New Mexico · County property tax · ACS 2024
Otero County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Otero County pays $902 a year, an effective rate of 0.55%, far below the U.S. average.
- $902
- Median tax / yr · Low bill
- 0.55%
- Effective rate · Low rate
- -55%
- vs U.S. average
- #17 of 33
- rank in NM
The verdict
Homeowners in Otero County pay a median $902 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.55%, more affordable than 78% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $902
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.55%
- Effective rate on median home
- #694 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -55%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($162,700). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for New Mexico. Population: 68,816. Owner-occupied homes: 16,400.
The median annual property tax in Otero County is $902, which is 48% lower than the New Mexico state average and 55% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.55% on a median home value of $162,700. Property taxes represent 1.6% of the median household income in this county.
Otero County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Otero County's 0.55% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 78%).
Decision signal 2
The bill sits well below the national median
Homeowners in Otero County pay a median annual property tax of $902, far below the national median and well below the New Mexico state median. On a $162,700 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.55% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 3
Income carries a light tax share
Property taxes in Otero County run a bit below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.6% of the $55,876 median household income.
Decision signal 4
Near the middle of New Mexico counties by effective rate
Otero County ranks #17 of 33 counties in New Mexico by effective rate (48% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Otero 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.
Most of the market's rise reached the bill
The effective rate here moved 5.9% down between 2020 and 2024, a smaller shift than in 75% of U.S. counties. With the median home value rose 34.7%, the median bill rose 26.7% to $902: the rate did comparatively little to offset the market.
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 27% from $712 to $902. 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 largest reported group here falls at the bottom of the national range: 6,636 of 16,400 owner-occupied homes (40.5%) report annual real-estate taxes under $800. This distribution describes reported owner-occupied homes, not an affordability judgment for any property.
Both sides of this comparison sit low: household income here is in the bottom quarter of US counties, and so is the effective tax rate. The median bill works out at 1.6% of median household income, which is the arithmetic of a modest levy on modest earnings rather than of any deliberate relief.
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 Otero County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Otero County homeowners, 6,636 of 16,400 owner-occupied homes (40.5%), pays less than $800 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 40.5% (6,636)
- $800 to $1,499 24.3% (3,979)
- $1,500 to $1,999 9.2% (1,506)
- $2,000 to $2,999 10.6% (1,731)
- $3,000 or more 4.9% (806)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
1,742 homes here (10.6%) report no real estate tax at all, a sizeable minority for a county this size. Exemptions are set by state: how New Mexico handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in Otero County pay a substantially higher bill, 58% more, pointing to a wide home-value gap between the two groups.
Otero County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Otero County's effective rate is higher than 48% of the 33 counties in New Mexico - ranking #17 of 33.
Where Otero County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
0.55% Among the most affordable more affordable than 78% 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 Otero County moved from $712 in the 2020 release to $902 in 2024, a change of about 27%. 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.
Otero County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Otero County | New Mexico Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Low bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Low 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.
Otero County is QUIET · LIGHT on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · New Mexico counties.
Otero County rate trail · QUIET
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $902 +7.3% | 0.55% |
| 2023 | $841 +5.3% | 0.56% |
| 2022 | $799 +7.4% | 0.57% |
| 2021 | $744 +4.5% | 0.60% |
| 2020 | $712 | 0.59% |
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.
Otero County: tax takes only 1.6% of income
Counties near Otero County's effective rate
On effective rate, Otero County sits nearest Musselshell County (MT), Jefferson County (MT), Taney County (MO).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are McLean County (KY), Butler County (KS), Halifax 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
Otero County: only 2% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 640 of 30,010 returns from Otero County reported real estate taxes, averaging $2,608 - 38% 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 New Mexico
Otero County rate FAQs
- How does Otero County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Otero County run far below the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.55% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the tax affordability score for Otero County?
- Otero County, New Mexico scores B (70/100) 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 bill size at A- ($902/yr). 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 Otero County, New Mexico?
- The median annual property tax in Otero County is $902, an effective rate of 0.55% on a $162,700 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Otero County?
- Property taxes in Otero County run a bit below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.6% of the $55,876 median household income.
- Are property taxes increasing in Otero County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Otero County jumped 26.7% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $712 to $902, 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 Otero County's QUIET rate
Otero County's $902 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 Otero County's $55,876 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for Otero County's QUIET 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: 0.55%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $902/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Otero County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Otero County (QUIET · LIGHT), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
QUIET LIGHT
Taliaferro County, GA
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Otero County at $902/yr; rate 1.31% vs Otero County 0.55%.
Calhoun County, GA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $903/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 1.11% vs Otero County 0.55%.
Grainger County, TN
ABS(median_tax) peer · $901/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.48% vs Otero County 0.55%.
Kidder County, ND
ABS(median_tax) peer · $903/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.58% vs Otero County 0.55%.
New Mexico county set
State ACS overview for every published New Mexico county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Otero County stamps QUIET · 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 Otero County (QUIET · LIGHT) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.