Nebraska · County property tax · ACS 2024
Merrick County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Merrick County pays $2,280 a year, an effective rate of 1.30%, notably higher than the U.S. average.
- $2,280
- Median tax / yr · Above-median bill
- 1.30%
- Effective rate · High rate
- +14%
- vs U.S. average
- #40 of 93
- rank in NE
The verdict
Homeowners in Merrick County pay a median $2,280 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 1.30%, more affordable than 19% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $2,280
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 1.30%
- Effective rate on median home
- #2543 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +14%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($175,900). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Nebraska. Population: 7,724. Owner-occupied homes: 2,634.
The median annual property tax in Merrick County is $2,280, which is 36% lower than the Nebraska state average and 14% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 1.30% on a median home value of $175,900. Property taxes represent 3.3% of the median household income in this county.
Merrick County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Merrick County's 1.30% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 19%).
Decision signal 2
The bill sits below the Nebraska median
Homeowners in Merrick County pay a median annual property tax of $2,280, notably higher than the national median and well below the Nebraska state median. On a $175,900 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 1.30% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 3
The latest release moved the bill up
Since 2023, the published ACS median estimate has climbed 15.8%, from $1,969 to $2,280. This compares two release estimates; it does not identify a local policy, assessment, exemption, or household-bill cause.
Decision signal 4
Near the middle of Nebraska counties by effective rate
Merrick County ranks #40 of 93 counties in Nebraska by effective rate (57% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 5
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Merrick County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 3.3% of the $68,354 median household income.
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Merrick 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.
How to read this county's bill
The bill here climbed steeply over 2020-2024, up 35% from $1,691 to $2,280. 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: 768 of 2,634 owner-occupied homes (29.2%) 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.
The rate is in the national top quarter while earnings are only moderately above the midpoint, so the median bill claims 3.3% of median household income. A high rate is affordable only relative to something, and this is what it is relative to here.
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 Merrick County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Merrick County homeowners, 768 of 2,634 owner-occupied homes (29.2%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 5.9% (155)
- $800 to $1,499 20.8% (548)
- $1,500 to $1,999 14.0% (369)
- $2,000 to $2,999 26.3% (692)
- $3,000 or more 29.2% (768)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
102 homes here (3.9%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Nebraska handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
In Merrick County, mortgaged homeowners pay 10% more than those without a mortgage, a gap that typically tracks higher home values rather than a different tax rate.
Merrick County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Merrick County's effective rate is higher than 57% of the 93 counties in Nebraska - ranking #40 of 93.
Where Merrick County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
1.30% more affordable than 19% 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
What changed since 2020
The median bill in Merrick County moved from $1,691 in the 2020 release to $2,280 in 2024, a change of about 35%. 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.
Merrick County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Merrick County | Nebraska Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Above-median bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate High rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Above-median income burden | 3.3% | - | - |
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.
Merrick County's STEEP · MID lane - is an appeal worth running?
On Merrick County's published figures (STEEP · MID), a $175,900 median home carries a $2,280 median bill, so every 10% off an assessed value is worth about $228 a year at the same rate. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for Nebraska.
Merrick County rate trail · STEEP
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $2,280 +15.8% | 1.30% |
| 2023 | $1,969 -2.9% | 1.17% |
| 2022 | $2,027 +15.7% | 1.27% |
| 2021 | $1,752 +3.6% | 1.27% |
| 2020 | $1,691 | 1.41% |
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.
Merrick County: tax-to-income at 3.3%
Counties near Merrick County's effective rate
On effective rate, Merrick County sits nearest Cheyenne County (KS), Fayette County (IA), Union County (IL).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Beaverhead County (MT), Kosciusko County (IN), St. Martin Parish (LA).
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
Merrick County: only 2% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 90 of 3,620 returns from Merrick County reported real estate taxes, averaging $4,300 - 44% 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 Nebraska
Merrick County rate FAQs
- What is the tax affordability score for Merrick County?
- Merrick County, Nebraska scores F (34/100) 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- (2.57×). 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 Merrick County, Nebraska?
- The median annual property tax in Merrick County is $2,280, an effective rate of 1.30% on a $175,900 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- How does Merrick County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Merrick County run notably higher than the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 1.30% versus 0.92% nationally.
- Are property taxes increasing in Merrick County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Merrick County is recorded at $2,280 in the 2024 5-year release against $1,691 in 2020. That is a large swing, and it should be read as movement in a survey estimate rather than as a tax change: the median here rests on about 2,634 owner-occupied homes, and swings above 50% are roughly twelve times more common in the smallest counties than in the largest. Treat the two figures as imprecise and check the county assessor for actual rate changes.
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Merrick County?
- Property taxes in Merrick County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 3.3% of the $68,354 median household income.
What to do with Merrick County's STEEP rate
Inside Nebraska, Merrick County's $2,280 median bill runs low versus the state median - check peer counties before assuming the lowest bill is the best move. Nebraska overview →
Merrick County ranks #40 of 93 Nebraska counties by effective rate - on the higher-burden half of the state ACS set. Nebraska overview →
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for Merrick County's STEEP 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: 1.30%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $2,280/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Merrick County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Merrick County (STEEP · MID), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
STEEP MID
Carbon County, MT
ABS(median_tax) peer · $2,281/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.54% vs Merrick County 1.30%.
Harrisonburg city, VA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $2,281/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.76% vs Merrick County 1.30%.
Hidalgo County, TX
ABS(median_tax) peer · $2,279/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 1.62% vs Merrick County 1.30%.
Okanogan County, WA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $2,281/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.76% vs Merrick County 1.30%.
Nebraska county set
State ACS overview for every published Nebraska county rate and median bill.
Appeal filing windows
Merrick County stamps STEEP · MID - 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 Merrick County (STEEP · MID) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.