Illinois · County property tax · ACS 2024
McLean County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in McLean County pays $4,524 a year, an effective rate of 2.17%, far above the U.S. average.
- $4,524
- Median tax / yr · Highest-decile bill
- 2.17%
- Effective rate · Highest-decile rate
- +127%
- vs U.S. average
- #13 of 102
- rank in IL
The verdict
Homeowners in McLean County pay a median $4,524 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 2.17%, more affordable than 2% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $4,524
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 2.17%
- Effective rate on median home
- #3085 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +127%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($208,400). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Illinois. Population: 171,556. Owner-occupied homes: 45,704.
The median annual property tax in McLean County is $4,524, which is 15% lower than the Illinois state average and 127% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 2.17% on a median home value of $208,400. Property taxes represent 5.7% of the median household income in this county.
Why McLean County's ACS bill runs high vs the U.S.
Primary signal
The bill sits well above the national median
Homeowners in McLean County pay a median annual property tax of $4,524, far above the national median and notably lower than the Illinois state median. On a $208,400 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 2.17% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
The effective rate is a national headwind
McLean County's 2.17% effective rate is among the highest of 3,135 tracked counties: only about 98% pay more.
Decision signal 3
Income carries a heavy tax share
Property taxes in McLean County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 5.7% of the $79,905 median household income.
Decision signal 4
Low among Illinois counties by effective rate
McLean County ranks #13 of 102 counties in Illinois by effective rate (87% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in McLean 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.
Most of the market's rise reached the bill
The effective rate here moved 7.7% down between 2020 and 2024, a smaller shift than in 69% of U.S. counties. With the median home value rose 25.2%, the median bill rose 15.6% to $4,524: the rate did comparatively little to offset the market.
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 $3,915 to $4,524, a gain of 16%. This is a comparison of published ACS medians, not an explanation of a particular property's assessment or tax bill.
The heaviest band is also the fullest one here: 32,976 of 45,704 owner-occupied homes (72.2%) 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.
Both figures are in the national top quarter, and the median bill still equals only 5.7% of median household income. A high rate on high earnings produces a large dollar figure, and only the dollar figure tends to get quoted; the ratio above is the other half.
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 McLean County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of McLean County homeowners, 32,976 of 45,704 owner-occupied homes (72.2%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 6.2% (2,832)
- $800 to $1,499 4.1% (1,880)
- $1,500 to $1,999 3.6% (1,639)
- $2,000 to $2,999 11.9% (5,452)
- $3,000 or more 72.2% (32,976)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
925 homes here (2.0%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Illinois handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
In McLean County, mortgaged homeowners pay 13% more than those without a mortgage, a gap that typically tracks higher home values rather than a different tax rate.
McLean County's bill vs state & U.S. medians
Median annual bill bars around McLean County's HEAVY ACS 2024 figure.
McLean County's median bill is 15% below the Illinois median and 127% above the U.S. median.
Among the highest-taxed counties in the country
At 2.17%, McLean County sits in the top 2% of all U.S. counties by effective property-tax rate. That is the rate, not the bill: a high rate on a modest home can still produce a smaller cheque than a low rate on an expensive one, which is why the $4,524 median bill is the number to compare against another county.
McLean County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | McLean County | Illinois Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Highest-decile bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Highest-decile rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Highest-decile income burden | 5.7% | - | - |
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 McLean County's $4,524 median bill appeal-worthy?
At McLean County's $4,524 ACS median (HEAVY), a 10% assessment cut is worth about $452/yr before exemptions. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for Illinois.
McLean County bill trail · HEAVY
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $4,524 +0.5% | 2.17% |
| 2023 | $4,503 +2.1% | 2.27% |
| 2022 | $4,411 +8.3% | 2.31% |
| 2021 | $4,073 +4.0% | 2.39% |
| 2020 | $3,915 | 2.35% |
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.
McLean County: tax takes 5.7% of income
Counties near McLean County's median bill
On effective rate, McLean County sits nearest Cheshire County (NH), Comanche County (KS), Passaic County (NJ).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Lafayette County (MO), Iowa County (WI), Shelby County (TX).
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
McLean County: only 6% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 4,440 of 78,370 returns from McLean County reported real estate taxes, averaging $7,182 - 39% 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 Illinois
McLean County bill FAQs
- How does McLean County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in McLean County run far above the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 2.17% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in McLean County?
- Property taxes in McLean County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 5.7% of the $79,905 median household income.
- What is the average property tax in McLean County, Illinois?
- The median annual property tax in McLean County is $4,524, an effective rate of 2.17% on a $208,400 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What is the tax affordability score for McLean County?
- McLean County, Illinois scores F (11/100) 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 housing pressure at B- (2.61×). 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 McLean County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for McLean County climbed 15.6% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $3,915 to $4,524, 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 McLean County's HEAVY bill
McLean County's $4,524 median bill sits well above the U.S. median - size a personal estimate before treating the county headline as your budget. Estimate your bill →
Income burden is elevated here: about 5.7% of McLean County's $79,905 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by median bill (then rate)
Bill-first peers for McLean 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: 2.17%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $4,524/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with McLean County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for McLean County (PEAK · HEAVY), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
PEAK HEAVY
Alpine County, CA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,530/yr (near-tied bill ABS $6); rate 0.77% vs McLean County 2.17%.
Orange County, VT
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,516/yr (near-tied bill ABS $8); rate 1.66% vs McLean County 2.17%.
Bexar County, TX
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,535/yr (near-tied bill ABS $11); rate 1.73% vs McLean County 2.17%.
Blanco County, TX
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,510/yr (near-tied bill ABS $14); rate 0.93% vs McLean County 2.17%.
Illinois county set
State ACS overview for every published Illinois county rate and median bill.
Appeal filing windows
McLean County stamps PEAK · HEAVY - review notice deadlines before quoting the ACS median.
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 McLean County (PEAK · HEAVY) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.