Georgia · County property tax · ACS 2024
Oconee County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Oconee County pays $3,222 a year, an effective rate of 0.70%, far above the U.S. average.
- $3,222
- Median tax / yr · High bill
- 0.70%
- Effective rate · Below-median rate
- +62%
- vs U.S. average
- #131 of 158
- rank in GA
The verdict
Homeowners in Oconee County pay a median $3,222 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.70%, more affordable than 60% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $3,222
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.70%
- Effective rate on median home
- #1260 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +62%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($461,600). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Georgia. Population: 43,551. Owner-occupied homes: 12,186.
The median annual property tax in Oconee County is $3,222, which is 38% higher than the Georgia state average and 62% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.70% on a median home value of $461,600. Property taxes represent 2.7% of the median household income in this county.
Why Oconee County's ACS bill runs high vs the U.S.
Primary signal
The bill sits well above the national median
Homeowners in Oconee County pay a median annual property tax of $3,222, far above the national median and well above the Georgia state median. On a $461,600 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.70% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
High among Georgia counties by effective rate
Oconee County ranks #131 of 158 counties in Georgia by effective rate (17% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 3
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Oconee County's 0.70% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 60%).
Decision signal 4
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Oconee County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 2.7% of the $121,217 median household income.
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Oconee 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
Oconee County's effective rate fell 12.8% across the 4-year span while its median home value rose 51.6%, leaving the median bill 32.2% higher at $3,222. That rate move is larger than the one in 53% 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
The bill here climbed steeply over 2020-2024, up 32% from $2,438 to $3,222. 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: 6,475 of 12,186 owner-occupied homes (53.1%) 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.
Top-quartile earnings meet a below-median rate, putting the median bill at 2.7% of median household income. Counties in this position span a wide range on the ratio above, because the dollar bill tracks home values rather than the rate.
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 Oconee County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Oconee County homeowners, 6,475 of 12,186 owner-occupied homes (53.1%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 5.1% (619)
- $800 to $1,499 5.2% (630)
- $1,500 to $1,999 10.8% (1,322)
- $2,000 to $2,999 23.8% (2,906)
- $3,000 or more 53.1% (6,475)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
234 homes here (1.9%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Georgia handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
In Oconee County, mortgaged homeowners pay 17% more than those without a mortgage, a gap that typically tracks higher home values rather than a different tax rate.
Oconee County's bill vs state & U.S. medians
Median annual bill bars around Oconee County's HEAVY ACS 2024 figure.
Oconee County's median bill is 38% above the Georgia median and 62% above the U.S. median.
What changed since 2020
The median bill in Oconee County moved from $2,438 in the 2020 release to $3,222 in 2024, a change of about 32%. 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.
Oconee County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Oconee County | Georgia Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax High bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Below-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Above-median income burden | 2.7% | - | - |
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 Oconee County's $3,222 median bill appeal-worthy?
At Oconee County's $3,222 ACS median (HEAVY), a 10% assessment cut is worth about $322/yr before exemptions. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for Georgia.
Oconee County bill trail · HEAVY
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $3,222 +5.4% | 0.70% |
| 2023 | $3,056 +6.4% | 0.72% |
| 2022 | $2,872 +10.2% | 0.74% |
| 2021 | $2,607 +6.9% | 0.79% |
| 2020 | $2,438 | 0.80% |
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.
Oconee County: tax-to-income at 2.7%
Counties near Oconee County's median bill
On effective rate, Oconee County sits nearest Pinellas County (FL), Tulare County (CA), Sonoma County (CA).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Harrison County (IN), Lake County (CA), Phelps County (MO).
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
Oconee County: only 16% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 3,040 of 19,500 returns from Oconee County reported real estate taxes, averaging $5,530 - 47% 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 Georgia
Oconee County bill FAQs
- How does Oconee County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Oconee County run far above the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.70% versus 0.92% nationally.
- Are property taxes increasing in Oconee County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Oconee County jumped 32.2% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $2,438 to $3,222, 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 is the tax affordability score for Oconee County?
- Oconee County, Georgia scores F (39/100) 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 rate relief at C+ (0.70%). 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 Oconee County, Georgia?
- The median annual property tax in Oconee County is $3,222, an effective rate of 0.70% on a $461,600 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Oconee County?
- Property taxes in Oconee County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 2.7% of the $121,217 median household income.
What to do with Oconee County's HEAVY bill
Oconee County's $3,222 median bill sits well above the U.S. median - size a personal estimate before treating the county headline as your budget. Estimate your bill →
Oconee County ranks #131 of 158 Georgia counties by effective rate - on the lower-burden half of the state ACS set. Georgia overview →
Nationwide peers by median bill (then rate)
Bill-first peers for Oconee 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: 0.70%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $3,222/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Oconee County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Oconee County (UNDER · HEAVY), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
UNDER HEAVY
Marathon County, WI
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,218/yr (near-tied bill ABS $4); rate 1.47% vs Oconee County 0.70%.
Hood County, TX
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,217/yr (near-tied bill ABS $5); rate 1.05% vs Oconee County 0.70%.
Kent County, MI
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,217/yr (near-tied bill ABS $5); rate 1.11% vs Oconee County 0.70%.
Stanislaus County, CA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,216/yr (near-tied bill ABS $6); rate 0.71% vs Oconee County 0.70%.
Georgia county set
State ACS overview for every published Georgia county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Oconee County stamps UNDER · 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 Oconee County (UNDER · HEAVY) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.