Vermont · County property tax · ACS 2024
Orange County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Orange County pays $4,516 a year, an effective rate of 1.66%, far above the U.S. average.
- $4,516
- Median tax / yr · Highest-decile bill
- 1.66%
- Effective rate · Highest-decile rate
- +127%
- vs U.S. average
- #7 of 14
- rank in VT
The verdict
Homeowners in Orange County pay a median $4,516 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 1.66%, more affordable than 7% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $4,516
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 1.66%
- Effective rate on median home
- #2923 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 ($271,300). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Vermont. Population: 29,761. Owner-occupied homes: 10,599.
The median annual property tax in Orange County is $4,516, which is 10% lower than the Vermont state average and 127% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 1.66% on a median home value of $271,300. Property taxes represent 5.5% of the median household income in this county.
Why Orange County's ACS bill runs high vs the U.S.
Primary signal
The bill sits well above the national median
Homeowners in Orange County pay a median annual property tax of $4,516, far above the national median and notably lower than the Vermont state median. On a $271,300 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 1.66% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
Income carries a heavy tax share
Property taxes in Orange County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 5.5% of the $82,232 median household income.
Decision signal 3
The effective rate is a national headwind
Orange County's 1.66% effective rate is among the highest of 3,135 tracked counties: only about 93% pay more.
Decision signal 4
Near the middle of Vermont counties by effective rate
Orange County ranks #7 of 14 counties in Vermont by effective rate (50% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Orange 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
Orange County's effective rate fell 16.5% across the 4-year span while its median home value rose 37.8%, leaving the median bill 15.0% higher at $4,516. That rate move is larger than the one in 71% 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 $3,926 to $4,516, a gain of 15%. 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: 8,056 of 10,599 owner-occupied homes (76.0%) 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 5.5% 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 Orange County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Orange County homeowners, 8,056 of 10,599 owner-occupied homes (76.0%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 3.0% (321)
- $800 to $1,499 4.7% (500)
- $1,500 to $1,999 4.0% (429)
- $2,000 to $2,999 10.7% (1,138)
- $3,000 or more 76.0% (8,056)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
155 homes here (1.5%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Vermont handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged and non-mortgaged homeowners in Orange County pay about the same bill, a 8% gap.
Orange County's bill vs state & U.S. medians
Median annual bill bars around Orange County's HEAVY ACS 2024 figure.
Orange County's median bill is 10% below the Vermont median and 127% above the U.S. median.
Among the highest-taxed counties in the country
At 1.66%, Orange County sits in the top 7% 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 $4,516 median bill is the number to compare against another county.
Orange County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Orange County | Vermont 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 | 5.5% | - | - |
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 Orange County's $4,516 median bill appeal-worthy?
At Orange County's $4,516 ACS median (HEAVY), a 10% assessment cut is worth about $452/yr before exemptions. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for Vermont.
Orange County bill trail · HEAVY
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $4,516 +2.7% | 1.66% |
| 2023 | $4,399 +2.0% | 1.75% |
| 2022 | $4,311 +8.2% | 1.87% |
| 2021 | $3,984 +1.5% | 1.96% |
| 2020 | $3,926 | 1.99% |
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.
Orange County: tax takes 5.5% of income
Counties near Orange County's median bill
On effective rate, Orange County sits nearest Hays County (TX), Brazoria County (TX), Monroe County (PA).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Miller County (AR), Nash County (NC), Surry County (NC).
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
Orange County: only 4% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 600 of 15,640 returns from Orange County reported real estate taxes, averaging $7,438 - 35% 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 Vermont
Orange County bill FAQs
- How does Orange County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Orange County run far above the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 1.66% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Orange County?
- Property taxes in Orange County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 5.5% of the $82,232 median household income.
- What is the average property tax in Orange County, Vermont?
- The median annual property tax in Orange County is $4,516, an effective rate of 1.66% on a $271,300 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What is the tax affordability score for Orange County?
- Orange County, Vermont scores F (13/100) 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 mortgage premium at D (+$334). 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 Orange County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Orange County climbed 15.0% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $3,926 to $4,516, 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 Orange County's HEAVY bill
Orange County's $4,516 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 5.5% of Orange County's $82,232 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by median bill (then rate)
Bill-first peers for Orange 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: 1.66%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $4,516/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Orange County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Orange County (STEEP · HEAVY), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
STEEP HEAVY
Blanco County, TX
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,510/yr (near-tied bill ABS $6); rate 0.93% vs Orange County 1.66%.
McLean County, IL
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,524/yr (near-tied bill ABS $8); rate 2.17% vs Orange County 1.66%.
Douglas County, NE
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,507/yr (near-tied bill ABS $9); rate 1.69% vs Orange County 1.66%.
Alpine County, CA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,530/yr (near-tied bill ABS $14); rate 0.77% vs Orange County 1.66%.
Vermont county set
State ACS overview for every published Vermont county rate and median bill.
Appeal filing windows
Orange County stamps STEEP · 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 Orange County (STEEP · HEAVY) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.