Kentucky · County property tax · ACS 2024
Knox County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Knox County pays $779 a year, an effective rate of 0.66%, far below the U.S. average.
- $779
- Median tax / yr · Low bill
- 0.66%
- Effective rate · Below-median rate
- -61%
- vs U.S. average
- #75 of 120
- rank in KY
The verdict
Homeowners in Knox County pay a median $779 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.66%, more affordable than 64% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $779
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.66%
- Effective rate on median home
- #1116 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -61%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($118,700). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Kentucky. Population: 29,865. Owner-occupied homes: 7,650.
The median annual property tax in Knox County is $779, which is 50% lower than the Kentucky state average and 61% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.66% on a median home value of $118,700. Property taxes represent 2.4% of the median household income in this county.
Knox County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Knox County's 0.66% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 64%).
Decision signal 2
The bill sits well below the national median
Homeowners in Knox County pay a median annual property tax of $779, far below the national median and far below the Kentucky state median. On a $118,700 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.66% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 3
Near the middle of Kentucky counties by effective rate
Knox County ranks #75 of 120 counties in Kentucky by effective rate (38% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 4
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Knox County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 2.4% of the $32,527 median household income.
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Knox 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
Knox County's effective rate fell 13.0% across the 4-year span while its median home value rose 36.4%, leaving the median bill 18.8% higher at $779. 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
Bills rose across 2020-2024, from $656 to $779, a gain of 19%. This is a comparison of published ACS medians, not an explanation of a particular property's assessment or tax bill.
The largest reported group here falls at the bottom of the national range: 3,319 of 7,650 owner-occupied homes (43.4%) report annual real-estate taxes under $800. This distribution describes reported owner-occupied homes, not an affordability judgment for any property.
Incomes here are in the lowest quarter nationally while the rate sits just below the middle, and the median bill lands at 2.4% of median household income. The rate reads as unremarkable in a national ranking; the earnings behind it are not, and the ratio above is where the two meet.
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.
Paying off the mortgage changes the picture here
21.8% of Knox County homes owned free and clear (1,090 of 4,997) report no property tax at all, against 2.9% of homes still carrying a mortgage. A reported zero is not proof of an exemption: it can equally mean a bill paid by another party, or a reporting artefact. But a gap this size is where age- and disability-based relief usually shows up, because those programmes reach owners who have finished paying.
What Knox County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Knox County homeowners, 3,319 of 7,650 owner-occupied homes (43.4%), pays less than $800 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 43.4% (3,319)
- $800 to $1,499 19.5% (1,490)
- $1,500 to $1,999 11.1% (852)
- $2,000 to $2,999 7.3% (558)
- $3,000 or more 3.5% (265)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
1,166 homes here (15.2%) report no real estate tax at all, a sizeable minority for a county this size. Exemptions are set by state: how Kentucky handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in Knox County pay more than double the bill of those without one (+102%), the widest kind of value gap this dataset tracks.
Knox County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Knox County's effective rate is higher than 38% of the 120 counties in Kentucky - ranking #75 of 120.
Where Knox County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
0.66% Among the most affordable more affordable than 64% 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
Knox County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Knox County | Kentucky Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Low bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Below-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Below-median income burden | 2.4% | - | - |
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.
Knox County is QUIET · LIGHT on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · Kentucky counties.
Knox County rate trail · QUIET
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $779 -3.0% | 0.66% |
| 2023 | $803 -2.8% | 0.74% |
| 2022 | $826 +10.9% | 0.76% |
| 2021 | $745 +13.6% | 0.78% |
| 2020 | $656 | 0.75% |
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.
Knox County: tax-to-income at 2.4%
Counties near Knox County's effective rate
On effective rate, Knox County sits nearest Shelby County (IN), Owen County (IN), Marshall County (IN).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Monongalia County (WV), Ralls County (MO), Eaton County (MI).
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
Knox County: only 2% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 210 of 11,200 returns from Knox County reported real estate taxes, averaging $2,376 - 38% 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 Kentucky
Knox County rate FAQs
- How does Knox County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Knox County run far below the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.66% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the average property tax in Knox County, Kentucky?
- The median annual property tax in Knox County is $779, an effective rate of 0.66% on a $118,700 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What is the tax affordability score for Knox County?
- Knox County, Kentucky scores C (56/100) 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 bill size at A ($779/yr). 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 Knox County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Knox County climbed 18.8% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $656 to $779, 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 Knox County?
- Property taxes in Knox County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 2.4% of the $32,527 median household income.
What to do with Knox County's QUIET rate
Knox County's $779 median bill sits well below the U.S. median - still size a parcel estimate; local millage and exemptions move the real bill. Estimate your bill →
Knox County ranks #75 of 120 Kentucky counties by effective rate - on the lower-burden half of the state ACS set. Kentucky overview →
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for Knox County's QUIET 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: 0.66%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $779/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Knox County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Knox County (QUIET · LIGHT), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
QUIET LIGHT
Hickman County, KY
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Knox County at $779/yr; rate 0.67% vs Knox County 0.66%.
Bertie County, NC
ABS(median_tax) peer · $778/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.79% vs Knox County 0.66%.
Conejos County, CO
ABS(median_tax) peer · $780/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.40% vs Knox County 0.66%.
Leake County, MS
ABS(median_tax) peer · $778/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.67% vs Knox County 0.66%.
Kentucky county set
State ACS overview for every published Kentucky county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Knox County stamps QUIET · LIGHT - 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 Knox County (QUIET · LIGHT) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.