New Mexico · County property tax · ACS 2024
Torrance County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Torrance County pays $719 a year, an effective rate of 0.45%, far below the U.S. average.
- $719
- Median tax / yr · Low bill
- 0.45%
- Effective rate · Low rate
- -64%
- vs U.S. average
- #29 of 33
- rank in NM
The verdict
Homeowners in Torrance County pay a median $719 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.45%, more affordable than 89% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $719
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.45%
- Effective rate on median home
- #359 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -64%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($159,700). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for New Mexico. Population: 15,490. Owner-occupied homes: 4,947.
The median annual property tax in Torrance County is $719, which is 58% lower than the New Mexico state average and 64% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.45% on a median home value of $159,700. Property taxes represent 1.2% of the median household income in this county.
Torrance County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Torrance County's 0.45% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 89%).
Decision signal 2
The bill sits well below the national median
Homeowners in Torrance County pay a median annual property tax of $719, far below the national median and far below the New Mexico state median. On a $159,700 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.45% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 3
High among New Mexico counties by effective rate
Torrance County ranks #29 of 33 counties in New Mexico by effective rate (12% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 4
Income carries a light tax share
Property taxes in Torrance County run well below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.2% of the $57,842 median household income.
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Torrance 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 Torrance County rose 38.3%, from $115,500 to $159,700. The effective rate fell 28.2% over the same span, a steeper move than in 96% of U.S. counties.
The median bill still fell 0.7%, to $719. 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 $724 in 2020 to $719 in 2024, a fall of 1%. 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: 2,727 of 4,947 owner-occupied homes (55.1%) 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 1.2% 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 Torrance County fell from $724 to $719, a change of -0.7%. 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 Torrance County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Torrance County homeowners, 2,727 of 4,947 owner-occupied homes (55.1%), pays less than $800 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 55.1% (2,727)
- $800 to $1,499 24.2% (1,199)
- $1,500 to $1,999 7.7% (379)
- $2,000 to $2,999 4.6% (228)
- $3,000 or more 3.4% (170)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
244 homes here (4.9%) 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 Torrance County pay a substantially higher bill, 50% more, pointing to a wide home-value gap between the two groups.
Torrance County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Torrance County's effective rate is higher than 12% of the 33 counties in New Mexico - ranking #29 of 33.
Where Torrance County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
0.45% Among the most affordable more affordable than 89% 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
Below New Mexico on both measures
Torrance County's effective rate runs 36% under the New Mexico median and its bill 58% under. Both sitting on the same side means the gap is not a valuation artefact: a county can post a low rate purely because its homes are expensive, but then the bill rises to meet the state. Here it does not, so the $719 median bill reflects a genuinely lighter charge than the New Mexico norm rather than a different denominator. Compare it against the state page before reading anything into the county rank.
Torrance County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Torrance County | New Mexico Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Low bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Low rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Very light income burden | 1.2% | - | - |
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.
Torrance County is QUIET · LIGHT on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · New Mexico counties.
Torrance County rate trail · QUIET
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $719 +6.2% | 0.45% |
| 2023 | $677 -5.4% | 0.47% |
| 2022 | $716 +4.1% | 0.54% |
| 2021 | $688 -5.0% | 0.57% |
| 2020 | $724 | 0.63% |
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.
Torrance County: tax takes only 1.2% of income
Counties near Torrance County's effective rate
On effective rate, Torrance County sits nearest Nye County (NV), Douglas County (NV), Judith Basin County (MT).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Edwards County (KS), LaSalle Parish (LA), Wayne County (MO).
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
Torrance County: only 2% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 150 of 6,560 returns from Torrance County reported real estate taxes, averaging $2,533 - 33% 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
Torrance County rate FAQs
- How does Torrance County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Torrance County run far below the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.45% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the tax affordability score for Torrance County?
- Torrance County, New Mexico scores A- (81/100) 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 income room at A+ (1.2%). 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 Torrance County, New Mexico?
- The median annual property tax in Torrance County is $719, an effective rate of 0.45% on a $159,700 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Torrance County?
- Property taxes in Torrance County run well below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.2% of the $57,842 median household income.
- Are property taxes increasing in Torrance County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Torrance County held roughly steady, down 0.7% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $724 to $719, 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 Torrance County's QUIET rate
Torrance County's $719 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 1.2% of Torrance County's $57,842 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for Torrance 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: 0.45%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $719/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Torrance County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Torrance County (QUIET · LIGHT), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
QUIET LIGHT
Washington County, MO
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Torrance County at $719/yr; rate 0.56% vs Torrance County 0.45%.
Benton County, MS
ABS(median_tax) peer · $720/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.69% vs Torrance County 0.45%.
Columbia County, AR
ABS(median_tax) peer · $718/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.47% vs Torrance County 0.45%.
Morgan County, AL
ABS(median_tax) peer · $718/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.34% vs Torrance County 0.45%.
Appling County (rate-lane contrast)
Near Torrance County on ACS median bill yet stamps a different effective-rate lane (0.94% vs 0.45%).
New Mexico county set
State ACS overview for every published New Mexico county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Torrance 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 Torrance County (QUIET · LIGHT) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.