North Dakota · County property tax · ACS 2024
Nelson County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Nelson County pays $1,044 a year, an effective rate of 0.75%, well below the U.S. average.
- $1,044
- Median tax / yr · Low bill
- 0.75%
- Effective rate · Below-median rate
- -48%
- vs U.S. average
- #37 of 53
- rank in ND
The verdict
Homeowners in Nelson County pay a median $1,044 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.75%, more affordable than 55% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $1,044
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.75%
- Effective rate on median home
- #1425 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -48%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($139,700). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for North Dakota. Population: 3,016. Owner-occupied homes: 1,005.
The median annual property tax in Nelson County is $1,044, which is 58% lower than the North Dakota state average and 48% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.75% on a median home value of $139,700. Property taxes represent 1.6% of the median household income in this county.
Nelson County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Nelson County's 0.75% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 55%).
Decision signal 2
The bill sits well below the national median
Homeowners in Nelson County pay a median annual property tax of $1,044, well below the national median and far below the North Dakota state median. On a $139,700 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.75% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 3
Income carries a light tax share
Property taxes in Nelson County run a bit below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.6% of the $67,193 median household income.
Decision signal 4
Near the middle of North Dakota counties by effective rate
Nelson County ranks #37 of 53 counties in North Dakota by effective rate (30% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 5
The latest release moved the bill up
Since 2023, the published ACS median estimate has climbed 13.6%, from $919 to $1,044. This compares two release estimates; it does not identify a local policy, assessment, exemption, or household-bill cause.
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Nelson 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 57% from $663 to $1,044. 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 fullest band here is the $800 to $1,499 range, holding 359 of 1,005 owner-occupied homes (35.7%). The band shows where the largest share of reported owner-occupied households falls; it is not an individual-bill estimate.
Above-median earnings meet a slightly-below-median rate, and the median bill amounts to 1.6% of median household income. That is the comfortable middle of this dataset, and comfortable middles are easy to overlook when only rankings get published.
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 Nelson County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Nelson County homeowners, 359 of 1,005 owner-occupied homes (35.7%), pays $800 to $1,499 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 28.6% (287)
- $800 to $1,499 35.7% (359)
- $1,500 to $1,999 9.6% (96)
- $2,000 to $2,999 7.7% (77)
- $3,000 or more 4.6% (46)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
140 homes here (13.9%) report no real estate tax at all, a sizeable minority for a county this size. Exemptions are set by state: how North Dakota handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
In Nelson County, mortgaged homeowners pay 27% more than those without a mortgage, a gap that typically tracks higher home values rather than a different tax rate.
Nelson County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Nelson County's effective rate is higher than 30% of the 53 counties in North Dakota - ranking #37 of 53.
Where Nelson County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
0.75% more affordable than 55% 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 Nelson County moved from $663 in the 2020 release to $1,044 in 2024, a change of about 57%. 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.
Nelson County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Nelson County | North Dakota Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax 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.
Nelson County is UNDER · LIGHT on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · North Dakota counties.
Nelson County rate trail · UNDER
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $1,044 +13.6% | 0.75% |
| 2023 | $919 +7.4% | 0.80% |
| 2022 | $856 +16.6% | 0.80% |
| 2021 | $734 +10.7% | 0.74% |
| 2020 | $663 | 0.69% |
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.
Nelson County: tax takes only 1.6% of income
Counties near Nelson County's effective rate
On effective rate, Nelson County sits nearest Sampson County (NC), Rockingham County (NC), Gaston County (NC).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Madison Parish (LA), Mono County (CA), Prairie County (AR).
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
IRS county file: no disclosed Nelson County Schedule A rows
The IRS county file records no returns reporting real estate taxes on Schedule A for Nelson County. That is a limit of the published data rather than a finding about the county: county-level figures are withheld where the counts are too small to disclose safely, which is common in places with few filers. Roughly one county in sixteen is in this position, so the filer view available elsewhere on this site is simply not available here. Source: IRS Statistics of Income county data.
Other Counties in North Dakota
Nelson County rate FAQs
- How does Nelson County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Nelson County run well below the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.75% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the average property tax in Nelson County, North Dakota?
- The median annual property tax in Nelson County is $1,044, an effective rate of 0.75% on a $139,700 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- Are property taxes increasing in Nelson County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Nelson County is recorded at $1,044 in the 2024 5-year release against $663 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 1,005 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 is the tax affordability score for Nelson County?
- Nelson County, North Dakota scores B- (69/100) 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 A (2.08×). 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 Nelson County?
- Property taxes in Nelson County run a bit below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.6% of the $67,193 median household income.
What to do with Nelson County's UNDER rate
Nelson County's $1,044 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 Nelson County's $67,193 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for Nelson County's UNDER 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: 0.75%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $1,044/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Nelson County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Nelson County (UNDER · LIGHT), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
UNDER LIGHT
Cedar County, MO
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Nelson County at $1,044/yr; rate 0.62% vs Nelson County 0.75%.
George County, MS
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Nelson County at $1,044/yr; rate 0.63% vs Nelson County 0.75%.
Anderson County, SC
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,043/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.45% vs Nelson County 0.75%.
Allen County, KY
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,046/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 0.54% vs Nelson County 0.75%.
North Dakota county set
State ACS overview for every published North Dakota county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Nelson County stamps UNDER · 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 Nelson County (UNDER · LIGHT) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.