Florida · County property tax · ACS 2024
Palm Beach County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Palm Beach County pays $3,858 a year, an effective rate of 0.86%, far above the U.S. average.
- $3,858
- Median tax / yr · Highest-decile bill
- 0.86%
- Effective rate · Above-median rate
- +94%
- vs U.S. average
- #5 of 67
- rank in FL
The verdict
Homeowners in Palm Beach County pay a median $3,858 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.86%, more affordable than 46% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $3,858
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.86%
- Effective rate on median home
- #1703 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +94%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($447,300). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Florida. Population: 1,533,806. Owner-occupied homes: 424,264.
The median annual property tax in Palm Beach County is $3,858, which is 41% higher than the Florida state average and 94% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.86% on a median home value of $447,300. Property taxes represent 4.6% of the median household income in this county.
Why Palm Beach County's ACS bill runs high vs the U.S.
Primary signal
The bill sits well above the national median
Homeowners in Palm Beach County pay a median annual property tax of $3,858, far above the national median and well above the Florida state median. On a $447,300 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.86% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
Low among Florida counties by effective rate
Palm Beach County ranks #5 of 67 counties in Florida by effective rate (93% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 3
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Palm Beach County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 4.6% of the $83,581 median household income.
Decision signal 4
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Palm Beach County's 0.86% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 46%).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Palm Beach 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
Palm Beach County's effective rate fell 12.5% across the 4-year span while its median home value rose 48.6%, leaving the median bill 30.1% higher at $3,858. That rate move is larger than the one in 51% 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 30% from $2,966 to $3,858. 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: 250,831 of 424,264 owner-occupied homes (59.1%) 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.
Earnings are in the national top quarter and the rate is above the midpoint, so the median bill represents 4.6% of median household income. A headline bill conflates the dollar figure with the proportion; the two come apart here, and the ratio above is the second of them.
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 Palm Beach County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Palm Beach County homeowners, 250,831 of 424,264 owner-occupied homes (59.1%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 7.3% (31,167)
- $800 to $1,499 10.8% (45,618)
- $1,500 to $1,999 6.5% (27,366)
- $2,000 to $2,999 13.0% (55,259)
- $3,000 or more 59.1% (250,831)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
14,023 homes here (3.3%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Florida handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
In Palm Beach County, mortgaged homeowners pay 20% more than those without a mortgage, a gap that typically tracks higher home values rather than a different tax rate.
Palm Beach County's bill vs state & U.S. medians
Median annual bill bars around Palm Beach County's HEAVY ACS 2024 figure.
Palm Beach County's median bill is 41% above the Florida median and 94% above the U.S. median.
What changed since 2020
The median bill in Palm Beach County moved from $2,966 in the 2020 release to $3,858 in 2024, a change of about 30%. 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.
Palm Beach County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Palm Beach County | Florida Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Highest-decile bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Above-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Highest-decile income burden | 4.6% | - | - |
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.
Is Palm Beach County's $3,858 median bill appeal-worthy?
At Palm Beach County's $3,858 ACS median (HEAVY), a 10% assessment cut is worth about $386/yr before exemptions. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for Florida.
Palm Beach County bill trail · HEAVY
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $3,858 +7.2% | 0.86% |
| 2023 | $3,600 +7.1% | 0.88% |
| 2022 | $3,362 +8.9% | 0.91% |
| 2021 | $3,088 +4.1% | 0.98% |
| 2020 | $2,966 | 0.99% |
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.
Palm Beach County: tax takes 4.6% of income
Counties near Palm Beach County's median bill
On effective rate, Palm Beach County sits nearest Baker County (GA), Berrien County (GA), Jenkins County (GA).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are McCracken County (KY), Park County (WY), Burke County (GA).
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
Palm Beach County: only 10% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 78,810 of 789,140 returns from Palm Beach County reported real estate taxes, averaging $15,778 - 44% 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 Florida
Palm Beach County bill FAQs
- How does Palm Beach County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Palm Beach County run far above the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.86% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Palm Beach County?
- Property taxes in Palm Beach County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 4.6% of the $83,581 median household income.
- What is the average property tax in Palm Beach County, Florida?
- The median annual property tax in Palm Beach County is $3,858, an effective rate of 0.86% on a $447,300 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- Are property taxes increasing in Palm Beach County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Palm Beach County jumped 30.1% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $2,966 to $3,858, 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 Palm Beach County?
- Palm Beach County, Florida scores F (21/100) 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 D (0.86%). 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 to do with Palm Beach County's HEAVY bill
Palm Beach County's $3,858 median bill sits well above the U.S. median - size a personal estimate before treating the county headline as your budget. Estimate your bill →
Palm Beach County ranks #5 of 67 Florida counties by effective rate - on the higher-burden half of the state ACS set. Florida overview →
Nationwide peers by median bill (then rate)
Bill-first peers for Palm Beach 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: 0.86%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $3,858/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Palm Beach County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Palm Beach County (UNDER · HEAVY), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
UNDER HEAVY
Columbia County, WI
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,855/yr (near-tied bill ABS $3); rate 1.36% vs Palm Beach County 0.86%.
Warren County, IA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,865/yr (near-tied bill ABS $7); rate 1.43% vs Palm Beach County 0.86%.
Carroll County, NH
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,848/yr (near-tied bill ABS $10); rate 0.99% vs Palm Beach County 0.86%.
Montgomery County, NY
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,872/yr (near-tied bill ABS $14); rate 2.46% vs Palm Beach County 0.86%.
Florida county set
State ACS overview for every published Florida county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Palm Beach 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 Palm Beach County (UNDER · HEAVY) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.