New York · County property tax · ACS 2024
Tompkins County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Tompkins County pays $6,515 a year, an effective rate of 2.24%, far above the U.S. average.
- $6,515
- Median tax / yr · Highest-decile bill
- 2.24%
- Effective rate · Highest-decile rate
- +227%
- vs U.S. average
- #22 of 62
- rank in NY
The verdict
Homeowners in Tompkins County pay a median $6,515 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 2.24%, more affordable than 1% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $6,515
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 2.24%
- Effective rate on median home
- #3095 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +227%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($290,900). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for New York. Population: 104,537. Owner-occupied homes: 23,422.
The median annual property tax in Tompkins County is $6,515, which is 1% lower than the New York state average and 227% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 2.24% on a median home value of $290,900. Property taxes represent 8.8% of the median household income in this county.
Why Tompkins County's ACS bill runs high vs the U.S.
Primary signal
The bill sits well above the national median
Homeowners in Tompkins County pay a median annual property tax of $6,515, far above the national median and roughly in line with the New York state median. On a $290,900 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 2.24% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
Income carries a heavy tax share
Property taxes in Tompkins County run well above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 8.8% of the $74,024 median household income.
Decision signal 3
The effective rate is a national headwind
Tompkins County's 2.24% effective rate is among the highest of 3,135 tracked counties: only about 99% pay more.
Decision signal 4
Near the middle of New York counties by effective rate
Tompkins County ranks #22 of 62 counties in New York by effective rate (65% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Tompkins 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.
Most of the market's rise reached the bill
The effective rate here moved 10.4% down between 2020 and 2024, a smaller shift than in 58% of U.S. counties. With the median home value rose 33.0%, the median bill rose 19.2% to $6,515: the rate did comparatively little to offset the market.
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 $5,466 to $6,515, a gain of 19%. 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: 18,615 of 23,422 owner-occupied homes (79.5%) 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.
The rate is in the national top quarter while earnings are only moderately above the midpoint, so the median bill claims 8.8% of median household income. A high rate is affordable only relative to something, and this is what it is relative to 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 Tompkins County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Tompkins County homeowners, 18,615 of 23,422 owner-occupied homes (79.5%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 1.3% (302)
- $800 to $1,499 4.3% (997)
- $1,500 to $1,999 3.2% (756)
- $2,000 to $2,999 5.3% (1,252)
- $3,000 or more 79.5% (18,615)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
1,500 homes here (6.4%) 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 Tompkins County pay about the same bill, a 7% gap.
Tompkins County's bill vs state & U.S. medians
Median annual bill bars around Tompkins County's SPIKE ACS 2024 figure.
Tompkins County's median bill is 1% below the New York median and 227% above the U.S. median.
Among the highest-taxed counties in the country
At 2.24%, Tompkins County sits in the top 1% 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 $6,515 median bill is the number to compare against another county.
Tompkins County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Tompkins 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 | 8.8% | - | - |
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 Tompkins County's $6,515 median bill appeal-worthy?
At Tompkins County's $6,515 ACS median (SPIKE), a 10% assessment cut is worth about $652/yr before exemptions. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for New York.
Tompkins County bill trail · SPIKE
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $6,515 +2.2% | 2.24% |
| 2023 | $6,374 +2.3% | 2.35% |
| 2022 | $6,229 +8.1% | 2.36% |
| 2021 | $5,761 +5.4% | 2.52% |
| 2020 | $5,466 | 2.50% |
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.
Tompkins County: tax takes 8.8% of income
Counties near Tompkins County's median bill
On effective rate, Tompkins County sits nearest Will County (IL), Peoria County (IL), Kane County (IL).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Vermilion County (IL), White Pine County (NV), Vilas County (WI).
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
Tompkins County: only 6% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 2,420 of 41,050 returns from Tompkins County reported real estate taxes, averaging $10,596 - 31% 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
Tompkins County bill FAQs
- How does Tompkins County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Tompkins County run far above the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 2.24% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Tompkins County?
- Property taxes in Tompkins County run well above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 8.8% of the $74,024 median household income.
- What is the average property tax in Tompkins County, New York?
- The median annual property tax in Tompkins County is $6,515, an effective rate of 2.24% on a $290,900 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What is the tax affordability score for Tompkins County?
- Tompkins County, New York scores F (7/100) 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 mortgage premium at F (+$459). 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 Tompkins County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Tompkins County climbed 19.2% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $5,466 to $6,515, 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 Tompkins County's SPIKE bill
Tompkins County's $6,515 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 8.8% of Tompkins County's $74,024 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by median bill (then rate)
Bill-first peers for Tompkins 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: 2.24%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $6,515/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Tompkins County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Tompkins County (PEAK · SPIKE), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
PEAK SPIKE
Fairfax city, VA
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Tompkins County at $6,515/yr; rate 0.90% vs Tompkins County 2.24%.
Plymouth County, MA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $6,502/yr (near-tied bill ABS $13); rate 1.17% vs Tompkins County 2.24%.
Santa Cruz County, CA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $6,538/yr (near-tied bill ABS $23); rate 0.64% vs Tompkins County 2.24%.
Ocean County, NJ
ABS(median_tax) peer · $6,562/yr (near-tied bill ABS $47); rate 1.65% vs Tompkins County 2.24%.
New York county set
State ACS overview for every published New York county rate and median bill.
Appeal filing windows
Tompkins County stamps PEAK · 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 Tompkins County (PEAK · SPIKE) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.