New York · County property tax · ACS 2024
Suffolk County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Suffolk County pays $10,001 a year, an effective rate of 1.73%, far above the U.S. average.
- $10,001
- Median tax / yr · Highest-decile bill
- 1.73%
- Effective rate · Highest-decile rate
- +402%
- vs U.S. average
- #43 of 62
- rank in NY
The verdict
Homeowners in Suffolk County pay a median $10,001 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 1.73%, more affordable than 5% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $10,001
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 1.73%
- Effective rate on median home
- #2963 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +402%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($578,400). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for New York. Population: 1,530,146. Owner-occupied homes: 421,146.
The median annual property tax in Suffolk County is $10,001, which is 52% higher than the New York state average and 402% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 1.73% on a median home value of $578,400. Property taxes represent 7.7% of the median household income in this county.
Why Suffolk County's ACS bill runs high vs the U.S.
Primary signal
The bill sits well above the national median
Homeowners in Suffolk County pay a median annual property tax of $10,001, far above the national median and far above the New York state median. On a $578,400 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 1.73% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
Income carries a heavy tax share
Property taxes in Suffolk County run well above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 7.7% of the $130,686 median household income.
Decision signal 3
The effective rate is a national headwind
Suffolk County's 1.73% effective rate is among the highest of 3,135 tracked counties: only about 95% pay more.
Decision signal 4
Near the middle of New York counties by effective rate
Suffolk County ranks #43 of 62 counties in New York by effective rate (31% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Suffolk 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.
The rate gave way faster than almost anywhere
Between the 2020 and 2024 releases the median home value in Suffolk County rose 39.7%, from $413,900 to $578,400. The effective rate fell 25.4% over the same span, a steeper move than in 93% of U.S. counties.
The median bill still rose 4.2%, to $10,001. Where the rate drops this far and the bill rises anyway, what changed is the value the rate is applied to.
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
Very little moved here between 2020 and 2024: the typical bill went from $9,598 to $10,001, a change of 4%. The comparison describes county-level medians only; individual assessments and bills can differ.
The heaviest band is also the fullest one here: 387,482 of 421,146 owner-occupied homes (92.0%) 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.
Both figures are in the national top quarter, and the median bill still equals only 7.7% of median household income. A high rate on high earnings produces a large dollar figure, and only the dollar figure tends to get quoted; the ratio above is the other half.
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 Suffolk County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Suffolk County homeowners, 387,482 of 421,146 owner-occupied homes (92.0%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 1.5% (6,308)
- $800 to $1,499 1.3% (5,683)
- $1,500 to $1,999 1.0% (4,185)
- $2,000 to $2,999 2.0% (8,409)
- $3,000 or more 92.0% (387,482)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
9,079 homes here (2.2%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how New York handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged and non-mortgaged homeowners in Suffolk County pay about the same bill, a 0% gap.
Suffolk County's bill vs state & U.S. medians
Median annual bill bars around Suffolk County's SPIKE ACS 2024 figure.
Suffolk County's median bill is 52% above the New York median and 402% above the U.S. median.
Note: Census ACS top-codes median property tax at $10,000 or more, so the bill is shown as $10,001 and the effective rate above is a conservative floor - Suffolk County's true median tax and rate are somewhat higher.
Among the highest-taxed counties in the country
At 1.73%, Suffolk County sits in the top 5% of all U.S. counties by effective property-tax rate. That is the rate, not the bill: a high rate on a modest home can still produce a smaller cheque than a low rate on an expensive one, which is why the $10,001 median bill is the number to compare against another county.
Suffolk County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Suffolk County | New York Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Highest-decile bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Highest-decile rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Highest-decile income burden | 7.7% | - | - |
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.
Is Suffolk County's $10,001 median bill appeal-worthy?
At Suffolk County's $10,001 ACS median (SPIKE), a 10% assessment cut is worth about $1,000/yr before exemptions. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for New York.
Suffolk County bill trail · SPIKE
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $10,001 +0.0% | 1.73% |
| 2023 | $10,001 +0.0% | 1.85% |
| 2022 | $10,001 +0.9% | 2.04% |
| 2021 | $9,911 +3.3% | 2.27% |
| 2020 | $9,598 | 2.32% |
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.
Suffolk County: tax takes 7.7% of income
Counties near Suffolk County's median bill
On effective rate, Suffolk County sits nearest Montgomery County (OH), Bexar County (TX), Fisher County (TX).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Searcy County (AR), Trego County (KS), Sioux County (NE).
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
Suffolk County: only 15% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 123,500 of 819,360 returns from Suffolk County reported real estate taxes, averaging $12,682 - 34% 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 New York
Suffolk County bill FAQs
- How does Suffolk County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Suffolk County run far above the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 1.73% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the average property tax in Suffolk County, New York?
- The median annual property tax in Suffolk County is $10,001, an effective rate of 1.73% on a $578,400 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Suffolk County?
- Property taxes in Suffolk County run well above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 7.7% of the $130,686 median household income.
- What is the tax affordability score for Suffolk County?
- Suffolk County, New York scores F (29/100) on PlainPropertyTax's tax affordability composite across 3 Census ACS dimensions (effective rate, bill size, income share, mortgage gap, and home-value/income). Its strongest scored dimension here is mortgage premium at A (+$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.
- Are property taxes increasing in Suffolk County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Suffolk County ticked up 4.2% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $9,598 to $10,001, 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 Suffolk County's SPIKE bill
Suffolk County's $10,001 median bill sits well above the U.S. median - size a personal estimate before treating the county headline as your budget. Estimate your bill →
Income burden is elevated here: about 7.7% of Suffolk County's $130,686 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by median bill (then rate)
Bill-first peers for Suffolk County's SPIKE 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: 1.73%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $10,001/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Suffolk County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Suffolk County (STEEP · SPIKE), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
STEEP SPIKE
Bergen County, NJ
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Suffolk County at $10,001/yr; rate 1.61% vs Suffolk County 1.73%.
Essex County, NJ
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Suffolk County at $10,001/yr; rate 1.91% vs Suffolk County 1.73%.
Falls Church city, VA
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Suffolk County at $10,001/yr; rate 0.95% vs Suffolk County 1.73%.
Hunterdon County, NJ
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Suffolk County at $10,001/yr; rate 1.93% vs Suffolk County 1.73%.
New York county set
State ACS overview for every published New York county rate and median bill.
Appeal filing windows
Suffolk County stamps STEEP · SPIKE - review notice deadlines before quoting the ACS median.
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 Suffolk County (STEEP · SPIKE) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.