Texas · County property tax · ACS 2024
Shelby County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Shelby County pays $1,024 a year, an effective rate of 1.01%, well below the U.S. average.
- $1,024
- Median tax / yr · Low bill
- 1.01%
- Effective rate · Above-median rate
- -49%
- vs U.S. average
- #187 of 250
- rank in TX
The verdict
Homeowners in Shelby County pay a median $1,024 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 1.01%, more affordable than 34% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $1,024
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 1.01%
- Effective rate on median home
- #2058 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -49%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($101,500). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Tax affordability score · Shelby County, TX
53/100
5 ACS dimensions · release 2024
Comparative score against U.S. county percentiles on Census ACS medians (effective rate, bill, income share, mortgage gap, home-value/income). Higher means more affordable on those published medians, not a recommendation to buy, sell, appeal, or move, and not your personal tax bill. Missing inputs drop out and redistribute weight. How it is calculated.
Median home value relative to Shelby County's median income
Shelby County's median annual property-tax bill vs U.S. counties
Median tax as a share of Shelby County's median household income
Shelby County's effective rate vs U.S. county percentiles (ACS 2024)
Mortgaged vs free-and-clear median bill gap in Shelby County
Read the chart values
- Housing pressure: 87/100 (A) · 2.04×
- Bill size: 76/100 (B+) · $1,024/yr
- Income room: 65/100 (C+) · 2.1%
- Rate relief: 35/100 (F) · 1.01%
- Mortgage premium: 14/100 (F) · +$839
Track this county alongside up to five others. Saved figures refresh when the annual source data changes.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Texas. Population: 24,155. Owner-occupied homes: 6,932.
The median annual property tax in Shelby County is $1,024, which is 76% lower than the Texas state average and 49% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 1.01% on a median home value of $101,500. Property taxes represent 2.1% of the median household income in this county.
What This Data Tells Us About Shelby County
Primary signal
The bill sits well below the national median
Homeowners in Shelby County pay a median annual property tax of $1,024, well below the national median and far below the Texas state median. On a $101,500 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 1.01% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
High among Texas counties by effective rate
Shelby County ranks #187 of 250 counties in Texas by effective rate (25% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 3
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Shelby County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 2.1% of the $49,776 median household income.
Decision signal 4
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Shelby County's 1.01% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 34%).
This page is for informational purposes only and is not tax, legal, or financial advice. Figures describe the median homeowner household in Shelby County as reported to the Census Bureau, your own bill can differ based on your parcel's assessed value, exemptions, special districts, and municipal overlays. Always consult your county assessor, tax collector, or a qualified professional before making decisions that depend on these numbers.
Most of the market's rise reached the bill
The effective rate here moved 6.9% down between 2020 and 2024, a smaller shift than in 72% of U.S. counties. With the median home value rose 24.1%, the median bill rose 15.6% to $1,024: 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
Bills rose across 2020-2024, from $886 to $1,024, 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 largest reported group here falls at the bottom of the national range: 2,679 of 6,932 owner-occupied homes (38.6%) 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 2.1% 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, 2,679 of 6,932 owner-occupied homes (38.6%), pays less than $800 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 38.6% (2,679)
- $800 to $1,499 19.5% (1,349)
- $1,500 to $1,999 7.8% (539)
- $2,000 to $2,999 11.2% (773)
- $3,000 or more 12.1% (837)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
755 homes here (10.9%) report no real estate tax at all, a sizeable minority for a county this size. Exemptions are set by state: how Texas handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in Shelby County pay more than double the bill of those without one (+103%), the widest kind of value gap this dataset tracks.
How Shelby County compares
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Shelby County's effective rate is higher than 25% of the 250 counties in Texas - ranking #187 of 250 for property tax burden.
Where Shelby County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
1.01% more affordable than 34% 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
Below Texas on both measures
Shelby County's effective rate runs 32% under the Texas median and its bill 76% under. Both sitting on the same side means the gap is not a valuation artefact: a county can post a low rate purely because its homes are expensive, but then the bill rises to meet the state. Here it does not, so the $1,024 median bill reflects a genuinely lighter charge than the Texas norm rather than a different denominator. Compare it against the state page before reading anything into the county rank.
Shelby County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Shelby County | Texas Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Low bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Above-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.
Think your Shelby County LIGHT bill is out of line at PAR?
On Shelby County's published figures (PAR · LIGHT), a $101,500 median home carries a $1,024 median bill, so every 10% off an assessed value is worth about $102 a year at the same rate. Whether an appeal is worth filing depends on your own parcel. Use our free Appeal Savings Estimator to run your own numbers, then read our step-by-step appeal guide for the procedure in Texas.
Property Tax History · PAR · LIGHT
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $1,024 -10.4% | 1.01% |
| 2023 | $1,143 +9.3% | 1.02% |
| 2022 | $1,046 +20.4% | 0.97% |
| 2021 | $869 -1.9% | 1.00% |
| 2020 | $886 | 1.08% |
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.
Tax Burden
Tax Affordability Score
An effective rate notably higher than the national average of 0.92% puts Shelby County in the "Affordable" band for property tax burden.
How this score is calculated: a 1-10 scale derived mechanically from the ratio of this county's effective rate to the national average effective rate (0.92%) - a ratio at or below 0.5× scores 10, a ratio at or above 2.0× scores 1, with a linear scale between. It is a factual comparison of Census figures only, not a recommendation, quality rating, or endorsement of Shelby County or any other county.
Counties with similar tax profiles
On effective rate, Shelby County sits nearest Meade County (SD), Kingsbury County (SD), Montour County (PA).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Lafayette County (MO), McLean County (IL), St. Mary's County (MD).
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
What tax filers report in Shelby County
Of the 10,420 federal returns filed from Shelby County in 2022, 210 (2.0% of filers) itemised and reported real estate taxes on Schedule A, averaging $4,262 each. The largest group was filers with adjusted gross income of $100-200k, who accounted for 33% of the county's reporting returns.
Two things this does not say. The amount is what filers reported, recorded before the $10,000 cap on combined state and local tax deductions applies, so it is not the amount deducted. And the share is of everyone who files a return, not of homeowners: most filers now take the standard deduction, so a minority itemise at all. Source: IRS Statistics of Income county data, tax year 2022.
Other Counties in Texas
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Shelby County property tax compare to the national average? ▼
What is the average property tax in Shelby County, Texas? ▼
What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Shelby County? ▼
Are property taxes increasing in Shelby County? ▼
What is the tax affordability score for Shelby County? ▼
What to do with Shelby County's numbers
- Shelby County's $1,024 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 →
- Shelby County ranks #187 of 250 Texas counties by effective rate - on the lower-burden half of the state ACS set. Texas overview →
- If Shelby County's assessment looks high versus the $101,500 typical home, check Texas's filing window and evidence rules before the notice deadline passes. How to appeal →
Effective-rate definition
Effective rate is the county median tax divided by the county median home value ($101,500); your parcel's assessed value, exemptions, and local levies determine your actual bill. U.S. Census Bureau ACS · 2024.
Nationwide peers by effective rate & median bill
Two PlainPropertyTax-derived comparison paths for Shelby County, both outside Texas so the link neighborhoods are not the same-state geography lattice. Axes stay disjoint: median-bill peers exclude the effective-rate peer set.
Similar effective rate
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS effective rate. This county: 1.01%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $1,024/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 (PAR · LIGHT), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
PAR LIGHT
Alamosa County, CO
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Shelby County at $1,024/yr; rate 0.43% vs Shelby County 1.01%.
Baker County, GA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,023/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.86% vs Shelby County 1.01%.
Burke County, GA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,025/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.68% vs Shelby County 1.01%.
Scott County, IN
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,025/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.65% vs Shelby County 1.01%.
Texas county set
State ACS overview for every published Texas county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Shelby County stamps PAR · 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.
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Editorial standards and provenance
PlainPropertyTax is rendered directly from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on the Census ACS county-level record for Shelby County. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-09.