Texas · County property tax · ACS 2024
Rockwall County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Rockwall County pays $6,396 a year, an effective rate of 1.54%, far above the U.S. average.
- $6,396
- Median tax / yr · Highest-decile bill
- 1.54%
- Effective rate · Highest-decile rate
- +221%
- vs U.S. average
- #37 of 250
- rank in TX
The verdict
Homeowners in Rockwall County pay a median $6,396 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 1.54%, more affordable than 10% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $6,396
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 1.54%
- Effective rate on median home
- #2835 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +221%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($415,500). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Texas. Population: 123,617. Owner-occupied homes: 34,034.
The median annual property tax in Rockwall County is $6,396, which is 51% higher than the Texas state average and 221% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 1.54% on a median home value of $415,500. Property taxes represent 5.0% of the median household income in this county.
Why Rockwall County's ACS bill runs high vs the U.S.
Primary signal
The bill sits well above the national median
Homeowners in Rockwall County pay a median annual property tax of $6,396, far above the national median and far above the Texas state median. On a $415,500 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 1.54% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
The effective rate is a national headwind
Rockwall County's 1.54% effective rate is among the highest of 3,135 tracked counties: only about 90% pay more.
Decision signal 3
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Rockwall County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 5.0% of the $127,981 median household income.
Decision signal 4
Low among Texas counties by effective rate
Rockwall County ranks #37 of 250 counties in Texas by effective rate (85% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Rockwall 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.
The rate gave way faster than almost anywhere
Between the 2020 and 2024 releases the median home value in Rockwall County rose 46.8%, from $283,000 to $415,500. The effective rate fell 20.8% over the same span, a steeper move than in 85% of U.S. counties.
The median bill still rose 16.2%, to $6,396. Where the rate drops this far and the bill rises anyway, what changed is the value the rate is applied to.
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 $5,503 to $6,396, a gain of 16%. This is a comparison of published ACS medians, not an explanation of a particular property's assessment or tax bill.
The heaviest band is also the fullest one here: 28,315 of 34,034 owner-occupied homes (83.2%) 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.
Both figures are in the national top quarter, and the median bill still equals only 5.0% of median household income. A high rate on high earnings produces a large dollar figure, and only the dollar figure tends to get quoted; the ratio above is the other half.
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 Rockwall County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Rockwall County homeowners, 28,315 of 34,034 owner-occupied homes (83.2%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 2.9% (982)
- $800 to $1,499 3.3% (1,129)
- $1,500 to $1,999 2.4% (814)
- $2,000 to $2,999 5.5% (1,873)
- $3,000 or more 83.2% (28,315)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
921 homes here (2.7%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Texas handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in Rockwall County pay a substantially higher bill, 44% more, pointing to a wide home-value gap between the two groups.
Rockwall County's bill vs state & U.S. medians
Median annual bill bars around Rockwall County's SPIKE ACS 2024 figure.
Rockwall County's median bill is 51% above the Texas median and 221% above the U.S. median.
Among the highest-taxed counties in the country
At 1.54%, Rockwall County sits in the top 10% of all U.S. counties by effective property-tax rate. That is the rate, not the bill: a high rate on a modest home can still produce a smaller cheque than a low rate on an expensive one, which is why the $6,396 median bill is the number to compare against another county.
Rockwall County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Rockwall County | Texas Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Highest-decile bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Highest-decile rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Highest-decile income burden | 5.0% | - | - |
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 Rockwall County's $6,396 median bill appeal-worthy?
At Rockwall County's $6,396 ACS median (SPIKE), a 10% assessment cut is worth about $640/yr before exemptions. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for Texas.
Rockwall County bill trail · SPIKE
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $6,396 +0.9% | 1.54% |
| 2023 | $6,341 +0.2% | 1.64% |
| 2022 | $6,327 +9.8% | 1.74% |
| 2021 | $5,760 +4.7% | 1.92% |
| 2020 | $5,503 | 1.94% |
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.
Rockwall County: tax takes 5.0% of income
Counties near Rockwall County's median bill
On effective rate, Rockwall County sits nearest Jefferson County (NY), Dakota County (NE), La Crosse County (WI).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Greene County (IL), Fulton County (NY), Wayne County (PA).
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
Rockwall County: only 12% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 7,080 of 56,720 returns from Rockwall County reported real estate taxes, averaging $9,177 - 40% 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 Texas
Rockwall County bill FAQs
- How does Rockwall County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Rockwall County run far above the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 1.54% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the average property tax in Rockwall County, Texas?
- The median annual property tax in Rockwall County is $6,396, an effective rate of 1.54% on a $415,500 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Rockwall County?
- Property taxes in Rockwall County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 5.0% of the $127,981 median household income.
- What is the tax affordability score for Rockwall County?
- Rockwall County, Texas scores F (8/100) 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 housing pressure at F (3.25×). 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 Rockwall County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Rockwall County climbed 16.2% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $5,503 to $6,396, 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 Rockwall County's SPIKE bill
Rockwall County's $6,396 median bill sits well above the U.S. median - size a personal estimate before treating the county headline as your budget. Estimate your bill →
Rockwall County ranks #37 of 250 Texas counties by effective rate - on the higher-burden half of the state ACS set. Texas overview →
Nationwide peers by median bill (then rate)
Bill-first peers for Rockwall County's SPIKE 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: 1.54%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $6,396/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Rockwall County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Rockwall County (STEEP · SPIKE), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
STEEP SPIKE
Kings County, NY
ABS(median_tax) peer · $6,382/yr (near-tied bill ABS $14); rate 0.71% vs Rockwall County 1.54%.
Dane County, WI
ABS(median_tax) peer · $6,420/yr (near-tied bill ABS $24); rate 1.63% vs Rockwall County 1.54%.
Essex County, MA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $6,430/yr (near-tied bill ABS $34); rate 1.04% vs Rockwall County 1.54%.
Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region, CT
ABS(median_tax) peer · $6,357/yr (near-tied bill ABS $39); rate 1.67% vs Rockwall County 1.54%.
Texas county set
State ACS overview for every published Texas county rate and median bill.
Appeal filing windows
Rockwall County stamps STEEP · SPIKE - review notice deadlines before quoting the ACS median.
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 Rockwall County (STEEP · SPIKE) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.