the $200k+ AGI band.
What this IRS county file does not say
Amounts are reported before the SALT cap, not deducted; the share is of filers, not homeowners. Source: IRS SOI county data, tax year 2022.
Other Counties in Texas
Harris County bill FAQs
- How does Harris County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Harris County run far above the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 1.62% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Harris County?
- Property taxes in Harris County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 6.0% of the $74,983 median household income.
- What is the average property tax in Harris County, Texas?
- The median annual property tax in Harris County is $4,489, an effective rate of 1.62% on a $276,600 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What is the tax affordability score for Harris County?
- Harris County, Texas scores F (5/100) on PlainPropertyTax's tax affordability composite across 5 Census ACS dimensions (effective rate, bill size, income share, mortgage gap, and home-value/income). Its strongest scored dimension here is housing pressure at F (3.69×). The score compares published county medians to U.S. percentiles, it is not a personal bill and not advice to buy, sell, appeal, or relocate.
- Are property taxes increasing in Harris County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Harris County jumped 22.4% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $3,667 to $4,489, a 4-year span. These are survey estimates covering five years each, so this compares the two releases furthest apart rather than consecutive ones, which overlap and would mostly measure the same households twice.
What to do with Harris County's HEAVY bill
Harris County's $4,489 median bill sits well above the U.S. median - size a personal estimate before treating the county headline as your budget. Estimate your bill →
Income burden is elevated here: about 6.0% of Harris County's $74,983 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by median bill (then rate)
Bill-first peers for Harris County's HEAVY median, then a disjoint out-of-state rate set, not the same-state geography lattice.
Similar effective rate
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS effective rate. This county: 1.62%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $4,489/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Harris County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Harris County (STEEP · HEAVY), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
STEEP HEAVY
Gillespie County, TX
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,496/yr (near-tied bill ABS $7); rate 0.98% vs Harris County 1.62%.
Hennepin County, MN
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,480/yr (near-tied bill ABS $9); rate 1.14% vs Harris County 1.62%.
Carver County, MN
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,501/yr (near-tied bill ABS $12); rate 0.99% vs Harris County 1.62%.
Douglas County, NE
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,507/yr (near-tied bill ABS $18); rate 1.69% vs Harris County 1.62%.
Texas county set
State ACS overview for every published Texas county rate and median bill.
Appeal filing windows
Harris County stamps STEEP · HEAVY - review notice deadlines before quoting the ACS median.
Data vintage and method
Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.
Property tax data reflects median amounts paid by homeowners. Effective rates are calculated as median tax divided by median home value.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, county median real-estate taxes · 2024 Harris County (STEEP · HEAVY) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.