Illinois · County property tax · ACS 2024
Union County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Union County pays $1,712 a year, an effective rate of 1.30%, notably lower than the U.S. average.
- $1,712
- Median tax / yr · Above-median bill
- 1.30%
- Effective rate · High rate
- -14%
- vs U.S. average
- #97 of 102
- rank in IL
The verdict
Homeowners in Union County pay a median $1,712 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 1.30%, more affordable than 19% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $1,712
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 1.30%
- Effective rate on median home
- #2543 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -14%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($131,700). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Illinois. Population: 16,997. Owner-occupied homes: 5,319.
The median annual property tax in Union County is $1,712, which is 68% lower than the Illinois state average and 14% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 1.30% on a median home value of $131,700. Property taxes represent 3.1% of the median household income in this county.
Union County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Union County's 1.30% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 19%).
Decision signal 2
The bill sits below the Illinois median
Homeowners in Union County pay a median annual property tax of $1,712, notably lower than the national median and far below the Illinois state median. On a $131,700 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 1.30% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 3
High among Illinois counties by effective rate
Union County ranks #97 of 102 counties in Illinois by effective rate (5% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 4
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Union County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 3.1% of the $55,728 median household income.
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Union 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.
A falling rate took the edge off
Union County's effective rate fell 17.2% across the 4-year span while its median home value rose 19.2%, leaving the median bill 1.3% lower at $1,712. That rate move is larger than the one in 73% of counties, so a good deal of the market's rise never reached the bill.
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 $1,735 in 2020 to $1,712 in 2024, a fall of 1%. The source reports the change but does not distinguish among rate, value, or household-composition effects.
The heaviest band is also the fullest one here: 1,246 of 5,319 owner-occupied homes (23.4%) 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.
This is the least forgiving PAIRING in the data, bottom-quartile household income with a top-quartile effective rate, putting the median bill at 3.1% of median household income. Neither figure is remarkable on its own; the combination is, and the ratio above is the only part of it a household actually feels.
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 Union County fell from $1,735 to $1,712, a change of -1.3%. 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 Union County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Union County homeowners, 1,246 of 5,319 owner-occupied homes (23.4%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 21.6% (1,150)
- $800 to $1,499 19.8% (1,051)
- $1,500 to $1,999 11.8% (628)
- $2,000 to $2,999 16.2% (860)
- $3,000 or more 23.4% (1,246)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
384 homes here (7.2%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Illinois handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in Union County pay more than double the bill of those without one (+82%), the widest kind of value gap this dataset tracks.
Union County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Union County's effective rate is higher than 5% of the 102 counties in Illinois - ranking #97 of 102.
Where Union County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
1.30% more affordable than 19% 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 Illinois on both measures
Union County's effective rate runs 35% under the Illinois median and its bill 68% 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 $1,712 median bill reflects a genuinely lighter charge than the Illinois norm rather than a different denominator. Compare it against the state page before reading anything into the county rank.
Union County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Union County | Illinois Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Above-median bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate High rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Above-median income burden | 3.1% | - | - |
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.
Union County's STEEP · MID lane - is an appeal worth running?
On Union County's published figures (STEEP · MID), a $131,700 median home carries a $1,712 median bill, so every 10% off an assessed value is worth about $171 a year at the same rate. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for Illinois.
Union County rate trail · STEEP
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $1,712 -7.5% | 1.30% |
| 2023 | $1,851 +2.2% | 1.41% |
| 2022 | $1,812 +2.2% | 1.40% |
| 2021 | $1,773 +2.2% | 1.62% |
| 2020 | $1,735 | 1.57% |
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.
Union County: tax-to-income at 3.1%
Counties near Union County's effective rate
On effective rate, Union County sits nearest Clinch County (GA), Fayette County (IA), Cheyenne County (KS).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Storey County (NV), Chattahoochee County (GA), Stanton County (KS).
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
Union County: only 2% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 180 of 7,470 returns from Union County reported real estate taxes, averaging $4,106 - 39% 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 Illinois
Union County rate FAQs
- How does Union County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Union County run notably lower than the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 1.30% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the tax affordability score for Union County?
- Union County, Illinois scores F (32/100) 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 housing pressure at B+ (2.36×). 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 Union County, Illinois?
- The median annual property tax in Union County is $1,712, an effective rate of 1.30% on a $131,700 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Union County?
- Property taxes in Union County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 3.1% of the $55,728 median household income.
- Are property taxes increasing in Union County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Union County held roughly steady, down 1.3% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $1,735 to $1,712, 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 Union County's STEEP rate
Inside Illinois, Union County's $1,712 median bill runs low versus the state median - check peer counties before assuming the lowest bill is the best move. Illinois overview →
Union County ranks #97 of 102 Illinois counties by effective rate - on the lower-burden half of the state ACS set. Illinois overview →
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for Union County's STEEP 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: 1.30%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $1,712/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Union County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Union County (STEEP · MID), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
STEEP MID
Logan County, NE
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Union County at $1,712/yr; rate 0.98% vs Union County 1.30%.
Chippewa County, MN
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,711/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 1.10% vs Union County 1.30%.
Colfax County, NE
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,710/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 1.18% vs Union County 1.30%.
Sully County, SD
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,715/yr (near-tied bill ABS $3); rate 0.83% vs Union County 1.30%.
Illinois county set
State ACS overview for every published Illinois county rate and median bill.
Appeal filing windows
Union County stamps STEEP · MID - 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 Union County (STEEP · MID) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.