Louisiana · County property tax · ACS 2024
St. Mary Parish Property Taxes
The median homeowner in St. Mary Parish pays $545 a year, an effective rate of 0.39%, far below the U.S. average.
- $545
- Median tax / yr · Very low bill
- 0.39%
- Effective rate · Very low rate
- -73%
- vs U.S. average
- #37 of 64
- rank in LA
The verdict
Homeowners in St. Mary Parish pay a median $545 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.39%, more affordable than 94% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $545
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.39%
- Effective rate on median home
- #199 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -73%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($138,900). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Louisiana. Population: 47,828. Owner-occupied homes: 12,673.
The median annual property tax in St. Mary Parish is $545, which is 54% lower than the Louisiana state average and 73% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.39% on a median home value of $138,900. Property taxes represent 1.0% of the median household income in this county.
St. Mary Parish's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate is a national tailwind
St. Mary Parish's 0.39% effective rate is among the lowest of 3,135 tracked counties: roughly 94% pay a higher rate.
Decision signal 2
The bill sits well below the national median
Homeowners in St. Mary Parish pay a median annual property tax of $545, far below the national median and far below the Louisiana state median. On a $138,900 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.39% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 3
Income carries a light tax share
Property taxes in St. Mary Parish run well below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.0% of the $52,576 median household income.
Decision signal 4
Near the middle of Louisiana counties by effective rate
St. Mary Parish ranks #37 of 64 counties in Louisiana by effective rate (42% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in St. Mary 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. Mary Parish sits in the quarter of U.S. counties whose effective rate moved least over this span: 5.2% down, against a median home value that rose 31.3%.
A near-steady rate on a moving market passes that movement straight through: the median bill rose 24.4%, from $438 to $545.
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 $438 to $545, a gain of 24%. 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: 5,803 of 12,673 owner-occupied homes (45.8%) report annual real-estate taxes under $800. This distribution describes reported owner-occupied homes, not an affordability judgment for any property.
Both sides of this comparison sit low: household income here is in the bottom quarter of US counties, and so is the effective tax rate. The median bill works out at 1.0% of median household income, which is the arithmetic of a modest levy on modest earnings rather than of any deliberate relief.
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
36.6% of St. Mary Parish homes owned free and clear (3,000 of 8,186) report no property tax at all, against 17.5% 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. Mary Parish Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of St. Mary Parish homeowners, 5,803 of 12,673 owner-occupied homes (45.8%), pays less than $800 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 45.8% (5,803)
- $800 to $1,499 10.3% (1,306)
- $1,500 to $1,999 5.5% (693)
- $2,000 to $2,999 3.5% (444)
- $3,000 or more 5.1% (644)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
3,783 homes here (29.9%) report no real estate tax at all, an unusually large share, high enough that the median bill above describes a minority of St. Mary Parish homeowners. Exemptions are set by state: how Louisiana handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in St. Mary Parish pay a substantially higher bill, 47% more, pointing to a wide home-value gap between the two groups.
St. Mary Parish's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
St. Mary Parish's effective rate is higher than 42% of the 64 counties in Louisiana - ranking #37 of 64.
Where St. Mary Parish sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
0.39% Among the most affordable more affordable than 94% 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
Among the lowest-taxed counties in the country
At 0.39%, St. Mary Parish sits in the lowest 6% of all U.S. counties by effective property-tax rate. A low rate does not by itself mean a low bill: the median here is $545, and what a homeowner actually pays depends as much on local home values as on the rate.
St. Mary Parish vs Benchmarks
| Metric | St. Mary Parish | Louisiana Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Very low bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Very low rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Very light income burden | 1.0% | - | - |
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.
St. Mary Parish is QUIET · LIGHT on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · Louisiana counties.
St. Mary Parish rate trail · QUIET
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $545 +5.8% | 0.39% |
| 2023 | $515 +2.4% | 0.40% |
| 2022 | $503 +14.1% | 0.39% |
| 2021 | $441 +0.7% | 0.40% |
| 2020 | $438 | 0.41% |
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. Mary Parish: tax takes only 1.0% of income
Counties near St. Mary Parish's effective rate
On effective rate, St. Mary Parish sits nearest Boundary County (ID), Washington County (CO), Rio Grande County (CO).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Moffat County (CO), Anson County (NC), Brown County (MN).
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. Mary Parish: only 2% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 430 of 20,200 returns from St. Mary Parish reported real estate taxes, averaging $2,530 - 30% 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. Mary Parish rate FAQs
- How does St. Mary Parish property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in St. Mary Parish run far below the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.39% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the tax affordability score for St. Mary Parish?
- St. Mary Parish, Louisiana scores A (89/100) 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 income room at A+ (1.0%). 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 St. Mary Parish, Louisiana?
- The median annual property tax in St. Mary Parish is $545, an effective rate of 0.39% on a $138,900 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in St. Mary Parish?
- Property taxes in St. Mary Parish run well below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.0% of the $52,576 median household income.
- Are property taxes increasing in St. Mary Parish?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for St. Mary Parish jumped 24.4% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $438 to $545, 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 St. Mary Parish's QUIET rate
St. Mary Parish's $545 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 1.0% of St. Mary Parish's $52,576 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for St. Mary 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: 0.39%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $545/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with St. Mary Parish
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for St. Mary Parish (QUIET · LIGHT), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
QUIET LIGHT
Baca County, CO
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with St. Mary Parish at $545/yr; rate 0.44% vs St. Mary Parish 0.39%.
Bradley County, AR
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with St. Mary Parish at $545/yr; rate 0.57% vs St. Mary Parish 0.39%.
Greer County, OK
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with St. Mary Parish at $545/yr; rate 0.50% vs St. Mary Parish 0.39%.
Talladega County, AL
ABS(median_tax) peer · $544/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.36% vs St. Mary Parish 0.39%.
Louisiana county set
State ACS overview for every published Louisiana county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
St. Mary 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. Mary Parish (QUIET · LIGHT) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.