Virginia · County property tax · ACS 2024
Stafford County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Stafford County pays $3,410 a year, an effective rate of 0.70%, far above the U.S. average.
- $3,410
- Median tax / yr · High bill
- 0.70%
- Effective rate · Below-median rate
- +71%
- vs U.S. average
- #48 of 133
- rank in VA
The verdict
Homeowners in Stafford County pay a median $3,410 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.70%, more affordable than 60% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $3,410
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.70%
- Effective rate on median home
- #1260 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +71%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($485,100). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Virginia. Population: 163,466. Owner-occupied homes: 42,121.
The median annual property tax in Stafford County is $3,410, which is 22% higher than the Virginia state average and 71% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.70% on a median home value of $485,100. Property taxes represent 2.5% of the median household income in this county.
Why Stafford County's ACS bill runs high vs the U.S.
Primary signal
The bill sits well above the national median
Homeowners in Stafford County pay a median annual property tax of $3,410, far above the national median and notably higher than the Virginia state median. On a $485,100 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.70% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
Near the middle of Virginia counties by effective rate
Stafford County ranks #48 of 133 counties in Virginia by effective rate (64% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 3
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Stafford County's 0.70% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 60%).
Decision signal 4
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Stafford County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 2.5% of the $137,807 median household income.
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Stafford 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
Stafford County's effective rate fell 14.0% across the 4-year span while its median home value rose 36.3%, leaving the median bill 17.2% higher at $3,410. That rate move is larger than the one in 59% 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 $2,909 to $3,410, a gain of 17%. This is a comparison of published ACS medians, not an explanation of a particular property's assessment or tax bill.
The heaviest band is also the fullest one here: 24,070 of 42,121 owner-occupied homes (57.1%) 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.
Top-quartile earnings meet a below-median rate, putting the median bill at 2.5% of median household income. Counties in this position span a wide range on the ratio above, because the dollar bill tracks home values rather than the rate.
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 Stafford County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Stafford County homeowners, 24,070 of 42,121 owner-occupied homes (57.1%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 5.2% (2,173)
- $800 to $1,499 6.3% (2,643)
- $1,500 to $1,999 7.1% (2,992)
- $2,000 to $2,999 18.7% (7,889)
- $3,000 or more 57.1% (24,070)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
2,354 homes here (5.6%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Virginia handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged and non-mortgaged homeowners in Stafford County pay about the same bill, a 9% gap.
Stafford County's bill vs state & U.S. medians
Median annual bill bars around Stafford County's HEAVY ACS 2024 figure.
Stafford County's median bill is 22% above the Virginia median and 71% above the U.S. median.
Same rate as Virginia, a larger bill
The effective rate here sits within 4% of the Virginia median, yet the median bill runs 22% above 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 costlier housing produces $3,410 here. That is why comparing counties on rate alone can invert the answer a homeowner actually cares about.
Stafford County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Stafford County | Virginia Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax High bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Below-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Above-median income burden | 2.5% | - | - |
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.
Is Stafford County's $3,410 median bill appeal-worthy?
At Stafford County's $3,410 ACS median (HEAVY), a 10% assessment cut is worth about $341/yr before exemptions. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for Virginia.
Stafford County bill trail · HEAVY
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $3,410 +3.3% | 0.70% |
| 2023 | $3,301 +3.1% | 0.72% |
| 2022 | $3,201 +5.9% | 0.74% |
| 2021 | $3,024 +4.0% | 0.82% |
| 2020 | $2,909 | 0.82% |
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.
Stafford County: tax-to-income at 2.5%
Counties near Stafford County's median bill
On effective rate, Stafford County sits nearest Irion County (TX), Sheridan County (ND), Wayne County (NC).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Northampton County (NC), Wyoming County (NY), Davis County (IA).
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
Stafford County: only 16% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 12,010 of 75,860 returns from Stafford County reported real estate taxes, averaging $4,243 - 45% 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 Virginia
Stafford County bill FAQs
- How does Stafford County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Stafford County run far above the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.70% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the average property tax in Stafford County, Virginia?
- The median annual property tax in Stafford County is $3,410, an effective rate of 0.70% on a $485,100 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- Are property taxes increasing in Stafford County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Stafford County climbed 17.2% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $2,909 to $3,410, 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 Stafford County?
- Property taxes in Stafford County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 2.5% of the $137,807 median household income.
- What is the tax affordability score for Stafford County?
- Stafford County, Virginia scores D (44/100) 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 C+ (0.70%). 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 to do with Stafford County's HEAVY bill
Stafford County's $3,410 median bill sits well above the U.S. median - size a personal estimate before treating the county headline as your budget. Estimate your bill →
Stafford County ranks #48 of 133 Virginia counties by effective rate - on the higher-burden half of the state ACS set. Virginia overview →
Nationwide peers by median bill (then rate)
Bill-first peers for Stafford County's HEAVY 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: 0.70%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $3,410/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Stafford County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Stafford County (UNDER · HEAVY), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
UNDER HEAVY
Morgan County, UT
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,411/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.52% vs Stafford County 0.70%.
Macomb County, MI
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,404/yr (near-tied bill ABS $6); rate 1.40% vs Stafford County 0.70%.
Seneca County, NY
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,403/yr (near-tied bill ABS $7); rate 2.19% vs Stafford County 0.70%.
LaSalle County, IL
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,418/yr (near-tied bill ABS $8); rate 2.11% vs Stafford County 0.70%.
Virginia county set
State ACS overview for every published Virginia county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Stafford County stamps UNDER · HEAVY - 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 Stafford County (UNDER · HEAVY) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.