Wisconsin · County property tax · ACS 2024
Vilas County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Vilas County pays $2,197 a year, an effective rate of 0.73%, notably higher than the U.S. average.
- $2,197
- Median tax / yr · Above-median bill
- 0.73%
- Effective rate · Below-median rate
- +10%
- vs U.S. average
- #72 of 72
- rank in WI
The verdict
Homeowners in Vilas County pay a median $2,197 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.73%, more affordable than 56% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $2,197
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.73%
- Effective rate on median home
- #1364 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +10%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($300,000). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Wisconsin. Population: 23,647. Owner-occupied homes: 9,367.
The median annual property tax in Vilas County is $2,197, which is 42% lower than the Wisconsin state average and 10% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.73% on a median home value of $300,000. Property taxes represent 3.2% of the median household income in this county.
Vilas County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Vilas County's 0.73% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 56%).
Decision signal 2
High among Wisconsin counties by effective rate
Vilas County ranks #72 of 72 counties in Wisconsin by effective rate (0% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 3
The bill sits below the Wisconsin median
Homeowners in Vilas County pay a median annual property tax of $2,197, notably higher than the national median and well below the Wisconsin state median. On a $300,000 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.73% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 4
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Vilas County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 3.2% of the $68,431 median household income.
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Vilas 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
Vilas County's effective rate fell 15.5% across the 4-year span while its median home value rose 41.0%, leaving the median bill 19.2% higher at $2,197. That rate move is larger than the one in 66% 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
Bills rose across 2020-2024, from $1,843 to $2,197, 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: 2,772 of 9,367 owner-occupied homes (29.6%) 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 3.2% 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 Vilas County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Vilas County homeowners, 2,772 of 9,367 owner-occupied homes (29.6%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 6.5% (612)
- $800 to $1,499 24.0% (2,249)
- $1,500 to $1,999 12.3% (1,152)
- $2,000 to $2,999 21.9% (2,048)
- $3,000 or more 29.6% (2,772)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
534 homes here (5.7%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Wisconsin handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
In Vilas County, mortgaged homeowners actually pay 11% less than those without a mortgage, a mild inversion from the national norm worth cross-checking against the historical table above.
Vilas County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Vilas County's effective rate is higher than 0% of the 72 counties in Wisconsin - ranking #72 of 72.
Where Vilas County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
0.73% more affordable than 56% 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 Wisconsin on both measures
Vilas County's effective rate runs 49% under the Wisconsin median and its bill 42% 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 $2,197 median bill reflects a genuinely lighter charge than the Wisconsin norm rather than a different denominator. Compare it against the state page before reading anything into the county rank.
Vilas County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Vilas County | Wisconsin 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 | 3.2% | - | - |
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.
Vilas County is UNDER · MID on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · Wisconsin counties.
Vilas County rate trail · UNDER
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $2,197 +1.4% | 0.73% |
| 2023 | $2,166 +2.1% | 0.80% |
| 2022 | $2,122 +9.4% | 0.83% |
| 2021 | $1,939 +5.2% | 0.88% |
| 2020 | $1,843 | 0.87% |
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.
Vilas County: tax-to-income at 3.2%
Counties near Vilas County's effective rate
On effective rate, Vilas County sits nearest Mason County (WA), Franklin County (WA), Norton city (VA).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are White Pine County (NV), Hall County (TX), Vermilion County (IL).
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
Vilas County: only 6% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 710 of 12,330 returns from Vilas County reported real estate taxes, averaging $6,245 - 34% 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 Wisconsin
Vilas County rate FAQs
- How does Vilas County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Vilas County run notably higher than the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.73% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the average property tax in Vilas County, Wisconsin?
- The median annual property tax in Vilas County is $2,197, an effective rate of 0.73% on a $300,000 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What is the tax affordability score for Vilas County?
- Vilas County, Wisconsin scores D (48/100) on PlainPropertyTax's tax affordability composite across 5 Census ACS dimensions (effective rate, bill size, income share, mortgage gap, and home-value/income). Its strongest scored dimension here is mortgage premium at A+ ($-261). 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 Vilas County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Vilas County climbed 19.2% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $1,843 to $2,197, 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 Vilas County?
- Property taxes in Vilas County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 3.2% of the $68,431 median household income.
What to do with Vilas County's UNDER rate
Inside Wisconsin, Vilas County's $2,197 median bill runs low versus the state median - check peer counties before assuming the lowest bill is the best move. Wisconsin overview →
Vilas County ranks #72 of 72 Wisconsin counties by effective rate - on the lower-burden half of the state ACS set. Wisconsin overview →
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for Vilas 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: 0.73%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $2,197/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Vilas County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Vilas County (UNDER · MID), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
UNDER MID
Union County, IA
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Vilas County at $2,197/yr; rate 1.80% vs Vilas County 0.73%.
Guthrie County, IA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $2,199/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 1.22% vs Vilas County 0.73%.
Garfield County, CO
ABS(median_tax) peer · $2,201/yr (near-tied bill ABS $4); rate 0.42% vs Vilas County 0.73%.
Lapeer County, MI
ABS(median_tax) peer · $2,202/yr (near-tied bill ABS $5); rate 0.92% vs Vilas County 0.73%.
Wisconsin county set
State ACS overview for every published Wisconsin county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Vilas 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 Vilas County (UNDER · MID) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.