Mississippi · County property tax · ACS 2024
Pontotoc County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Pontotoc County pays $911 a year, an effective rate of 0.58%, far below the U.S. average.
- $911
- Median tax / yr · Low bill
- 0.58%
- Effective rate · Below-median rate
- -54%
- vs U.S. average
- #70 of 81
- rank in MS
The verdict
Homeowners in Pontotoc County pay a median $911 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.58%, more affordable than 74% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $911
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.58%
- Effective rate on median home
- #816 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -54%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($157,100). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Tax affordability score · Pontotoc County, MS
69/100
5 ACS dimensions · release 2024
Comparative score against U.S. county percentiles on Census ACS medians (effective rate, bill, income share, mortgage gap, home-value/income). Higher means more affordable on those published medians, not a recommendation to buy, sell, appeal, or move, and not your personal tax bill. Missing inputs drop out and redistribute weight. How it is calculated.
Pontotoc County's median annual property-tax bill vs U.S. counties
Median tax as a share of Pontotoc County's median household income
Pontotoc County's effective rate vs U.S. county percentiles (ACS 2024)
Mortgaged vs free-and-clear median bill gap in Pontotoc County
Median home value relative to Pontotoc County's median income
Read the chart values
- Bill size: 81/100 (A-) · $911/yr
- Income room: 75/100 (B+) · 1.8%
- Rate relief: 74/100 (B) · 0.58%
- Mortgage premium: 47/100 (D) · +$331
- Housing pressure: 46/100 (D) · 3.05×
Track this county alongside up to five others. Saved figures refresh when the annual source data changes.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Mississippi. Population: 31,550. Owner-occupied homes: 8,244.
The median annual property tax in Pontotoc County is $911, which is 25% lower than the Mississippi state average and 54% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.58% on a median home value of $157,100. Property taxes represent 1.8% of the median household income in this county.
What This Data Tells Us About Pontotoc County
Primary signal
The bill sits well below the national median
Homeowners in Pontotoc County pay a median annual property tax of $911, far below the national median and well below the Mississippi state median. On a $157,100 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.58% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
High among Mississippi counties by effective rate
Pontotoc County ranks #70 of 81 counties in Mississippi by effective rate (14% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 3
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Pontotoc County's 0.58% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 74%).
Decision signal 4
Income carries a light tax share
Property taxes in Pontotoc County run a bit below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.8% of the $51,484 median household income.
This page is for informational purposes only and is not tax, legal, or financial advice. Figures describe the median homeowner household in Pontotoc County as reported to the Census Bureau, your own bill can differ based on your parcel's assessed value, exemptions, special districts, and municipal overlays. Always consult your county assessor, tax collector, or a qualified professional before making decisions that depend on these numbers.
Most of the market's rise reached the bill
The effective rate here moved 11.0% down between 2020 and 2024, a smaller shift than in 56% of U.S. counties. With the median home value rose 36.3%, the median bill rose 21.3% to $911: 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
Bills rose across 2020-2024, from $751 to $911, a gain of 21%. This is a comparison of published ACS medians, not an explanation of a particular property's assessment or tax bill.
The largest reported group here falls at the bottom of the national range: 2,571 of 8,244 owner-occupied homes (31.2%) 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 1.8% 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.
Paying off the mortgage changes the picture here
41.0% of Pontotoc County homes owned free and clear (1,874 of 4,566) report no property tax at all, against 13.7% of homes still carrying a mortgage. A reported zero is not proof of an exemption: it can equally mean a bill paid by another party, or a reporting artefact. But a gap this size is where age- and disability-based relief usually shows up, because those programmes reach owners who have finished paying.
What Pontotoc County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Pontotoc County homeowners, 2,571 of 8,244 owner-occupied homes (31.2%), pays less than $800 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 31.2% (2,571)
- $800 to $1,499 18.3% (1,508)
- $1,500 to $1,999 8.7% (717)
- $2,000 to $2,999 7.8% (643)
- $3,000 or more 5.2% (426)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
2,379 homes here (28.9%) report no real estate tax at all, an unusually large share, high enough that the median bill above describes a minority of Pontotoc County homeowners. Exemptions are set by state: how Mississippi handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in Pontotoc County pay a substantially higher bill, 46% more, pointing to a wide home-value gap between the two groups.
How Pontotoc County compares
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Pontotoc County's effective rate is higher than 14% of the 81 counties in Mississippi - ranking #70 of 81 for property tax burden.
Where Pontotoc County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
0.58% Among the most affordable more affordable than 74% 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
Below Mississippi on both measures
Pontotoc County's effective rate runs 19% under the Mississippi median and its bill 25% under. Both sitting on the same side means the gap is not a valuation artefact: a county can post a low rate purely because its homes are expensive, but then the bill rises to meet the state. Here it does not, so the $911 median bill reflects a genuinely lighter charge than the Mississippi norm rather than a different denominator. Compare it against the state page before reading anything into the county rank.
Pontotoc County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Pontotoc County | Mississippi Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Low bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Below-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Light income burden | 1.8% | - | - |
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.
Pontotoc County stamps QUIET · LIGHT - still check the parcel card
On Pontotoc County's published figures (QUIET · LIGHT), a $157,100 median home carries a $911 median bill, so every 10% off an assessed value is worth about $91 a year at the same rate. Whether an appeal is worth filing depends on your own parcel. Use our free Appeal Savings Estimator to run your own numbers, then read our step-by-step appeal guide for the procedure in Mississippi.
Property Tax History · QUIET · LIGHT
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $911 -2.6% | 0.58% |
| 2023 | $935 +5.8% | 0.66% |
| 2022 | $884 +13.9% | 0.65% |
| 2021 | $776 +3.3% | 0.66% |
| 2020 | $751 | 0.65% |
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.
Tax Burden
Tax Affordability Score
An effective rate well below the national average of 0.92% puts Pontotoc County in the "Very Affordable" band for property tax burden.
How this score is calculated: a 1-10 scale derived mechanically from the ratio of this county's effective rate to the national average effective rate (0.92%) - a ratio at or below 0.5× scores 10, a ratio at or above 2.0× scores 1, with a linear scale between. It is a factual comparison of Census figures only, not a recommendation, quality rating, or endorsement of Pontotoc County or any other county.
Counties with similar tax profiles
On effective rate, Pontotoc County sits nearest Butler County (KY), Breckinridge County (KY), Orange County (IN).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Belmont County (OH), Schuylkill County (PA), Cherokee 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
What tax filers report in Pontotoc County
Of the 13,240 federal returns filed from Pontotoc County in 2022, 350 (2.6% of filers) itemised and reported real estate taxes on Schedule A, averaging $2,494 each. The largest group was filers with adjusted gross income of $100-200k, who accounted for 37% of the county's reporting returns.
Two things this does not say. The amount is what filers reported, recorded before the $10,000 cap on combined state and local tax deductions applies, so it is not the amount deducted. And the share is of everyone who files a return, not of homeowners: most filers now take the standard deduction, so a minority itemise at all. Source: IRS Statistics of Income county data, tax year 2022.
Other Counties in Mississippi
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Pontotoc County property tax compare to the national average? ▼
What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Pontotoc County? ▼
Are property taxes increasing in Pontotoc County? ▼
What is the average property tax in Pontotoc County, Mississippi? ▼
What is the tax affordability score for Pontotoc County? ▼
What to do with Pontotoc County's numbers
- Pontotoc County's $911 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 1.8% of Pontotoc County's $51,484 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
- Pontotoc County ranks #70 of 81 Mississippi counties by effective rate - on the lower-burden half of the state ACS set. Mississippi overview →
- If Pontotoc County's assessment looks high versus the $157,100 typical home, check Mississippi's filing window and evidence rules before the notice deadline passes. How to appeal →
Effective-rate definition
Effective rate is the county median tax divided by the county median home value ($157,100); your parcel's assessed value, exemptions, and local levies determine your actual bill. U.S. Census Bureau ACS · 2024.
Nationwide peers by effective rate & median bill
Two PlainPropertyTax-derived comparison paths for Pontotoc County, both outside Mississippi so the link neighborhoods are not the same-state geography lattice. Axes stay disjoint: median-bill peers exclude the effective-rate peer set.
Similar effective rate
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS effective rate. This county: 0.58%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $911/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Pontotoc County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Pontotoc County (QUIET · LIGHT), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
QUIET LIGHT
Cherokee County, OK
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Pontotoc County at $911/yr; rate 0.54% vs Pontotoc County 0.58%.
McDowell County, NC
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Pontotoc County at $911/yr; rate 0.53% vs Pontotoc County 0.58%.
Cass County, IN
ABS(median_tax) peer · $910/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.68% vs Pontotoc County 0.58%.
McIntosh County, ND
ABS(median_tax) peer · $913/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 1.08% vs Pontotoc County 0.58%.
Mississippi county set
State ACS overview for every published Mississippi county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Pontotoc 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.
Share and download this county card
Editorial standards and provenance
PlainPropertyTax is rendered directly from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on the Census ACS county-level record for Pontotoc County. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-09.