New Mexico · County property tax · ACS 2024
Taos County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Taos County pays $1,129 a year, an effective rate of 0.29%, well below the U.S. average.
- $1,129
- Median tax / yr · Below-median bill
- 0.29%
- Effective rate · Very low rate
- -43%
- vs U.S. average
- #33 of 33
- rank in NM
The verdict
Homeowners in Taos County pay a median $1,129 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.29%, more affordable than 98% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $1,129
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.29%
- Effective rate on median home
- #54 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -43%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($382,800). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for New Mexico. Population: 34,543. Owner-occupied homes: 12,067.
The median annual property tax in Taos County is $1,129, which is 35% lower than the New Mexico state average and 43% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.29% on a median home value of $382,800. Property taxes represent 1.9% of the median household income in this county.
Taos County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate is a national tailwind
Taos County's 0.29% effective rate is among the lowest of 3,135 tracked counties: roughly 98% pay a higher rate.
Decision signal 2
High among New Mexico counties by effective rate
Taos County ranks #33 of 33 counties in New Mexico by effective rate (0% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 3
The bill sits well below the national median
Homeowners in Taos County pay a median annual property tax of $1,129, well below the national median and well below the New Mexico state median. On a $382,800 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.29% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 4
Income carries a light tax share
Property taxes in Taos County run a bit below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.9% of the $58,950 median household income.
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Taos 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 Taos County rose 53.7%, from $249,000 to $382,800. The effective rate fell 35.1% over the same span, a steeper move than in 99% of U.S. counties.
The median bill still fell 0.3%, to $1,129. 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
This is one of the counties where the typical bill came down, from $1,132 in 2020 to $1,129 in 2024, a fall of 0%. The source reports the change but does not distinguish among rate, value, or household-composition effects.
The largest reported group here falls at the bottom of the national range: 3,757 of 12,067 owner-occupied homes (31.1%) report annual real-estate taxes under $800. This distribution describes reported owner-occupied homes, not an affordability judgment for any property.
Household income sits in the second quarter nationally and the effective rate in the lowest, so the median bill takes 1.9% of median household income. Both figures point the same way, which is unusual enough that the ratio above is worth reading rather than assumed.
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.
The published bill went DOWN here
Between the 2020 and 2024 ACS releases the median annual property tax in Taos County fell from $1,132 to $1,129, a change of -0.3%. Fewer than three counties in a hundred recorded any decline over this period; nearly everywhere else the published figure rose. A fall can reflect reassessment, a shifting mix of the homes surveyed, or genuine rate relief, and these estimates cannot separate those causes.
What Taos County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Taos County homeowners, 3,757 of 12,067 owner-occupied homes (31.1%), pays less than $800 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 31.1% (3,757)
- $800 to $1,499 29.1% (3,508)
- $1,500 to $1,999 9.8% (1,188)
- $2,000 to $2,999 11.2% (1,355)
- $3,000 or more 12.8% (1,540)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
719 homes here (6.0%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how New Mexico handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in Taos County pay a substantially higher bill, 57% more, pointing to a wide home-value gap between the two groups.
Taos County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Taos County's effective rate is higher than 0% of the 33 counties in New Mexico - ranking #33 of 33.
Where Taos County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
0.29% Among the most affordable more affordable than 98% 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 0.29%, Taos County sits in the lowest 2% 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 $1,129, and what a homeowner actually pays depends as much on local home values as on the rate.
Taos County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Taos County | New Mexico Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Below-median bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Very low rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Below-median income burden | 1.9% | - | - |
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.
Taos County is QUIET · LIGHT on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · New Mexico counties.
Taos County rate trail · QUIET
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $1,129 -3.0% | 0.29% |
| 2023 | $1,164 -6.1% | 0.33% |
| 2022 | $1,239 +13.2% | 0.40% |
| 2021 | $1,095 -3.3% | 0.39% |
| 2020 | $1,132 | 0.45% |
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.
Taos County: tax takes only 1.9% of income
Counties near Taos County's effective rate
On effective rate, Taos County sits nearest St. Landry Parish (LA), Jefferson Davis Parish (LA), Evangeline Parish (LA).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Hardy County (WV), Nacogdoches County (TX), Baraga County (MI).
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
Taos County: only 4% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 680 of 16,580 returns from Taos County reported real estate taxes, averaging $3,363 - 32% 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 Mexico
Taos County rate FAQs
- How does Taos County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Taos County run well below the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.29% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the average property tax in Taos County, New Mexico?
- The median annual property tax in Taos County is $1,129, an effective rate of 0.29% on a $382,800 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What is the tax affordability score for Taos County?
- Taos County, New Mexico scores B- (66/100) 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 A+ (0.29%). 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 percentage of income goes to property taxes in Taos County?
- Property taxes in Taos County run a bit below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.9% of the $58,950 median household income.
- Are property taxes increasing in Taos County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Taos County held roughly steady, down 0.3% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $1,132 to $1,129, 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 Taos County's QUIET rate
Taos County's $1,129 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 1.9% of Taos County's $58,950 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for Taos County'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: 0.29%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $1,129/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Taos County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Taos County (QUIET · LIGHT), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
QUIET LIGHT
Adams County, ND
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,130/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 1.00% vs Taos County 0.29%.
Berrien County, GA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,130/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.86% vs Taos County 0.29%.
Hitchcock County, NE
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,130/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 1.17% vs Taos County 0.29%.
Madison County, MO
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,130/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.71% vs Taos County 0.29%.
New Mexico county set
State ACS overview for every published New Mexico county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Taos County 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 Taos County (QUIET · LIGHT) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.