Michigan · County property tax · ACS 2024
Saginaw County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Saginaw County pays $2,284 a year, an effective rate of 1.49%, notably higher than the U.S. average.
- $2,284
- Median tax / yr · Above-median bill
- 1.49%
- Effective rate · High rate
- +15%
- vs U.S. average
- #5 of 83
- rank in MI
The verdict
Homeowners in Saginaw County pay a median $2,284 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 1.49%, more affordable than 11% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $2,284
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 1.49%
- Effective rate on median home
- #2787 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +15%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($152,800). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Michigan. Population: 188,665. Owner-occupied homes: 57,770.
The median annual property tax in Saginaw County is $2,284, which is 21% lower than the Michigan state average and 15% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 1.49% on a median home value of $152,800. Property taxes represent 3.8% of the median household income in this county.
Saginaw County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Saginaw County's 1.49% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 11%).
Decision signal 2
Low among Michigan counties by effective rate
Saginaw County ranks #5 of 83 counties in Michigan by effective rate (94% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 3
The bill sits below the Michigan median
Homeowners in Saginaw County pay a median annual property tax of $2,284, notably higher than the national median and notably lower than the Michigan state median. On a $152,800 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 1.49% 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 Saginaw County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 3.8% of the $60,622 median household income.
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Saginaw 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.
Most of the market's rise reached the bill
The effective rate here moved 12.1% down between 2020 and 2024, a smaller shift than in 51% of U.S. counties. With the median home value rose 43.9%, the median bill rose 26.5% to $2,284: 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
The bill here climbed steeply over 2020-2024, up 27% from $1,805 to $2,284. 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: 16,581 of 57,770 owner-occupied homes (28.7%) 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.
A top-quartile rate meets below-median earnings here, and the median bill reaches 3.8% of median household income. A rate ranking places this county by the rate alone; the ratio above is the figure that accounts for what is earned here.
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 Saginaw County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Saginaw County homeowners, 16,581 of 57,770 owner-occupied homes (28.7%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 7.2% (4,178)
- $800 to $1,499 16.3% (9,419)
- $1,500 to $1,999 16.0% (9,256)
- $2,000 to $2,999 25.1% (14,485)
- $3,000 or more 28.7% (16,581)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
3,851 homes here (6.7%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Michigan handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
In Saginaw County, mortgaged homeowners pay 11% more than those without a mortgage, a gap that typically tracks higher home values rather than a different tax rate.
Saginaw County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Saginaw County's effective rate is higher than 94% of the 83 counties in Michigan - ranking #5 of 83.
Where Saginaw County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
1.49% more affordable than 11% 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
A high rate, a smaller bill
Saginaw County taxes property at 1.49%, about 19% above the Michigan average, yet its median bill of $2,284 lands roughly 21% below it. The effective rate is the bill divided by the home's value, so a county can only sit on opposite sides of the state average this way when its homes are worth materially less than the state norm. The rate is the policy; the bill is what the housing market does with it.
Saginaw County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Saginaw County | Michigan Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Above-median bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate High rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Heavy income burden | 3.8% | - | - |
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.
Saginaw County's STEEP · MID lane - is an appeal worth running?
On Saginaw County's published figures (STEEP · MID), a $152,800 median home carries a $2,284 median bill, so every 10% off an assessed value is worth about $228 a year at the same rate. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for Michigan.
Saginaw County rate trail · STEEP
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $2,284 +4.3% | 1.49% |
| 2023 | $2,190 +8.4% | 1.57% |
| 2022 | $2,021 +7.2% | 1.54% |
| 2021 | $1,885 +4.4% | 1.65% |
| 2020 | $1,805 | 1.70% |
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.
Saginaw County: tax-to-income at 3.8%
Counties near Saginaw County's effective rate
On effective rate, Saginaw County sits nearest Hampden County (MA), Sheridan County (KS), Osage County (KS).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Yellowstone County (MT), Grundy County (IL), Aurora 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
Saginaw County: only 3% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 2,530 of 90,400 returns from Saginaw County reported real estate taxes, averaging $5,370 - 32% 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 Michigan
Saginaw County rate FAQs
- What is the tax affordability score for Saginaw County?
- Saginaw County, Michigan scores F (30/100) 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 B- (2.52×). 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 Saginaw County, Michigan?
- The median annual property tax in Saginaw County is $2,284, an effective rate of 1.49% on a $152,800 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- How does Saginaw County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Saginaw County run notably higher than the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 1.49% versus 0.92% nationally.
- Are property taxes increasing in Saginaw County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Saginaw County jumped 26.5% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $1,805 to $2,284, 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 Saginaw County?
- Property taxes in Saginaw County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 3.8% of the $60,622 median household income.
What to do with Saginaw County's STEEP rate
Inside Michigan, Saginaw County's $2,284 median bill runs low versus the state median - check peer counties before assuming the lowest bill is the best move. Michigan overview →
Saginaw County ranks #5 of 83 Michigan counties by effective rate - on the higher-burden half of the state ACS set. Michigan overview →
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for Saginaw County's STEEP 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: 1.49%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $2,284/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Saginaw County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Saginaw County (STEEP · MID), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
STEEP MID
Coos County, OR
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Saginaw County at $2,284/yr; rate 0.68% vs Saginaw County 1.49%.
Seward County, KS
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Saginaw County at $2,284/yr; rate 1.67% vs Saginaw County 1.49%.
Crow Wing County, MN
ABS(median_tax) peer · $2,283/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.74% vs Saginaw County 1.49%.
McDonough County, IL
ABS(median_tax) peer · $2,285/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 2.13% vs Saginaw County 1.49%.
Michigan county set
State ACS overview for every published Michigan county rate and median bill.
Appeal filing windows
Saginaw County stamps STEEP · MID - 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 Saginaw County (STEEP · MID) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.