Mississippi · County property tax · ACS 2024
Lee County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Lee County pays $1,384 a year, an effective rate of 0.69%, well below the U.S. average.
- $1,384
- Median tax / yr · Below-median bill
- 0.69%
- Effective rate · Below-median rate
- -31%
- vs U.S. average
- #43 of 81
- rank in MS
The verdict
Homeowners in Lee County pay a median $1,384 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.69%, more affordable than 61% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $1,384
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.69%
- Effective rate on median home
- #1228 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -31%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($199,500). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Mississippi. Population: 83,034. Owner-occupied homes: 23,067.
The median annual property tax in Lee County is $1,384, which is 14% higher than the Mississippi state average and 31% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.69% on a median home value of $199,500. Property taxes represent 2.0% of the median household income in this county.
Lee County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Lee County's 0.69% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 61%).
Decision signal 2
The bill sits well below the national median
Homeowners in Lee County pay a median annual property tax of $1,384, well below the national median and notably higher than the Mississippi state median. On a $199,500 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.69% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 3
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Lee County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 2.0% of the $67,863 median household income.
Decision signal 4
Near the middle of Mississippi counties by effective rate
Lee County ranks #43 of 81 counties in Mississippi by effective rate (47% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Lee 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
Lee County's effective rate fell 15.0% across the 4-year span while its median home value rose 41.9%, leaving the median bill 20.6% higher at $1,384. That rate move is larger than the one in 64% 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 $1,148 to $1,384, a gain of 21%. This is a comparison of published ACS medians, not an explanation of a particular property's assessment or tax bill.
The fullest band here is the $800 to $1,499 range, holding 5,870 of 23,067 owner-occupied homes (25.4%). The band shows where the largest share of reported owner-occupied households falls; it is not an individual-bill estimate.
Above-median earnings meet a slightly-below-median rate, and the median bill amounts to 2.0% of median household income. That is the comfortable middle of this dataset, and comfortable middles are easy to overlook when only rankings get published.
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
23.1% of Lee County homes owned free and clear (2,127 of 9,211) report no property tax at all, against 9.1% 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 Lee County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Lee County homeowners, 5,870 of 23,067 owner-occupied homes (25.4%), pays $800 to $1,499 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 21.8% (5,033)
- $800 to $1,499 25.4% (5,870)
- $1,500 to $1,999 12.1% (2,801)
- $2,000 to $2,999 14.2% (3,283)
- $3,000 or more 11.7% (2,695)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
3,385 homes here (14.7%) report no real estate tax at all, a sizeable minority for a county this size. Exemptions are set by state: how Mississippi handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in Lee County pay a substantially higher bill, 38% more, pointing to a wide home-value gap between the two groups.
Lee County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Lee County's effective rate is higher than 47% of the 81 counties in Mississippi - ranking #43 of 81.
Where Lee County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
0.69% Among the most affordable more affordable than 61% 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
Lee County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Lee County | Mississippi Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Below-median bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Below-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Below-median income burden | 2.0% | - | - |
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.
Lee County is QUIET · LIGHT on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · Mississippi counties.
Lee County rate trail · QUIET
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $1,384 +2.1% | 0.69% |
| 2023 | $1,356 +2.3% | 0.72% |
| 2022 | $1,326 +10.0% | 0.77% |
| 2021 | $1,205 +5.0% | 0.80% |
| 2020 | $1,148 | 0.82% |
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.
Lee County: tax-to-income at 2.0%
Counties near Lee County's effective rate
On effective rate, Lee County sits nearest Cook County (MN), Becker County (MN), Taylor County (KY).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Pennington County (SD), Lake County (OH), Randolph County (AL).
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
Lee County: only 6% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 2,120 of 37,410 returns from Lee County reported real estate taxes, averaging $4,258 - 38% 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 Mississippi
Lee County rate FAQs
- What is the average property tax in Lee County, Mississippi?
- The median annual property tax in Lee County is $1,384, an effective rate of 0.69% on a $199,500 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What is the tax affordability score for Lee County?
- Lee County, Mississippi scores C (58/100) 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 income room at B- (2.0%). 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 Lee County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Lee County run well below the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.69% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Lee County?
- Property taxes in Lee County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 2.0% of the $67,863 median household income.
- Are property taxes increasing in Lee County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Lee County jumped 20.6% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $1,148 to $1,384, 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 Lee County's QUIET rate
Lee County's $1,384 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 →
Lee County ranks #43 of 81 Mississippi counties by effective rate - on the lower-burden half of the state ACS set. Mississippi overview →
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for Lee 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: 0.69%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $1,384/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Lee County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Lee County (QUIET · LIGHT), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
QUIET LIGHT
Posey County, IN
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Lee County at $1,384/yr; rate 0.62% vs Lee County 0.69%.
Montrose County, CO
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,385/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.36% vs Lee County 0.69%.
Stanly County, NC
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,385/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.57% vs Lee County 0.69%.
Gila County, AZ
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,386/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 0.51% vs Lee County 0.69%.
Grady County (rate-lane contrast)
Near Lee County on ACS median bill yet stamps a different effective-rate lane (0.91% vs 0.69%).
Mississippi county set
State ACS overview for every published Mississippi county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Lee 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 Lee County (QUIET · LIGHT) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.