Texas · County property tax · ACS 2024
Sterling County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Sterling County pays $1,894 a year, an effective rate of 1.29%, modestly below the U.S. average.
- $1,894
- Median tax / yr · Above-median bill
- 1.29%
- Effective rate · High rate
- -5%
- vs U.S. average
- #90 of 250
- rank in TX
The verdict
Homeowners in Sterling County pay a median $1,894 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 1.29%, more affordable than 19% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $1,894
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 1.29%
- Effective rate on median home
- #2533 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -5%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($147,000). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Texas. Population: 1,468. Owner-occupied homes: 310.
The median annual property tax in Sterling County is $1,894, which is 55% lower than the Texas state average and 5% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 1.29% on a median home value of $147,000. Property taxes represent 2.9% of the median household income in this county.
Sterling County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Sterling County's 1.29% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 19%).
Decision signal 2
The bill sits below the Texas median
Homeowners in Sterling County pay a median annual property tax of $1,894, modestly below the national median and far below the Texas state median. On a $147,000 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 1.29% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 3
The latest release moved the bill up
Since 2023, the published ACS median estimate has jumped 23.4%, from $1,535 to $1,894. This compares two release estimates; it does not identify a local policy, assessment, exemption, or household-bill cause.
Decision signal 4
Near the middle of Texas counties by effective rate
Sterling County ranks #90 of 250 counties in Texas by effective rate (64% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 5
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Sterling County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 2.9% of the $64,954 median household income.
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Sterling 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.
How to read this county's bill
The bill here climbed steeply over 2020-2024, up 132% from $816 to $1,894. 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 heaviest band is also the fullest one here: 82 of 310 owner-occupied homes (26.5%) 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.
A top-quartile rate meets below-median earnings here, and the median bill reaches 2.9% of median household income. A rate ranking places this county by the rate alone; the ratio above is the figure that accounts for what is earned here.
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 Sterling County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Sterling County homeowners, 82 of 310 owner-occupied homes (26.5%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 20.6% (64)
- $800 to $1,499 20.3% (63)
- $1,500 to $1,999 8.4% (26)
- $2,000 to $2,999 19.4% (60)
- $3,000 or more 26.5% (82)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
15 homes here (4.8%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Texas handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in Sterling County pay more than double the bill of those without one (+101%), the widest kind of value gap this dataset tracks.
Sterling County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Sterling County's effective rate is higher than 64% of the 250 counties in Texas - ranking #90 of 250.
Where Sterling County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
1.29% more affordable than 19% 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 Sterling County moved from $816 in the 2020 release to $1,894 in 2024, a change of about 132%. 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.
Sterling County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Sterling County | Texas Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Above-median bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate High rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Above-median income burden | 2.9% | - | - |
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.
Sterling County is PAR · MID on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · Texas counties.
Sterling County rate trail · PAR
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $1,894 +23.4% | 1.29% |
| 2023 | $1,535 -2.7% | 1.07% |
| 2022 | $1,577 +88.6% | 1.30% |
| 2021 | $836 +2.5% | 1.06% |
| 2020 | $816 | 1.09% |
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.
Sterling County: tax-to-income at 2.9%
Counties near Sterling County's effective rate
On effective rate, Sterling County sits nearest Perkins County (SD), Bristol County (RI), Stark County (OH).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Lincoln County (CO), San Miguel County (CO), De Soto Parish (LA).
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
IRS county file: no disclosed Sterling County Schedule A rows
The IRS county file records no returns reporting real estate taxes on Schedule A for Sterling County. That is a limit of the published data rather than a finding about the county: county-level figures are withheld where the counts are too small to disclose safely, which is common in places with few filers. Roughly one county in sixteen is in this position, so the filer view available elsewhere on this site is simply not available here. Source: IRS Statistics of Income county data.
Other Counties in Texas
Sterling County rate FAQs
- Are property taxes increasing in Sterling County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Sterling County is recorded at $1,894 in the 2024 5-year release against $816 in 2020. That is a large swing, and it should be read as movement in a survey estimate rather than as a tax change: the median here rests on about 310 owner-occupied homes, and swings above 50% are roughly twelve times more common in the smallest counties than in the largest. Treat the two figures as imprecise and check the county assessor for actual rate changes.
- How does Sterling County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Sterling County run modestly below the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 1.29% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the tax affordability score for Sterling County?
- Sterling County, Texas scores F (32/100) 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 housing pressure at B+ (2.26×). 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 Sterling County, Texas?
- The median annual property tax in Sterling County is $1,894, an effective rate of 1.29% on a $147,000 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Sterling County?
- Property taxes in Sterling County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 2.9% of the $64,954 median household income.
What to do with Sterling County's PAR rate
Inside Texas, Sterling County's $1,894 median bill runs low versus the state median - check peer counties before assuming the lowest bill is the best move. Texas overview →
Sterling County ranks #90 of 250 Texas counties by effective rate - on the higher-burden half of the state ACS set. Texas overview →
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for Sterling County's PAR 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: 1.29%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $1,894/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Sterling County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Sterling County (PAR · MID), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
PAR MID
Fayette County, IL
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Sterling County at $1,894/yr; rate 1.45% vs Sterling County 1.29%.
Douglas County, OR
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,895/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.61% vs Sterling County 1.29%.
Roanoke city, VA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,893/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.99% vs Sterling County 1.29%.
Wheeler County, OR
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,893/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.69% vs Sterling County 1.29%.
Texas county set
State ACS overview for every published Texas county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Sterling County stamps PAR · MID - 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 Sterling County (PAR · MID) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.