California · County property tax · ACS 2024
Tulare County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Tulare County pays $2,318 a year, an effective rate of 0.70%, notably higher than the U.S. average.
- $2,318
- Median tax / yr · Above-median bill
- 0.70%
- Effective rate · Below-median rate
- +16%
- vs U.S. average
- #30 of 58
- rank in CA
The verdict
Homeowners in Tulare County pay a median $2,318 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.70%, more affordable than 60% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $2,318
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.70%
- Effective rate on median home
- #1260 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +16%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($330,100). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for California. Population: 478,693. Owner-occupied homes: 83,701.
The median annual property tax in Tulare County is $2,318, which is 55% lower than the California state average and 16% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.70% on a median home value of $330,100. Property taxes represent 3.3% of the median household income in this county.
Tulare County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Tulare County's 0.70% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 60%).
Decision signal 2
The bill sits below the California median
Homeowners in Tulare County pay a median annual property tax of $2,318, notably higher than the national median and far below the California state median. On a $330,100 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.70% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 3
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Tulare County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 3.3% of the $71,300 median household income.
Decision signal 4
Near the middle of California counties by effective rate
Tulare County ranks #30 of 58 counties in California by effective rate (48% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Tulare 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 held while the market moved
Tulare County sits in the quarter of U.S. counties whose effective rate moved least over this span: 5.8% down, against a median home value that rose 47.6%.
A near-steady rate on a moving market passes that movement straight through: the median bill rose 39.1%, from $1,667 to $2,318.
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
The bill here climbed steeply over 2020-2024, up 39% from $1,667 to $2,318. 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: 28,023 of 83,701 owner-occupied homes (33.5%) 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.
Above-median earnings meet a slightly-below-median rate, and the median bill amounts to 3.3% of median household income. That is the comfortable middle of this dataset, and comfortable middles are easy to overlook when only rankings get published.
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 Tulare County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Tulare County homeowners, 28,023 of 83,701 owner-occupied homes (33.5%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 9.1% (7,583)
- $800 to $1,499 18.0% (15,086)
- $1,500 to $1,999 13.7% (11,457)
- $2,000 to $2,999 20.0% (16,743)
- $3,000 or more 33.5% (28,023)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
4,809 homes here (5.7%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how California handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in Tulare County pay a substantially higher bill, 48% more, pointing to a wide home-value gap between the two groups.
Tulare County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Tulare County's effective rate is higher than 48% of the 58 counties in California - ranking #30 of 58.
Where Tulare County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
0.70% Among the most affordable more affordable than 60% 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 Tulare County moved from $1,667 in the 2020 release to $2,318 in 2024, a change of about 39%. 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.
Tulare County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Tulare County | California Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Above-median bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Below-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Above-median income burden | 3.3% | - | - |
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.
Tulare County is UNDER · MID on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · California counties.
Tulare County rate trail · UNDER
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $2,318 +4.7% | 0.70% |
| 2023 | $2,213 +7.8% | 0.73% |
| 2022 | $2,053 +11.6% | 0.73% |
| 2021 | $1,839 +10.3% | 0.76% |
| 2020 | $1,667 | 0.75% |
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.
Tulare County: tax-to-income at 3.3%
Counties near Tulare County's effective rate
On effective rate, Tulare County sits nearest Pinellas County (FL), Baldwin County (GA), Bartow County (GA).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Madison County (ID), Transylvania County (NC), McLeod County (MN).
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
Tulare County: only 6% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 11,790 of 196,220 returns from Tulare County reported real estate taxes, averaging $4,287 - 37% 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 California
Tulare County rate FAQs
- How does Tulare County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Tulare County run notably higher than the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.70% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the tax affordability score for Tulare County?
- Tulare County, California scores F (34/100) 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 C+ (0.70%). 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 Tulare County, California?
- The median annual property tax in Tulare County is $2,318, an effective rate of 0.70% on a $330,100 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- Are property taxes increasing in Tulare County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Tulare County jumped 39.1% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $1,667 to $2,318, 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 percentage of income goes to property taxes in Tulare County?
- Property taxes in Tulare County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 3.3% of the $71,300 median household income.
What to do with Tulare County's UNDER rate
Inside California, Tulare County's $2,318 median bill runs low versus the state median - check peer counties before assuming the lowest bill is the best move. California overview →
Tulare County ranks #30 of 58 California counties by effective rate - on the lower-burden half of the state ACS set. California overview →
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for Tulare County's UNDER 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: 0.70%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $2,318/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Tulare County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Tulare County (UNDER · MID), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
UNDER MID
Stillwater County, MT
ABS(median_tax) peer · $2,319/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.57% vs Tulare County 0.70%.
Cascade County, MT
ABS(median_tax) peer · $2,320/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 0.87% vs Tulare County 0.70%.
Salem city, VA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $2,316/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 0.90% vs Tulare County 0.70%.
De Witt County, IL
ABS(median_tax) peer · $2,322/yr (near-tied bill ABS $4); rate 1.78% vs Tulare County 0.70%.
California county set
State ACS overview for every published California county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Tulare County stamps UNDER · 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 Tulare County (UNDER · MID) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.