Michigan · County property tax · ACS 2024
Oakland County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Oakland County pays $4,371 a year, an effective rate of 1.27%, far above the U.S. average.
- $4,371
- Median tax / yr · Highest-decile bill
- 1.27%
- Effective rate · High rate
- +119%
- vs U.S. average
- #18 of 83
- rank in MI
The verdict
Homeowners in Oakland County pay a median $4,371 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 1.27%, more affordable than 20% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $4,371
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 1.27%
- Effective rate on median home
- #2505 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +119%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($343,600). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Michigan. Population: 1,279,825. Owner-occupied homes: 385,500.
The median annual property tax in Oakland County is $4,371, which is 51% higher than the Michigan state average and 119% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 1.27% on a median home value of $343,600. Property taxes represent 4.5% of the median household income in this county.
Why Oakland County's ACS bill runs high vs the U.S.
Primary signal
The bill sits well above the national median
Homeowners in Oakland County pay a median annual property tax of $4,371, far above the national median and far above the Michigan state median. On a $343,600 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 1.27% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Oakland County's 1.27% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 20%).
Decision signal 3
Low among Michigan counties by effective rate
Oakland County ranks #18 of 83 counties in Michigan by effective rate (78% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 4
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Oakland County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 4.5% of the $97,760 median household income.
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Oakland 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.
A falling rate took the edge off
Oakland County's effective rate fell 13.1% across the 4-year span while its median home value rose 35.9%, leaving the median bill 18.1% higher at $4,371. That rate move is larger than the one in 55% of counties, so a good deal of the market's rise never reached the bill.
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 $3,700 to $4,371, a gain of 18%. 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: 263,060 of 385,500 owner-occupied homes (68.2%) 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 4.5% 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 Oakland County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Oakland County homeowners, 263,060 of 385,500 owner-occupied homes (68.2%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 2.5% (9,591)
- $800 to $1,499 4.9% (19,062)
- $1,500 to $1,999 5.0% (19,194)
- $2,000 to $2,999 14.4% (55,701)
- $3,000 or more 68.2% (263,060)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
18,892 homes here (4.9%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Michigan handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
In Oakland County, mortgaged homeowners pay 16% more than those without a mortgage, a gap that typically tracks higher home values rather than a different tax rate.
Oakland County's bill vs state & U.S. medians
Median annual bill bars around Oakland County's HEAVY ACS 2024 figure.
Oakland County's median bill is 51% above the Michigan median and 119% above the U.S. median.
Same rate as Michigan, a larger bill
The effective rate here sits within 2% of the Michigan median, yet the median bill runs 51% above it. When the rate matches and the cheque does not, the difference is in what is being taxed, not how heavily: the same percentage applied to costlier housing produces $4,371 here. That is why comparing counties on rate alone can invert the answer a homeowner actually cares about.
Oakland County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Oakland County | Michigan Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Highest-decile bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate High rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Highest-decile income burden | 4.5% | - | - |
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 Oakland County's $4,371 median bill appeal-worthy?
At Oakland County's $4,371 ACS median (HEAVY), a 10% assessment cut is worth about $437/yr before exemptions. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for Michigan.
Oakland County bill trail · HEAVY
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $4,371 +3.1% | 1.27% |
| 2023 | $4,241 +2.8% | 1.32% |
| 2022 | $4,124 +7.2% | 1.36% |
| 2021 | $3,848 +4.0% | 1.43% |
| 2020 | $3,700 | 1.46% |
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.
Oakland County: tax takes 4.5% of income
Counties near Oakland County's median bill
On effective rate, Oakland County sits nearest Miami County (KS), Allamakee County (IA), Dooly County (GA).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Lorain County (OH), Miller County (MO), Mahoning County (OH).
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
Oakland County: only 9% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 59,790 of 646,390 returns from Oakland County reported real estate taxes, averaging $8,369 - 36% of those reporters sat in the $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 Michigan
Oakland County bill FAQs
- How does Oakland County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Oakland County run far above the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 1.27% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the average property tax in Oakland County, Michigan?
- The median annual property tax in Oakland County is $4,371, an effective rate of 1.27% on a $343,600 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Oakland County?
- Property taxes in Oakland County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 4.5% of the $97,760 median household income.
- What is the tax affordability score for Oakland County?
- Oakland County, Michigan scores F (15/100) 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 F (3.51×). 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 Oakland County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Oakland County climbed 18.1% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $3,700 to $4,371, 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 Oakland County's HEAVY bill
Oakland County's $4,371 median bill sits well above the U.S. median - size a personal estimate before treating the county headline as your budget. Estimate your bill →
Oakland County ranks #18 of 83 Michigan counties by effective rate - on the higher-burden half of the state ACS set. Michigan overview →
Nationwide peers by median bill (then rate)
Bill-first peers for Oakland 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: 1.27%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $4,371/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Oakland County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Oakland County (PAR · HEAVY), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
PAR HEAVY
Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region, CT
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,375/yr (near-tied bill ABS $4); rate 1.42% vs Oakland County 1.27%.
Champaign County, IL
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,353/yr (near-tied bill ABS $18); rate 2.06% vs Oakland County 1.27%.
Riverside County, CA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,348/yr (near-tied bill ABS $23); rate 0.78% vs Oakland County 1.27%.
Polk County, IA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,396/yr (near-tied bill ABS $25); rate 1.68% vs Oakland County 1.27%.
Michigan county set
State ACS overview for every published Michigan county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Oakland County stamps PAR · HEAVY - 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 Oakland County (PAR · HEAVY) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.