Kentucky · County property tax · ACS 2024
McCreary County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in McCreary County pays $554 a year, an effective rate of 0.65%, far below the U.S. average.
- $554
- Median tax / yr · Very low bill
- 0.65%
- Effective rate · Below-median rate
- -72%
- vs U.S. average
- #82 of 120
- rank in KY
The verdict
Homeowners in McCreary County pay a median $554 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.65%, more affordable than 66% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $554
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.65%
- Effective rate on median home
- #1074 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -72%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($85,300). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Kentucky. Population: 16,867. Owner-occupied homes: 4,351.
The median annual property tax in McCreary County is $554, which is 64% lower than the Kentucky state average and 72% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.65% on a median home value of $85,300. Property taxes represent 1.6% of the median household income in this county.
Why McCreary County's ACS bill runs light vs the U.S.
Primary signal
The bill sits well below the national median
Homeowners in McCreary County pay a median annual property tax of $554, far below the national median and far below the Kentucky state median. On a $85,300 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.65% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
Income carries a light tax share
Property taxes in McCreary County run a bit below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.6% of the $33,750 median household income.
Decision signal 3
Near the middle of Kentucky counties by effective rate
McCreary County ranks #82 of 120 counties in Kentucky by effective rate (32% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 4
The effective rate sits near the national middle
McCreary County's 0.65% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 66%).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in McCreary 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 held while the market moved
McCreary County sits in the quarter of U.S. counties whose effective rate moved least over this span: 0.0% up, against a median home value that rose 11.2%.
A near-steady rate on a moving market passes that movement straight through: the median bill rose 11.2%, from $498 to $554.
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 $498 to $554, a gain of 11%. 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: 2,316 of 4,351 owner-occupied homes (53.2%) 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 1.6% 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
28.9% of McCreary County homes owned free and clear (705 of 2,441) report no property tax at all, against 9.3% 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 McCreary County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of McCreary County homeowners, 2,316 of 4,351 owner-occupied homes (53.2%), pays less than $800 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 53.2% (2,316)
- $800 to $1,499 15.3% (664)
- $1,500 to $1,999 7.4% (320)
- $2,000 to $2,999 2.9% (127)
- $3,000 or more 0.9% (41)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
883 homes here (20.3%) 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 McCreary County pay more than double the bill of those without one (+71%), the widest kind of value gap this dataset tracks.
McCreary County's bill vs state & U.S. medians
Median annual bill bars around McCreary County's LIGHT ACS 2024 figure.
McCreary County's median bill is 64% below the Kentucky median and 72% below the U.S. median.
McCreary County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | McCreary 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 Light income burden | 1.6% | - | - |
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.
McCreary County is QUIET · LIGHT on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · Kentucky counties.
McCreary County bill trail · LIGHT
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $554 -1.9% | 0.65% |
| 2023 | $565 -3.1% | 0.73% |
| 2022 | $583 +11.5% | 0.68% |
| 2021 | $523 +5.0% | 0.65% |
| 2020 | $498 | 0.65% |
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.
McCreary County: tax takes only 1.6% of income
Counties near McCreary County's median bill
On effective rate, McCreary County sits nearest Tipton County (IN), Scott County (IN), Rush County (IN).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Lincoln County (NM), Houston County (TN), Wood County (WV).
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
McCreary County: only 1% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 40 of 5,070 returns from McCreary County reported real estate taxes, averaging $1,575 - 100% 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
McCreary County bill FAQs
- How does McCreary County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in McCreary County run far below the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.65% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in McCreary County?
- Property taxes in McCreary County run a bit below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.6% of the $33,750 median household income.
- What is the tax affordability score for McCreary County?
- McCreary County, Kentucky scores B (74/100) 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+ ($554/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 McCreary County, Kentucky?
- The median annual property tax in McCreary County is $554, an effective rate of 0.65% on a $85,300 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- Are property taxes increasing in McCreary County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for McCreary County climbed 11.2% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $498 to $554, 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 McCreary County's LIGHT bill
McCreary County's $554 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 1.6% of McCreary County's $33,750 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by median bill (then rate)
Bill-first peers for McCreary 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: 0.65%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $554/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with McCreary County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for McCreary County (QUIET · LIGHT), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
QUIET LIGHT
Ashley County, AR
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with McCreary County at $554/yr; rate 0.60% vs McCreary County 0.65%.
Nicholas County, WV
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with McCreary County at $554/yr; rate 0.46% vs McCreary County 0.65%.
Wheeler County, GA
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with McCreary County at $554/yr; rate 0.63% vs McCreary County 0.65%.
Henry County, AL
ABS(median_tax) peer · $553/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.34% vs McCreary County 0.65%.
Kentucky county set
State ACS overview for every published Kentucky county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
McCreary 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 McCreary County (QUIET · LIGHT) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.