Texas · County property tax · ACS 2024
Ward County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Ward County pays $965 a year, an effective rate of 0.64%, far below the U.S. average.
- $965
- Median tax / yr · Low bill
- 0.64%
- Effective rate · Below-median rate
- -52%
- vs U.S. average
- #246 of 250
- rank in TX
The verdict
Homeowners in Ward County pay a median $965 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.64%, more affordable than 67% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $965
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.64%
- Effective rate on median home
- #1040 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -52%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($150,700). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Tax affordability score · Ward County, TX
67/100
5 ACS dimensions · release 2024
Comparative score against U.S. county percentiles on Census ACS medians (effective rate, bill, income share, mortgage gap, home-value/income). Higher means more affordable on those published medians, not a recommendation to buy, sell, appeal, or move, and not your personal tax bill. Missing inputs drop out and redistribute weight. How it is calculated.
Median tax as a share of Ward County's median household income
Ward County's median annual property-tax bill vs U.S. counties
Median home value relative to Ward County's median income
Ward County's effective rate vs U.S. county percentiles (ACS 2024)
Mortgaged vs free-and-clear median bill gap in Ward County
Read the chart values
- Income room: 85/100 (A) · 1.5%
- Bill size: 79/100 (B+) · $965/yr
- Housing pressure: 79/100 (B+) · 2.28×
- Rate relief: 67/100 (B-) · 0.64%
- Mortgage premium: 15/100 (F) · +$812
Track this county alongside up to five others. Saved figures refresh when the annual source data changes.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Texas. Population: 11,144. Owner-occupied homes: 3,445.
The median annual property tax in Ward County is $965, which is 77% lower than the Texas state average and 52% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.64% on a median home value of $150,700. Property taxes represent 1.5% of the median household income in this county.
What This Data Tells Us About Ward County
Primary signal
The bill sits well below the national median
Homeowners in Ward County pay a median annual property tax of $965, far below the national median and far below the Texas state median. On a $150,700 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.64% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
High among Texas counties by effective rate
Ward County ranks #246 of 250 counties in Texas by effective rate (2% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 3
Income carries a light tax share
Property taxes in Ward County run well below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.5% of the $65,952 median household income.
Decision signal 4
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Ward County's 0.64% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 67%).
Decision signal 5
The latest release moved the bill up
Since 2023, the published ACS median estimate has climbed 15.8%, from $833 to $965. This compares two release estimates; it does not identify a local policy, assessment, exemption, or household-bill cause.
This page is for informational purposes only and is not tax, legal, or financial advice. Figures describe the median homeowner household in Ward County as reported to the Census Bureau, your own bill can differ based on your parcel's assessed value, exemptions, special districts, and municipal overlays. Always consult your county assessor, tax collector, or a qualified professional before making decisions that depend on these numbers.
How to read this county's bill
The bill here climbed steeply over 2020-2024, up 143% from $397 to $965. 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 largest reported group here falls at the bottom of the national range: 1,495 of 3,445 owner-occupied homes (43.4%) report annual real-estate taxes under $800. This distribution describes reported owner-occupied homes, not an affordability judgment for any property.
Above-median earnings meet a slightly-below-median rate, and the median bill amounts to 1.5% 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 Ward County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Ward County homeowners, 1,495 of 3,445 owner-occupied homes (43.4%), pays less than $800 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 43.4% (1,495)
- $800 to $1,499 21.5% (742)
- $1,500 to $1,999 9.2% (318)
- $2,000 to $2,999 5.5% (189)
- $3,000 or more 15.9% (549)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
152 homes here (4.4%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Texas handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in Ward County pay more than double the bill of those without one (+108%), the widest kind of value gap this dataset tracks.
How Ward County compares
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Ward County's effective rate is higher than 2% of the 250 counties in Texas - ranking #246 of 250 for property tax burden.
Where Ward County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
0.64% Among the most affordable more affordable than 67% 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 Ward County moved from $397 in the 2020 release to $965 in 2024, a change of about 143%. 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.
Ward County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Ward County | Texas Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Low bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Below-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Light income burden | 1.5% | - | - |
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.
Ward County stamps QUIET · LIGHT - still check the parcel card
On Ward County's published figures (QUIET · LIGHT), a $150,700 median home carries a $965 median bill, so every 10% off an assessed value is worth about $97 a year at the same rate. Whether an appeal is worth filing depends on your own parcel. Use our free Appeal Savings Estimator to run your own numbers, then read our step-by-step appeal guide for the procedure in Texas.
Property Tax History · QUIET · LIGHT
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $965 +15.8% | 0.64% |
| 2023 | $833 +48.2% | 0.60% |
| 2022 | $562 +35.1% | 0.48% |
| 2021 | $416 +4.8% | 0.40% |
| 2020 | $397 | 0.40% |
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.
Tax Burden
Tax Affordability Score
An effective rate well below the national average of 0.92% puts Ward County in the "Very Affordable" band for property tax burden.
How this score is calculated: a 1-10 scale derived mechanically from the ratio of this county's effective rate to the national average effective rate (0.92%) - a ratio at or below 0.5× scores 10, a ratio at or above 2.0× scores 1, with a linear scale between. It is a factual comparison of Census figures only, not a recommendation, quality rating, or endorsement of Ward County or any other county.
Counties with similar tax profiles
On effective rate, Ward County sits nearest Crook County (OR), Harper County (OK), Bryan County (OK).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Lincoln County (CO), San Miguel County (CO), De Soto Parish (LA).
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
What tax filers report in Ward County
Of the 5,090 federal returns filed from Ward County in 2022, 100 (2.0% of filers) itemised and reported real estate taxes on Schedule A, averaging $4,430 each. The largest group was filers with adjusted gross income of $100-200k, who accounted for 50% of the county's reporting returns.
Two things this does not say. The amount is what filers reported, recorded before the $10,000 cap on combined state and local tax deductions applies, so it is not the amount deducted. And the share is of everyone who files a return, not of homeowners: most filers now take the standard deduction, so a minority itemise at all. Source: IRS Statistics of Income county data, tax year 2022.
Other Counties in Texas
Frequently Asked Questions
Are property taxes increasing in Ward County? ▼
How does Ward County property tax compare to the national average? ▼
What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Ward County? ▼
What is the average property tax in Ward County, Texas? ▼
What is the tax affordability score for Ward County? ▼
What to do with Ward County's numbers
- Ward County's $965 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 1.5% of Ward County's $65,952 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
- Ward County ranks #246 of 250 Texas counties by effective rate - on the lower-burden half of the state ACS set. Texas overview →
- If Ward County's assessment looks high versus the $150,700 typical home, check Texas's filing window and evidence rules before the notice deadline passes. How to appeal →
Effective-rate definition
Effective rate is the county median tax divided by the county median home value ($150,700); your parcel's assessed value, exemptions, and local levies determine your actual bill. U.S. Census Bureau ACS · 2024.
Nationwide peers by effective rate & median bill
Two PlainPropertyTax-derived comparison paths for Ward County, both outside Texas so the link neighborhoods are not the same-state geography lattice. Axes stay disjoint: median-bill peers exclude the effective-rate peer set.
Similar effective rate
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS effective rate. This county: 0.64%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $965/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Ward County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Ward County (QUIET · LIGHT), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
QUIET LIGHT
Hart County, KY
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Ward County at $965/yr; rate 0.66% vs Ward County 0.64%.
Madison County, FL
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Ward County at $965/yr; rate 0.83% vs Ward County 0.64%.
Greenwood County, SC
ABS(median_tax) peer · $964/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.53% vs Ward County 0.64%.
Jones County, NC
ABS(median_tax) peer · $964/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.74% vs Ward County 0.64%.
Texas county set
State ACS overview for every published Texas county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Ward 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.
Share and download this county card
Editorial standards and provenance
PlainPropertyTax is rendered directly from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on the Census ACS county-level record for Ward County. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-09.