Montana · County property tax · ACS 2024
Lewis and Clark County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Lewis and Clark County pays $3,113 a year, an effective rate of 0.79%, far above the U.S. average.
- $3,113
- Median tax / yr · High bill
- 0.79%
- Effective rate · Below-median rate
- +56%
- vs U.S. average
- #19 of 56
- rank in MT
The verdict
Homeowners in Lewis and Clark County pay a median $3,113 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.79%, more affordable than 51% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $3,113
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.79%
- Effective rate on median home
- #1538 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +56%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($393,500). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Montana. Population: 73,464. Owner-occupied homes: 21,877.
The median annual property tax in Lewis and Clark County is $3,113, which is 16% higher than the Montana state average and 56% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.79% on a median home value of $393,500. Property taxes represent 4.0% of the median household income in this county.
Why Lewis and Clark County's ACS bill runs high vs the U.S.
Primary signal
The bill sits well above the national median
Homeowners in Lewis and Clark County pay a median annual property tax of $3,113, far above the national median and notably higher than the Montana state median. On a $393,500 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.79% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Lewis and Clark County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 4.0% of the $78,237 median household income.
Decision signal 3
Near the middle of Montana counties by effective rate
Lewis and Clark County ranks #19 of 56 counties in Montana by effective rate (66% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 4
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Lewis and Clark County's 0.79% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 51%).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Lewis and Clark 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
Lewis and Clark County's effective rate fell 15.5% across the 4-year span while its median home value rose 49.1%, leaving the median bill 25.9% higher at $3,113. That rate move is larger than the one in 66% 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 26% from $2,472 to $3,113. 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: 11,027 of 21,877 owner-occupied homes (50.4%) 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.
Top-quartile earnings meet a below-median rate, putting the median bill at 4.0% of median household income. Counties in this position span a wide range on the ratio above, because the dollar bill tracks home values rather than the rate.
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 Lewis and Clark County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Lewis and Clark County homeowners, 11,027 of 21,877 owner-occupied homes (50.4%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 6.2% (1,364)
- $800 to $1,499 8.0% (1,748)
- $1,500 to $1,999 6.7% (1,465)
- $2,000 to $2,999 24.5% (5,370)
- $3,000 or more 50.4% (11,027)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
903 homes here (4.1%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Montana handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged and non-mortgaged homeowners in Lewis and Clark County pay about the same bill, a 8% gap.
Lewis and Clark County's bill vs state & U.S. medians
Median annual bill bars around Lewis and Clark County's HEAVY ACS 2024 figure.
Lewis and Clark County's median bill is 16% above the Montana median and 56% above the U.S. median.
What changed since 2020
The median bill in Lewis and Clark County moved from $2,472 in the 2020 release to $3,113 in 2024, a change of about 26%. 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.
Lewis and Clark County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Lewis and Clark County | Montana Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax High bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Below-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Heavy income burden | 4.0% | - | - |
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 Lewis and Clark County's $3,113 median bill appeal-worthy?
At Lewis and Clark County's $3,113 ACS median (HEAVY), a 10% assessment cut is worth about $311/yr before exemptions. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for Montana.
Lewis and Clark County bill trail · HEAVY
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $3,113 +7.9% | 0.79% |
| 2023 | $2,886 +2.8% | 0.81% |
| 2022 | $2,807 +9.7% | 0.85% |
| 2021 | $2,559 +3.5% | 0.91% |
| 2020 | $2,472 | 0.94% |
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.
Lewis and Clark County: tax-to-income at 4.0%
Counties near Lewis and Clark County's median bill
On effective rate, Lewis and Clark County sits nearest Scotland County (MO), Schuyler County (MO), Carroll County (MO).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Osage County (OK), McIntosh County (GA), Isle of Wight County (VA).
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
Lewis and Clark County: only 8% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 2,830 of 37,510 returns from Lewis and Clark County reported real estate taxes, averaging $4,366 - 33% 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 Montana
Lewis and Clark County bill FAQs
- How does Lewis and Clark County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Lewis and Clark County run far above the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.79% versus 0.92% nationally.
- Are property taxes increasing in Lewis and Clark County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Lewis and Clark County jumped 25.9% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $2,472 to $3,113, 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 is the tax affordability score for Lewis and Clark County?
- Lewis and Clark County, Montana scores F (32/100) 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 mortgage premium at C (+$235). 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.
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Lewis and Clark County?
- Property taxes in Lewis and Clark County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 4.0% of the $78,237 median household income.
- What is the average property tax in Lewis and Clark County, Montana?
- The median annual property tax in Lewis and Clark County is $3,113, an effective rate of 0.79% on a $393,500 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
What to do with Lewis and Clark County's HEAVY bill
Lewis and Clark County's $3,113 median bill sits well above the U.S. median - size a personal estimate before treating the county headline as your budget. Estimate your bill →
Lewis and Clark County ranks #19 of 56 Montana counties by effective rate - on the higher-burden half of the state ACS set. Montana overview →
Nationwide peers by median bill (then rate)
Bill-first peers for Lewis and Clark 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: 0.79%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $3,113/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Lewis and Clark County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Lewis and Clark County (UNDER · HEAVY), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
UNDER HEAVY
Rice County, MN
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,115/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 0.97% vs Lewis and Clark County 0.79%.
Chesapeake city, VA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,108/yr (near-tied bill ABS $5); rate 0.82% vs Lewis and Clark County 0.79%.
Leelanau County, MI
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,118/yr (near-tied bill ABS $5); rate 0.68% vs Lewis and Clark County 0.79%.
Essex County, NY
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,119/yr (near-tied bill ABS $6); rate 1.47% vs Lewis and Clark County 0.79%.
Montana county set
State ACS overview for every published Montana county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Lewis and Clark County stamps UNDER · HEAVY - 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 Lewis and Clark County (UNDER · HEAVY) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.