Georgia · County property tax · ACS 2024
Stephens County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Stephens County pays $1,424 a year, an effective rate of 0.81%, well below the U.S. average.
- $1,424
- Median tax / yr · Below-median bill
- 0.81%
- Effective rate · Above-median rate
- -29%
- vs U.S. average
- #98 of 158
- rank in GA
The verdict
Homeowners in Stephens County pay a median $1,424 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.81%, more affordable than 49% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $1,424
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.81%
- Effective rate on median home
- #1591 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -29%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($175,300). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Georgia. Population: 27,012. Owner-occupied homes: 7,748.
The median annual property tax in Stephens County is $1,424, which is 39% lower than the Georgia state average and 29% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.81% on a median home value of $175,300. Property taxes represent 2.6% of the median household income in this county.
Stephens County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Stephens County's 0.81% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 49%).
Decision signal 2
The bill sits well below the national median
Homeowners in Stephens County pay a median annual property tax of $1,424, well below the national median and well below the Georgia state median. On a $175,300 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.81% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 3
Near the middle of Georgia counties by effective rate
Stephens County ranks #98 of 158 counties in Georgia by effective rate (38% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 4
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Stephens County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 2.6% of the $54,754 median household income.
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Stephens 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
Stephens County's effective rate fell 12.6% across the 4-year span while its median home value rose 41.6%, leaving the median bill 23.8% higher at $1,424. That rate move is larger than the one in 51% 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 $1,150 to $1,424, 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: 1,894 of 7,748 owner-occupied homes (24.4%) report annual real-estate taxes under $800. This distribution describes reported owner-occupied homes, not an affordability judgment for any property.
Incomes here are in the lowest quarter nationally while the rate sits just below the middle, and the median bill lands at 2.6% of median household income. The rate reads as unremarkable in a national ranking; the earnings behind it are not, and the ratio above is where the two meet.
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 Stephens County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Stephens County homeowners, 1,894 of 7,748 owner-occupied homes (24.4%), pays less than $800 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 24.4% (1,894)
- $800 to $1,499 22.0% (1,706)
- $1,500 to $1,999 17.3% (1,339)
- $2,000 to $2,999 10.8% (833)
- $3,000 or more 14.0% (1,085)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
891 homes here (11.5%) report no real estate tax at all, a sizeable minority for a county this size. Exemptions are set by state: how Georgia handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
In Stephens County, mortgaged homeowners pay 27% more than those without a mortgage, a gap that typically tracks higher home values rather than a different tax rate.
Stephens County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Stephens County's effective rate is higher than 38% of the 158 counties in Georgia - ranking #98 of 158.
Where Stephens County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
0.81% more affordable than 49% 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
Same rate as Georgia, a smaller bill
The effective rate here sits within 5% of the Georgia median, yet the median bill runs 39% 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 $1,424 here. That is why comparing counties on rate alone can invert the answer a homeowner actually cares about.
Stephens County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Stephens County | Georgia Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Below-median bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Above-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Above-median income burden | 2.6% | - | - |
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.
Stephens County is UNDER · LIGHT on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · Georgia counties.
Stephens County rate trail · UNDER
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $1,424 +2.0% | 0.81% |
| 2023 | $1,396 +6.1% | 0.83% |
| 2022 | $1,316 +7.2% | 0.85% |
| 2021 | $1,228 +6.8% | 0.97% |
| 2020 | $1,150 | 0.93% |
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.
Stephens County: tax-to-income at 2.6%
Counties near Stephens County's effective rate
On effective rate, Stephens County sits nearest Miami-Dade County (FL), Hillsborough County (FL), San Benito County (CA).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Finney County (KS), Nuckolls County (NE), Sutter County (CA).
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
Stephens County: only 4% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 420 of 11,630 returns from Stephens County reported real estate taxes, averaging $4,450 - 38% 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 Georgia
Stephens County rate FAQs
- What is the average property tax in Stephens County, Georgia?
- The median annual property tax in Stephens County is $1,424, an effective rate of 0.81% on a $175,300 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- How does Stephens County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Stephens County run well below the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.81% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the tax affordability score for Stephens County?
- Stephens County, Georgia scores D (49/100) 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 bill size at C ($1,424/yr). 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 Stephens County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Stephens County jumped 23.8% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $1,150 to $1,424, 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 Stephens County?
- Property taxes in Stephens County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 2.6% of the $54,754 median household income.
What to do with Stephens County's UNDER rate
Stephens County's $1,424 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 →
Stephens County ranks #98 of 158 Georgia counties by effective rate - on the lower-burden half of the state ACS set. Georgia overview →
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for Stephens County's UNDER 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: 0.81%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $1,424/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Stephens County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Stephens County (UNDER · LIGHT), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
UNDER LIGHT
Irion County, TX
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Stephens County at $1,424/yr; rate 0.70% vs Stephens County 0.81%.
Bleckley County, GA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,423/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.95% vs Stephens County 0.81%.
Carteret County, NC
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,423/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.43% vs Stephens County 0.81%.
Okeechobee County, FL
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,423/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.74% vs Stephens County 0.81%.
Georgia county set
State ACS overview for every published Georgia county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Stephens 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 Stephens County (UNDER · LIGHT) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.