California · County property tax · ACS 2024
Imperial County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Imperial County pays $2,394 a year, an effective rate of 0.77%, notably higher than the U.S. average.
- $2,394
- Median tax / yr · Above-median bill
- 0.77%
- Effective rate · Below-median rate
- +20%
- vs U.S. average
- #9 of 58
- rank in CA
The verdict
Homeowners in Imperial County pay a median $2,394 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.77%, more affordable than 53% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $2,394
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.77%
- Effective rate on median home
- #1476 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +20%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($309,600). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for California. Population: 180,202. Owner-occupied homes: 28,210.
The median annual property tax in Imperial County is $2,394, which is 53% lower than the California state average and 20% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.77% on a median home value of $309,600. Property taxes represent 4.2% of the median household income in this county.
Imperial County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Imperial County's 0.77% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 53%).
Decision signal 2
The bill sits below the California median
Homeowners in Imperial County pay a median annual property tax of $2,394, notably higher than the national median and far below the California state median. On a $309,600 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.77% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 3
Low among California counties by effective rate
Imperial County ranks #9 of 58 counties in California by effective rate (84% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 4
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Imperial County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 4.2% of the $57,681 median household income.
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Imperial 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.
Most of the market's rise reached the bill
The effective rate here moved 12.2% down between 2020 and 2024, a smaller shift than in 50% of U.S. counties. With the median home value rose 49.8%, the median bill rose 31.5% to $2,394: the rate did comparatively little to offset the market.
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
The bill here climbed steeply over 2020-2024, up 32% from $1,820 to $2,394. These ACS medians describe the reported change; they do not identify whether a levy, assessment, home value, or change in the responding households caused it.
The heaviest band is also the fullest one here: 10,057 of 28,210 owner-occupied homes (35.7%) 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.
Both figures cluster near the middle of the national range, and the median bill comes to 4.2% of median household income. Counties like this are the reason a national average exists at all, and also the reason it explains so little.
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 Imperial County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Imperial County homeowners, 10,057 of 28,210 owner-occupied homes (35.7%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 13.0% (3,664)
- $800 to $1,499 13.6% (3,825)
- $1,500 to $1,999 13.0% (3,657)
- $2,000 to $2,999 18.2% (5,125)
- $3,000 or more 35.7% (10,057)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
1,882 homes here (6.7%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how California handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in Imperial County pay more than double the bill of those without one (+73%), the widest kind of value gap this dataset tracks.
Imperial County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Imperial County's effective rate is higher than 84% of the 58 counties in California - ranking #9 of 58.
Where Imperial County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
0.77% more affordable than 53% of 3,135 U.S. counties
Show national distribution
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more U.S. counties. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024
What changed since 2020
The median bill in Imperial County moved from $1,820 in the 2020 release to $2,394 in 2024, a change of about 32%. These are American Community Survey 5-year estimates compared across releases that share only one sample year, which is why this page never compares consecutive releases: those overlap in four years of the same households and move mostly on sampling.
Imperial County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Imperial County | California Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Above-median bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Below-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Heavy income burden | 4.2% | - | - |
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.
Imperial County is UNDER · MID on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · California counties.
Imperial County rate trail · UNDER
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $2,394 +2.0% | 0.77% |
| 2023 | $2,348 +5.9% | 0.84% |
| 2022 | $2,217 +14.8% | 0.87% |
| 2021 | $1,931 +6.1% | 0.88% |
| 2020 | $1,820 | 0.88% |
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.
Imperial County: tax takes 4.2% of income
Counties near Imperial County's effective rate
On effective rate, Imperial County sits nearest Martin County (FL), Volusia County (FL), Adams County (IN).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Turner County (GA), Clay County (KY), Grayson County (KY).
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
Imperial County: only 4% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 3,770 of 88,790 returns from Imperial County reported real estate taxes, averaging $4,268 - 44% of those reporters sat in the $100-200k 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 California
Imperial County rate FAQs
- What is the tax affordability score for Imperial County?
- Imperial County, California scores F (26/100) 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 rate relief at C- (0.77%). 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.
- How does Imperial County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Imperial County run notably higher than the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.77% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the average property tax in Imperial County, California?
- The median annual property tax in Imperial County is $2,394, an effective rate of 0.77% on a $309,600 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- Are property taxes increasing in Imperial County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Imperial County jumped 31.5% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $1,820 to $2,394, 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 percentage of income goes to property taxes in Imperial County?
- Property taxes in Imperial County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 4.2% of the $57,681 median household income.
What to do with Imperial County's UNDER rate
Inside California, Imperial County's $2,394 median bill runs low versus the state median - check peer counties before assuming the lowest bill is the best move. California overview →
Imperial County ranks #9 of 58 California counties by effective rate - on the higher-burden half of the state ACS set. California overview →
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for Imperial County's UNDER effective rate, then a disjoint out-of-state bill set so the two neighborhoods stay distinct.
Similar effective rate
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS effective rate. This county: 0.77%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $2,394/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Imperial County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Imperial County (UNDER · MID), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
UNDER MID
Canadian County, OK
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Imperial County at $2,394/yr; rate 0.97% vs Imperial County 0.77%.
Kenton County, KY
ABS(median_tax) peer · $2,395/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.98% vs Imperial County 0.77%.
Pacific County, WA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $2,395/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.72% vs Imperial County 0.77%.
Haskell County, KS
ABS(median_tax) peer · $2,396/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 1.45% vs Imperial County 0.77%.
California county set
State ACS overview for every published California county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Imperial County stamps UNDER · MID - how assessed value and millage become the ACS median bill.
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 Imperial County (UNDER · MID) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.