Missouri · County property tax · ACS 2024
Wayne County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Wayne County pays $563 a year, an effective rate of 0.52%, far below the U.S. average.
- $563
- Median tax / yr · Very low bill
- 0.52%
- Effective rate · Low rate
- -72%
- vs U.S. average
- #100 of 115
- rank in MO
The verdict
Homeowners in Wayne County pay a median $563 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.52%, more affordable than 81% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $563
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.52%
- Effective rate on median home
- #580 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -72%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($107,400). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Tax affordability score · Wayne County, MO
86/100
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.
Wayne County's median annual property-tax bill vs U.S. counties
Median tax as a share of Wayne County's median household income
Wayne County's effective rate vs U.S. county percentiles (ACS 2024)
Median home value relative to Wayne County's median income
Mortgaged vs free-and-clear median bill gap in Wayne County
Read the chart values
- Bill size: 96/100 (A+) · $563/yr
- Income room: 94/100 (A+) · 1.2%
- Rate relief: 81/100 (A-) · 0.52%
- Housing pressure: 79/100 (B+) · 2.27×
- Mortgage premium: 76/100 (B+) · +$115
Track this county alongside up to five others. Saved figures refresh when the annual source data changes.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Missouri. Population: 10,862. Owner-occupied homes: 3,471.
The median annual property tax in Wayne County is $563, which is 71% lower than the Missouri state average and 72% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.52% on a median home value of $107,400. Property taxes represent 1.2% of the median household income in this county.
What This Data Tells Us About Wayne County
Primary signal
The bill sits well below the national median
Homeowners in Wayne County pay a median annual property tax of $563, far below the national median and far below the Missouri state median. On a $107,400 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.52% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
High among Missouri counties by effective rate
Wayne County ranks #100 of 115 counties in Missouri by effective rate (13% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 3
Income carries a light tax share
Property taxes in Wayne County run well below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.2% of the $47,226 median household income.
Decision signal 4
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Wayne County's 0.52% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 81%).
This page is for informational purposes only and is not tax, legal, or financial advice. Figures describe the median homeowner household in Wayne 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.
A falling rate took the edge off
Wayne County's effective rate fell 13.7% across the 4-year span while its median home value rose 15.2%, leaving the median bill 0.5% lower at $563. That rate move is larger than the one in 58% 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 $566 in 2020 to $563 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: 2,177 of 3,471 owner-occupied homes (62.7%) report annual real-estate taxes under $800. This distribution describes reported owner-occupied homes, not an affordability judgment for any property.
Both sides of this comparison sit low: household income here is in the bottom quarter of US counties, and so is the effective tax rate. The median bill works out at 1.2% of median household income, which is the arithmetic of a modest levy on modest earnings rather than of any deliberate relief.
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 Wayne County fell from $566 to $563, a change of -0.5%. 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 Wayne County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Wayne County homeowners, 2,177 of 3,471 owner-occupied homes (62.7%), pays less than $800 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 62.7% (2,177)
- $800 to $1,499 23.9% (829)
- $1,500 to $1,999 6.6% (230)
- $2,000 to $2,999 2.1% (72)
- $3,000 or more 1.3% (44)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
119 homes here (3.4%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Missouri handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
In Wayne County, mortgaged homeowners pay 22% more than those without a mortgage, a gap that typically tracks higher home values rather than a different tax rate.
How Wayne County compares
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Wayne County's effective rate is higher than 13% of the 115 counties in Missouri - ranking #100 of 115 for property tax burden.
Where Wayne County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
0.52% Among the most affordable more affordable than 81% 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 Missouri on both measures
Wayne County's effective rate runs 39% under the Missouri median and its bill 71% 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 $563 median bill reflects a genuinely lighter charge than the Missouri norm rather than a different denominator. Compare it against the state page before reading anything into the county rank.
Wayne County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Wayne County | Missouri Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Very 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.
Wayne County stamps QUIET · LIGHT - still check the parcel card
On Wayne County's published figures (QUIET · LIGHT), a $107,400 median home carries a $563 median bill, so every 10% off an assessed value is worth about $56 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 Missouri.
Property Tax History · QUIET · LIGHT
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $563 -0.4% | 0.52% |
| 2023 | $565 -5.5% | 0.50% |
| 2022 | $598 +0.0% | 0.54% |
| 2021 | $598 +5.7% | 0.59% |
| 2020 | $566 | 0.61% |
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 Wayne 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 Wayne County or any other county.
Counties with similar tax profiles
On effective rate, Wayne County sits nearest Jefferson Parish (LA), Clinton County (KY), Wabash County (IN).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are LaSalle Parish (LA), Edwards County (KS), Sunflower County (MS).
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 Wayne County
Of the 4,700 federal returns filed from Wayne County in 2022, 60 (1.3% of filers) itemised and reported real estate taxes on Schedule A, averaging $1,533 each. The largest group was filers with adjusted gross income of $50-75k, 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 Missouri
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Wayne County property tax compare to the national average? ▼
What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Wayne County? ▼
What is the tax affordability score for Wayne County? ▼
What is the average property tax in Wayne County, Missouri? ▼
Are property taxes increasing in Wayne County? ▼
What to do with Wayne County's numbers
- Wayne County's $563 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 Wayne County's $47,226 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
- Wayne County ranks #100 of 115 Missouri counties by effective rate - on the lower-burden half of the state ACS set. Missouri overview →
- If Wayne County's assessment looks high versus the $107,400 typical home, check Missouri'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 ($107,400); 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 Wayne County, both outside Missouri 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: 0.52%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $563/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Wayne County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Wayne County (QUIET · LIGHT), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
QUIET LIGHT
Choctaw County, MS
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Wayne County at $563/yr; rate 0.48% vs Wayne County 0.52%.
Kemper County, MS
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Wayne County at $563/yr; rate 0.57% vs Wayne County 0.52%.
Leslie County, KY
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Wayne County at $563/yr; rate 0.82% vs Wayne County 0.52%.
Barbour County, WV
ABS(median_tax) peer · $562/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.43% vs Wayne County 0.52%.
Missouri county set
State ACS overview for every published Missouri county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Wayne 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 Wayne County. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-09.