Kentucky · County property tax · ACS 2024
Lewis County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Lewis County pays $617 a year, an effective rate of 0.64%, far below the U.S. average.
- $617
- Median tax / yr · Very low bill
- 0.64%
- Effective rate · Below-median rate
- -69%
- vs U.S. average
- #87 of 120
- rank in KY
The verdict
Homeowners in Lewis County pay a median $617 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.64%, more affordable than 67% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $617
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.64%
- Effective rate on median home
- #1040 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -69%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($96,000). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Kentucky. Population: 12,965. Owner-occupied homes: 3,974.
The median annual property tax in Lewis County is $617, which is 60% lower than the Kentucky state average and 69% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.64% on a median home value of $96,000. Property taxes represent 1.3% of the median household income in this county.
Why Lewis County's ACS bill runs light vs the U.S.
Primary signal
The bill sits well below the national median
Homeowners in Lewis County pay a median annual property tax of $617, far below the national median and far below the Kentucky state median. On a $96,000 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.64% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
Income carries a light tax share
Property taxes in Lewis County run well below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.3% of the $46,838 median household income.
Decision signal 3
Near the middle of Kentucky counties by effective rate
Lewis County ranks #87 of 120 counties in Kentucky by effective rate (28% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 4
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Lewis County's 0.64% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 67%).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Lewis 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.
The rate gave way faster than almost anywhere
Between the 2020 and 2024 releases the median home value in Lewis County rose 40.6%, from $68,300 to $96,000. The effective rate fell 22.6% over the same span, a steeper move than in 89% of U.S. counties.
The median bill still rose 8.8%, to $617. Where the rate drops this far and the bill rises anyway, what changed is the value the rate is applied to.
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
Very little moved here between 2020 and 2024: the typical bill went from $567 to $617, a change of 9%. The comparison describes county-level medians only; individual assessments and bills can differ.
The largest reported group here falls at the bottom of the national range: 2,187 of 3,974 owner-occupied homes (55.0%) 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 1.3% 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.
What Lewis County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Lewis County homeowners, 2,187 of 3,974 owner-occupied homes (55.0%), pays less than $800 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 55.0% (2,187)
- $800 to $1,499 20.0% (795)
- $1,500 to $1,999 7.1% (284)
- $2,000 to $2,999 4.9% (195)
- $3,000 or more 0.1% (5)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
508 homes here (12.8%) 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 Lewis County pay a substantially higher bill, 41% more, pointing to a wide home-value gap between the two groups.
Lewis County's bill vs state & U.S. medians
Median annual bill bars around Lewis County's LIGHT ACS 2024 figure.
Lewis County's median bill is 60% below the Kentucky median and 69% below the U.S. median.
Below Kentucky on both measures
Lewis County's effective rate runs 15% under the Kentucky median and its bill 60% under. Both sitting on the same side means the gap is not a valuation artefact: a county can post a low rate purely because its homes are expensive, but then the bill rises to meet the state. Here it does not, so the $617 median bill reflects a genuinely lighter charge than the Kentucky norm rather than a different denominator. Compare it against the state page before reading anything into the county rank.
Lewis County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Lewis County | Kentucky Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Very low bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Below-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Very light income burden | 1.3% | - | - |
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.
Lewis County is QUIET · LIGHT on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · Kentucky counties.
Lewis County bill trail · LIGHT
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $617 +10.6% | 0.64% |
| 2023 | $558 -0.4% | 0.65% |
| 2022 | $560 -0.9% | 0.67% |
| 2021 | $565 -0.4% | 0.73% |
| 2020 | $567 | 0.83% |
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 County: tax takes only 1.3% of income
Counties near Lewis County's median bill
On effective rate, Lewis County sits nearest Union County (IN), Jefferson County (IN), Latah County (ID).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Waushara County (WI), Susquehanna County (PA), Wilkinson County (GA).
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 County: only 1% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 40 of 4,940 returns from Lewis County reported real estate taxes, averaging $1,850 - 50% of those reporters sat in the $25-50k 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
Lewis County bill FAQs
- How does Lewis County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Lewis County run far below the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.64% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Lewis County?
- Property taxes in Lewis County run well below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.3% of the $46,838 median household income.
- What is the tax affordability score for Lewis County?
- Lewis County, Kentucky scores B+ (79/100) 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+ ($617/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.
- What is the average property tax in Lewis County, Kentucky?
- The median annual property tax in Lewis County is $617, an effective rate of 0.64% on a $96,000 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- Are property taxes increasing in Lewis County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Lewis County climbed 8.8% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $567 to $617, 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 Lewis County's LIGHT bill
Lewis County's $617 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 →
Income burden is light here: about 1.3% of Lewis County's $46,838 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by median bill (then rate)
Bill-first peers for Lewis County's LIGHT 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: 0.64%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $617/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Lewis County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Lewis County (QUIET · LIGHT), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
QUIET LIGHT
Roosevelt County, NM
ABS(median_tax) peer · $616/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.45% vs Lewis County 0.64%.
Covington County, MS
ABS(median_tax) peer · $619/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 0.59% vs Lewis County 0.64%.
Hughes County, OK
ABS(median_tax) peer · $615/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 0.60% vs Lewis County 0.64%.
McNairy County, TN
ABS(median_tax) peer · $619/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 0.38% vs Lewis County 0.64%.
Kentucky county set
State ACS overview for every published Kentucky county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Lewis 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 Lewis County (QUIET · LIGHT) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.