Kentucky · County property tax · ACS 2024
Powell County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Powell County pays $875 a year, an effective rate of 0.62%, far below the U.S. average.
- $875
- Median tax / yr · Low bill
- 0.62%
- Effective rate · Below-median rate
- -56%
- vs U.S. average
- #93 of 120
- rank in KY
The verdict
Homeowners in Powell County pay a median $875 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.62%, more affordable than 69% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $875
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.62%
- Effective rate on median home
- #974 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -56%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($141,100). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Kentucky. Population: 13,038. Owner-occupied homes: 3,269.
The median annual property tax in Powell County is $875, which is 43% lower than the Kentucky state average and 56% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.62% on a median home value of $141,100. Property taxes represent 2.2% of the median household income in this county.
Powell County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Powell County's 0.62% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 69%).
Decision signal 2
The bill sits well below the national median
Homeowners in Powell County pay a median annual property tax of $875, far below the national median and well below the Kentucky state median. On a $141,100 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.62% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 3
High among Kentucky counties by effective rate
Powell County ranks #93 of 120 counties in Kentucky by effective rate (23% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 4
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Powell County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 2.2% of the $40,309 median household income.
Decision signal 5
The latest release moved the bill up
Since 2023, the published ACS median estimate has ticked up 5.5%, from $829 to $875. This compares two release estimates; it does not identify a local policy, assessment, exemption, or household-bill cause.
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Powell 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.
How to read this county's bill
The bill here climbed steeply over 2020-2024, up 31% from $666 to $875. 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: 1,218 of 3,269 owner-occupied homes (37.3%) report annual real-estate taxes under $800. This distribution describes reported owner-occupied homes, not an affordability judgment for any property.
Incomes here are in the lowest quarter nationally while the rate sits just below the middle, and the median bill lands at 2.2% of median household income. The rate reads as unremarkable in a national ranking; the earnings behind it are not, and the ratio above is where the two meet.
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
23.4% of Powell County homes owned free and clear (400 of 1,712) report no property tax at all, against 5.7% 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 Powell County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Powell County homeowners, 1,218 of 3,269 owner-occupied homes (37.3%), pays less than $800 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 37.3% (1,218)
- $800 to $1,499 31.1% (1,018)
- $1,500 to $1,999 8.0% (260)
- $2,000 to $2,999 5.8% (191)
- $3,000 or more 2.8% (93)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
489 homes here (15.0%) report no real estate tax at all, a sizeable minority for a county this size. Exemptions are set by state: how Kentucky handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in Powell County pay more than double the bill of those without one (+85%), the widest kind of value gap this dataset tracks.
Powell County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Powell County's effective rate is higher than 23% of the 120 counties in Kentucky - ranking #93 of 120.
Where Powell County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
0.62% Among the most affordable more affordable than 69% 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 Powell County moved from $666 in the 2020 release to $875 in 2024, a change of about 31%. 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.
Powell County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Powell County | Kentucky Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Low bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Below-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Below-median income burden | 2.2% | - | - |
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.
Powell County is QUIET · LIGHT on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · Kentucky counties.
Powell County rate trail · QUIET
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $875 +5.5% | 0.62% |
| 2023 | $829 +1.2% | 0.58% |
| 2022 | $819 +22.2% | 0.66% |
| 2021 | $670 +0.6% | 0.65% |
| 2020 | $666 | 0.63% |
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.
Powell County: tax-to-income at 2.2%
Counties near Powell County's effective rate
On effective rate, Powell County sits nearest Tippecanoe County (IN), Spencer County (IN), Posey County (IN).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Allen County (KS), Polk County (NE), Wayne County (UT).
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
Powell County: only 1% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 50 of 4,990 returns from Powell County reported real estate taxes, averaging $1,580 - 60% of those reporters sat in the $50-75k 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 Kentucky
Powell County rate FAQs
- How does Powell County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Powell County run far below the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.62% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the average property tax in Powell County, Kentucky?
- The median annual property tax in Powell County is $875, an effective rate of 0.62% on a $141,100 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What is the tax affordability score for Powell County?
- Powell County, Kentucky scores C+ (61/100) 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- ($875/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.
- Are property taxes increasing in Powell County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Powell County is recorded at $875 in the 2024 5-year release against $666 in 2020. That is a large swing, and it should be read as movement in a survey estimate rather than as a tax change: the median here rests on about 3,269 owner-occupied homes, and swings above 50% are roughly twelve times more common in the smallest counties than in the largest. Treat the two figures as imprecise and check the county assessor for actual rate changes.
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Powell County?
- Property taxes in Powell County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 2.2% of the $40,309 median household income.
What to do with Powell County's QUIET rate
Powell County's $875 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 →
Powell County ranks #93 of 120 Kentucky counties by effective rate - on the lower-burden half of the state ACS set. Kentucky overview →
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for Powell 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: 0.62%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $875/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Powell County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Powell County (QUIET · LIGHT), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
QUIET LIGHT
Edgefield County, SC
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Powell County at $875/yr; rate 0.43% vs Powell County 0.62%.
Castro County, TX
ABS(median_tax) peer · $876/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.92% vs Powell County 0.62%.
Macon County, TN
ABS(median_tax) peer · $874/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.39% vs Powell County 0.62%.
Pawnee County, OK
ABS(median_tax) peer · $876/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.67% vs Powell County 0.62%.
Kentucky county set
State ACS overview for every published Kentucky county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Powell 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 Powell County (QUIET · LIGHT) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.