Missouri · County property tax · ACS 2024
Shelby County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Shelby County pays $860 a year, an effective rate of 0.86%, far below the U.S. average.
- $860
- Median tax / yr · Low bill
- 0.86%
- Effective rate · Above-median rate
- -57%
- vs U.S. average
- #16 of 115
- rank in MO
The verdict
Homeowners in Shelby County pay a median $860 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.86%, more affordable than 46% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $860
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.86%
- Effective rate on median home
- #1703 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -57%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($99,900). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Missouri. Population: 5,986. Owner-occupied homes: 1,853.
The median annual property tax in Shelby County is $860, which is 56% lower than the Missouri state average and 57% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.86% on a median home value of $99,900. Property taxes represent 1.7% of the median household income in this county.
Why Shelby County's ACS bill runs light vs the U.S.
Primary signal
The bill sits well below the national median
Homeowners in Shelby County pay a median annual property tax of $860, far below the national median and far below the Missouri state median. On a $99,900 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.86% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
Low among Missouri counties by effective rate
Shelby County ranks #16 of 115 counties in Missouri by effective rate (86% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 3
Income carries a light tax share
Property taxes in Shelby County run a bit below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.7% of the $51,594 median household income.
Decision signal 4
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Shelby County's 0.86% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 46%).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Shelby 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
Shelby County's effective rate fell 15.0% across the 4-year span while its median home value rose 39.3%, leaving the median bill 18.5% higher at $860. That rate move is larger than the one in 63% 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 $726 to $860, a gain of 18%. 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: 863 of 1,853 owner-occupied homes (46.6%) report annual real-estate taxes under $800. This distribution describes reported owner-occupied homes, not an affordability judgment for any property.
This county earns in the bottom quarter of the country and taxes above the median rate, so the median bill absorbs 1.7% of median household income. The rate alone understates that; it is the pairing that matters.
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 Shelby County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Shelby County homeowners, 863 of 1,853 owner-occupied homes (46.6%), pays less than $800 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 46.6% (863)
- $800 to $1,499 28.3% (524)
- $1,500 to $1,999 7.6% (140)
- $2,000 to $2,999 7.9% (147)
- $3,000 or more 8.8% (163)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
With vs Without Mortgage
In Shelby County, mortgaged homeowners pay 21% more than those without a mortgage, a gap that typically tracks higher home values rather than a different tax rate.
Shelby County's bill vs state & U.S. medians
Median annual bill bars around Shelby County's LIGHT ACS 2024 figure.
Shelby County's median bill is 56% below the Missouri median and 57% below the U.S. median.
Same rate as Missouri, a smaller bill
The effective rate here sits within 1% of the Missouri median, yet the median bill runs 56% 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 $860 here. That is why comparing counties on rate alone can invert the answer a homeowner actually cares about.
Shelby County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Shelby County | Missouri Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Low bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Above-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Light income burden | 1.7% | - | - |
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.
Shelby County is UNDER · LIGHT on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · Missouri counties.
Shelby County bill trail · LIGHT
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $860 +11.4% | 0.86% |
| 2023 | $772 -1.8% | 0.90% |
| 2022 | $786 +6.2% | 0.92% |
| 2021 | $740 +1.9% | 1.01% |
| 2020 | $726 | 1.01% |
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.
Shelby County: tax takes only 1.7% of income
Counties near Shelby County's median bill
On effective rate, Shelby County sits nearest Washington County (MS), Jefferson County (MS), Holmes County (MS).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Benton County (TN), Arthur County (NE), Wirt County (WV).
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
Shelby County: only 2% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 50 of 2,770 returns from Shelby County reported real estate taxes, averaging $1,500 - 60% of those reporters sat in the $25-50k 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
Shelby County bill FAQs
- How does Shelby County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Shelby County run far below the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.86% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Shelby County?
- Property taxes in Shelby County run a bit below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.7% of the $51,594 median household income.
- What is the tax affordability score for Shelby County?
- Shelby County, Missouri scores B (70/100) 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 A+ (1.94×). 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 Shelby County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Shelby County climbed 18.5% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $726 to $860, 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 is the average property tax in Shelby County, Missouri?
- The median annual property tax in Shelby County is $860, an effective rate of 0.86% on a $99,900 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
What to do with Shelby County's LIGHT bill
Shelby County's $860 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 1.7% of Shelby County's $51,594 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by median bill (then rate)
Bill-first peers for Shelby County's LIGHT 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: 0.86%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $860/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Shelby County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Shelby County (UNDER · LIGHT), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
UNDER LIGHT
Humphreys County, MS
ABS(median_tax) peer · $861/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.98% vs Shelby County 0.86%.
Mecklenburg County, VA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $859/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.45% vs Shelby County 0.86%.
Rich County, UT
ABS(median_tax) peer · $859/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.26% vs Shelby County 0.86%.
Sharkey County, MS
ABS(median_tax) peer · $861/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.88% vs Shelby County 0.86%.
Missouri county set
State ACS overview for every published Missouri county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Shelby County stamps UNDER · 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 Shelby County (UNDER · LIGHT) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.