Missouri · County property tax · ACS 2024
Ray County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Ray County pays $1,594 a year, an effective rate of 0.80%, notably lower than the U.S. average.
- $1,594
- Median tax / yr · Below-median bill
- 0.80%
- Effective rate · Below-median rate
- -20%
- vs U.S. average
- #29 of 115
- rank in MO
The verdict
Homeowners in Ray County pay a median $1,594 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.80%, more affordable than 50% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $1,594
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.80%
- Effective rate on median home
- #1567 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -20%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($198,800). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Missouri. Population: 23,145. Owner-occupied homes: 7,043.
The median annual property tax in Ray County is $1,594, which is 18% lower than the Missouri state average and 20% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.80% on a median home value of $198,800. Property taxes represent 2.1% of the median household income in this county.
Ray County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Ray County's 0.80% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 50%).
Decision signal 2
Low among Missouri counties by effective rate
Ray County ranks #29 of 115 counties in Missouri by effective rate (75% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 3
The bill is near the usual comparison points
Homeowners in Ray County pay a median annual property tax of $1,594, notably lower than the national median and notably lower than the Missouri state median. On a $198,800 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.80% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 4
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Ray County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 2.1% of the $74,573 median household income.
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Ray 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
Ray County's effective rate fell 14.3% across the 4-year span while its median home value rose 42.2%, leaving the median bill 21.9% higher at $1,594. That rate move is larger than the one in 61% 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 $1,308 to $1,594, a gain of 22%. This is a comparison of published ACS medians, not an explanation of a particular property's assessment or tax bill.
The fullest band here is the $800 to $1,499 range, holding 1,823 of 7,043 owner-occupied homes (25.9%). The band shows where the largest share of reported owner-occupied households falls; it is not an individual-bill estimate.
Above-median earnings meet a slightly-below-median rate, and the median bill amounts to 2.1% of median household income. That is the comfortable middle of this dataset, and comfortable middles are easy to overlook when only rankings get published.
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 Ray County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Ray County homeowners, 1,823 of 7,043 owner-occupied homes (25.9%), pays $800 to $1,499 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 19.0% (1,339)
- $800 to $1,499 25.9% (1,823)
- $1,500 to $1,999 19.7% (1,385)
- $2,000 to $2,999 20.5% (1,442)
- $3,000 or more 12.1% (853)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
201 homes here (2.9%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Missouri handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
In Ray County, mortgaged homeowners pay 14% more than those without a mortgage, a gap that typically tracks higher home values rather than a different tax rate.
Ray County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Ray County's effective rate is higher than 75% of the 115 counties in Missouri - ranking #29 of 115.
Where Ray County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
0.80% more affordable than 50% 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
Same rate as Missouri, a smaller bill
The effective rate here sits within 6% of the Missouri median, yet the median bill runs 18% below it. When the rate matches and the cheque does not, the difference is in what is being taxed, not how heavily: the same percentage applied to cheaper housing produces $1,594 here. That is why comparing counties on rate alone can invert the answer a homeowner actually cares about.
Ray County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Ray County | Missouri Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Below-median bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Below-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Below-median income burden | 2.1% | - | - |
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.
Ray County is UNDER · MID on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · Missouri counties.
Ray County rate trail · UNDER
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $1,594 +4.0% | 0.80% |
| 2023 | $1,533 +1.4% | 0.82% |
| 2022 | $1,512 +7.7% | 0.89% |
| 2021 | $1,404 +7.3% | 0.93% |
| 2020 | $1,308 | 0.94% |
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.
Ray County: tax-to-income at 2.1%
Counties near Ray County's effective rate
On effective rate, Ray County sits nearest Warren County (MS), Marshall County (MN), Otsego County (MI).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Bradley County (TN), Butler County (AL), Clark County (SD).
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
Ray County: only 3% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 280 of 10,700 returns from Ray County reported real estate taxes, averaging $2,793 - 36% 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 Missouri
Ray County rate FAQs
- What is the tax affordability score for Ray County?
- Ray County, Missouri scores C (57/100) 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 C+ (+$205). 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 Ray County, Missouri?
- The median annual property tax in Ray County is $1,594, an effective rate of 0.80% on a $198,800 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- How does Ray County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Ray County run notably lower than the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.80% versus 0.92% nationally.
- Are property taxes increasing in Ray County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Ray County jumped 21.9% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $1,308 to $1,594, 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 percentage of income goes to property taxes in Ray County?
- Property taxes in Ray County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 2.1% of the $74,573 median household income.
What to do with Ray County's UNDER rate
At Ray County's 0.80% effective rate, a $198,800 home implies about $1,594/yr - plug in your own assessed value rather than quoting the county median. Estimate your bill →
Ray County ranks #29 of 115 Missouri counties by effective rate - on the higher-burden half of the state ACS set. Missouri overview →
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for Ray County's UNDER 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: 0.80%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $1,594/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Ray County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Ray County (UNDER · MID), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
UNDER MID
Boundary County, ID
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,595/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.39% vs Ray County 0.80%.
Davie County, NC
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,595/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.63% vs Ray County 0.80%.
Guernsey County, OH
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,593/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 1.01% vs Ray County 0.80%.
Miller County, GA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,595/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 1.29% vs Ray County 0.80%.
Missouri county set
State ACS overview for every published Missouri county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Ray County stamps UNDER · MID - 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 Ray County (UNDER · MID) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.