California · County property tax · ACS 2024
Kern County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Kern County pays $2,984 a year, an effective rate of 0.88%, far above the U.S. average.
- $2,984
- Median tax / yr · High bill
- 0.88%
- Effective rate · Above-median rate
- +50%
- vs U.S. average
- #1 of 58
- rank in CA
The verdict
Homeowners in Kern County pay a median $2,984 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.88%, more affordable than 44% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $2,984
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.88%
- Effective rate on median home
- #1749 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +50%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($338,300). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for California. Population: 915,075. Owner-occupied homes: 171,133.
The median annual property tax in Kern County is $2,984, which is 42% lower than the California state average and 50% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.88% on a median home value of $338,300. Property taxes represent 4.3% of the median household income in this county.
Kern County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Kern County's 0.88% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 44%).
Decision signal 2
The bill sits well above the national median
Homeowners in Kern County pay a median annual property tax of $2,984, far above the national median and well below the California state median. On a $338,300 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.88% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 3
Low among California counties by effective rate
Kern County ranks #1 of 58 counties in California by effective rate (98% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 4
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Kern County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 4.3% of the $70,210 median household income.
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Kern 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
Kern County's effective rate fell 12.9% across the 4-year span while its median home value rose 49.3%, leaving the median bill 30.0% higher at $2,984. That rate move is larger than the one in 54% 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
The bill here climbed steeply over 2020-2024, up 30% from $2,295 to $2,984. 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: 81,140 of 171,133 owner-occupied homes (47.4%) 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 the income and the rate here sit in the third quarter nationally, and the median bill is 4.3% of median household income. Two above-average figures pulling in opposite directions is why the rate on its own is a poor guide.
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.
Kern County is an outlier inside California
Across the 58 California counties with a published rate, the average effective rate is 0.70%. Kern County is at 0.88%, which sits 2.9 standard deviations above that average. Fewer than one county in twenty nationally is this far from its own state's centre, so a state-level average is a poor guide to what is owed here.
Standard deviations are computed across every county in the state with a published effective rate for 2024; states with fewer than five such counties are not assessed.
What Kern County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Kern County homeowners, 81,140 of 171,133 owner-occupied homes (47.4%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 6.5% (11,090)
- $800 to $1,499 12.5% (21,308)
- $1,500 to $1,999 9.8% (16,725)
- $2,000 to $2,999 19.3% (33,080)
- $3,000 or more 47.4% (81,140)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
7,790 homes here (4.6%) 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 Kern County pay a substantially higher bill, 42% more, pointing to a wide home-value gap between the two groups.
Kern County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Kern County's effective rate is higher than 98% of the 58 counties in California - ranking #1 of 58.
Where Kern County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
0.88% more affordable than 44% 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
A high rate, a smaller bill
Kern County taxes property at 0.88%, about 26% above the California average, yet its median bill of $2,984 lands roughly 42% below it. The effective rate is the bill divided by the home's value, so a county can only sit on opposite sides of the state average this way when its homes are worth materially less than the state norm. The rate is the policy; the bill is what the housing market does with it.
Kern County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Kern County | California Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax High bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Above-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Heavy income burden | 4.3% | - | - |
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.
Kern County is UNDER · MID on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · California counties.
Kern County rate trail · UNDER
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $2,984 +5.3% | 0.88% |
| 2023 | $2,833 +4.5% | 0.91% |
| 2022 | $2,712 +10.1% | 0.96% |
| 2021 | $2,464 +7.4% | 1.02% |
| 2020 | $2,295 | 1.01% |
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.
Kern County: tax takes 4.3% of income
Counties near Kern County's effective rate
On effective rate, Kern County sits nearest Camden County (GA), Chattooga County (GA), Fulton County (GA).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Decatur County (IN), Pierce County (WA), Kootenai County (ID).
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
Kern County: only 7% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 27,750 of 375,620 returns from Kern County reported real estate taxes, averaging $5,285 - 39% 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
Kern County rate FAQs
- What is the tax affordability score for Kern County?
- Kern County, California scores F (22/100) 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 D (0.88%). 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 Kern County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Kern County run far above the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.88% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the average property tax in Kern County, California?
- The median annual property tax in Kern County is $2,984, an effective rate of 0.88% on a $338,300 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- Are property taxes increasing in Kern County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Kern County jumped 30.0% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $2,295 to $2,984, 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 Kern County?
- Property taxes in Kern County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 4.3% of the $70,210 median household income.
What to do with Kern County's UNDER rate
Kern County's $2,984 median bill sits well above the U.S. median - size a personal estimate before treating the county headline as your budget. Estimate your bill →
Kern County ranks #1 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 Kern 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: 0.88%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $2,984/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Kern County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Kern County (UNDER · MID), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
UNDER MID
Cherokee County, GA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $2,985/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.69% vs Kern County 0.88%.
Brookings County, SD
ABS(median_tax) peer · $2,981/yr (near-tied bill ABS $3); rate 1.13% vs Kern County 0.88%.
Vernon County, WI
ABS(median_tax) peer · $2,978/yr (near-tied bill ABS $6); rate 1.33% vs Kern County 0.88%.
Cattaraugus County, NY
ABS(median_tax) peer · $2,991/yr (near-tied bill ABS $7); rate 2.64% vs Kern County 0.88%.
California county set
State ACS overview for every published California county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Kern 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 Kern County (UNDER · MID) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.