Louisiana · County property tax · ACS 2024
St. James Parish Property Taxes
The median homeowner in St. James Parish pays $1,113 a year, an effective rate of 0.53%, well below the U.S. average.
- $1,113
- Median tax / yr · Below-median bill
- 0.53%
- Effective rate · Low rate
- -44%
- vs U.S. average
- #17 of 64
- rank in LA
The verdict
Homeowners in St. James Parish pay a median $1,113 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.53%, more affordable than 80% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $1,113
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.53%
- Effective rate on median home
- #619 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -44%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($211,800). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Louisiana. Population: 19,528. Owner-occupied homes: 6,369.
The median annual property tax in St. James Parish is $1,113, which is 6% lower than the Louisiana state average and 44% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.53% on a median home value of $211,800. Property taxes represent 1.7% of the median household income in this county.
St. James Parish's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate sits near the national middle
St. James Parish's 0.53% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 80%).
Decision signal 2
The bill sits well below the national median
Homeowners in St. James Parish pay a median annual property tax of $1,113, well below the national median and modestly below the Louisiana state median. On a $211,800 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.53% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 3
Near the middle of Louisiana counties by effective rate
St. James Parish ranks #17 of 64 counties in Louisiana by effective rate (73% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 4
Income carries a light tax share
Property taxes in St. James Parish run a bit below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.7% of the $65,531 median household income.
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in St. James Parish 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 held while the market moved
St. James Parish sits in the quarter of U.S. counties whose effective rate moved least over this span: 4.5% up, against a median home value that rose 25.5%.
A near-steady rate on a moving market passes that movement straight through: the median bill rose 31.3%, from $848 to $1,113.
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 31% from $848 to $1,113. 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 largest reported group here falls at the bottom of the national range: 2,010 of 6,369 owner-occupied homes (31.6%) report annual real-estate taxes under $800. This distribution describes reported owner-occupied homes, not an affordability judgment for any property.
Household income sits in the second quarter nationally and the effective rate in the lowest, so the median bill takes 1.7% of median household income. Both figures point the same way, which is unusual enough that the ratio above is worth reading rather than assumed.
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.
Paying off the mortgage changes the picture here
33.0% of St. James Parish homes owned free and clear (1,221 of 3,701) report no property tax at all, against 12.9% of homes still carrying a mortgage. A reported zero is not proof of an exemption: it can equally mean a bill paid by another party, or a reporting artefact. But a gap this size is where age- and disability-based relief usually shows up, because those programmes reach owners who have finished paying.
What St. James Parish Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of St. James Parish homeowners, 2,010 of 6,369 owner-occupied homes (31.6%), pays less than $800 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 31.6% (2,010)
- $800 to $1,499 14.5% (926)
- $1,500 to $1,999 8.1% (515)
- $2,000 to $2,999 12.0% (766)
- $3,000 or more 9.2% (586)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
1,566 homes here (24.6%) report no real estate tax at all, a sizeable minority for a county this size. Exemptions are set by state: how Louisiana handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in St. James Parish pay more than double the bill of those without one (+71%), the widest kind of value gap this dataset tracks.
St. James Parish's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
St. James Parish's effective rate is higher than 73% of the 64 counties in Louisiana - ranking #17 of 64.
Where St. James Parish sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
0.53% Among the most affordable more affordable than 80% 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
What changed since 2020
The median bill in St. James Parish moved from $848 in the 2020 release to $1,113 in 2024, a change of about 31%. These are American Community Survey 5-year estimates compared across releases that share only one sample year, which is why this page never compares consecutive releases: those overlap in four years of the same households and move mostly on sampling.
St. James Parish vs Benchmarks
| Metric | St. James Parish | Louisiana Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Below-median bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Low 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.
St. James Parish is QUIET · LIGHT on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · Louisiana counties.
St. James Parish rate trail · QUIET
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $1,113 +6.7% | 0.53% |
| 2023 | $1,043 +7.5% | 0.53% |
| 2022 | $970 +14.4% | 0.52% |
| 2021 | $848 +0.0% | 0.51% |
| 2020 | $848 | 0.50% |
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.
St. James Parish: tax takes only 1.7% of income
Counties near St. James Parish's effective rate
On effective rate, St. James Parish sits nearest Harrison County (IN), Monroe County (FL), Gadsden County (FL).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Douglas County (KS), Hendricks County (IN), Snohomish County (WA).
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
St. James Parish: only 5% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 470 of 9,170 returns from St. James Parish reported real estate taxes, averaging $2,726 - 40% 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 Louisiana
St. James Parish rate FAQs
- How does St. James Parish property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in St. James Parish run well below the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.53% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the average property tax in St. James Parish, Louisiana?
- The median annual property tax in St. James Parish is $1,113, an effective rate of 0.53% on a $211,800 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What is the tax affordability score for St. James Parish?
- St. James Parish, Louisiana scores B- (65/100) 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 rate relief at B+ (0.53%). 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 St. James Parish?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for St. James Parish jumped 31.3% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $848 to $1,113, 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 St. James Parish?
- Property taxes in St. James Parish run a bit below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.7% of the $65,531 median household income.
What to do with St. James Parish's QUIET rate
St. James Parish's $1,113 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 St. James Parish's $65,531 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for St. James Parish's QUIET 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: 0.53%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $1,113/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with St. James Parish
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for St. James Parish (QUIET · LIGHT), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
QUIET LIGHT
Garden County, NE
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with St. James Parish at $1,113/yr; rate 1.01% vs St. James Parish 0.53%.
Custer County, ID
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,112/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.29% vs St. James Parish 0.53%.
Maries County, MO
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,115/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 0.51% vs St. James Parish 0.53%.
Pocahontas County, IA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,111/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 1.13% vs St. James Parish 0.53%.
Louisiana county set
State ACS overview for every published Louisiana county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
St. James Parish stamps QUIET · 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 St. James Parish (QUIET · LIGHT) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.