West Virginia · County property tax · ACS 2024
Wayne County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Wayne County pays $594 a year, an effective rate of 0.47%, far below the U.S. average.
- $594
- Median tax / yr · Very low bill
- 0.47%
- Effective rate · Low rate
- -70%
- vs U.S. average
- #33 of 55
- rank in WV
The verdict
Homeowners in Wayne County pay a median $594 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.47%, more affordable than 87% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $594
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.47%
- Effective rate on median home
- #418 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -70%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($127,100). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for West Virginia. Population: 38,164. Owner-occupied homes: 12,388.
The median annual property tax in Wayne County is $594, which is 31% lower than the West Virginia state average and 70% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.47% on a median home value of $127,100. Property taxes represent 1.0% of the median household income in this county.
Wayne County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Wayne County's 0.47% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 87%).
Decision signal 2
The bill sits well below the national median
Homeowners in Wayne County pay a median annual property tax of $594, far below the national median and well below the West Virginia state median. On a $127,100 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.47% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
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 1.0% of the $58,878 median household income.
Decision signal 4
Near the middle of West Virginia counties by effective rate
Wayne County ranks #33 of 55 counties in West Virginia by effective rate (40% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Wayne 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 gave way faster than almost anywhere
Between the 2020 and 2024 releases the median home value in Wayne County rose 22.4%, from $103,800 to $127,100. The effective rate fell 19.1% over the same span, a steeper move than in 80% of U.S. counties.
The median bill still fell 1.0%, to $594. Where the rate drops this far and the bill rises anyway, what changed is the value the rate is applied to.
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 $600 in 2020 to $594 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: 6,931 of 12,388 owner-occupied homes (55.9%) report annual real-estate taxes under $800. This distribution describes reported owner-occupied homes, not an affordability judgment for any property.
Household income sits in the second quarter nationally and the effective rate in the lowest, so the median bill takes 1.0% of median household income. Both figures point the same way, which is unusual enough that the ratio above is worth reading rather than assumed.
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 $600 to $594, a change of -1.0%. 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, 6,931 of 12,388 owner-occupied homes (55.9%), pays less than $800 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 55.9% (6,931)
- $800 to $1,499 24.2% (2,993)
- $1,500 to $1,999 5.4% (674)
- $2,000 to $2,999 3.6% (452)
- $3,000 or more 1.7% (206)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
1,132 homes here (9.1%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how West Virginia handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in Wayne County pay more than double the bill of those without one (+86%), the widest kind of value gap this dataset tracks.
Wayne County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Wayne County's effective rate is higher than 40% of the 55 counties in West Virginia - ranking #33 of 55.
Where Wayne County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
0.47% Among the most affordable more affordable than 87% 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
Wayne County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Wayne County | West Virginia 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 | 1.0% | - | - |
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 is QUIET · LIGHT on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · West Virginia counties.
Wayne County rate trail · QUIET
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $594 +0.8% | 0.47% |
| 2023 | $589 -3.4% | 0.47% |
| 2022 | $610 +4.6% | 0.53% |
| 2021 | $583 -2.8% | 0.55% |
| 2020 | $600 | 0.58% |
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.
Wayne County: tax takes only 1.0% of income
Counties near Wayne County's effective rate
On effective rate, Wayne County sits nearest Northumberland County (VA), Henry County (VA), Dickenson County (VA).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Edgar County (IL), Stanton County (KS), Chattahoochee County (GA).
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
Wayne County: only 1% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 200 of 15,200 returns from Wayne County reported real estate taxes, averaging $1,870 - 35% 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 West Virginia
Wayne County rate FAQs
- How does Wayne County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Wayne County run far below the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.47% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the tax affordability score for Wayne County?
- Wayne County, West Virginia scores A- (84/100) 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 income room at A+ (1.0%). 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 Wayne County, West Virginia?
- The median annual property tax in Wayne County is $594, an effective rate of 0.47% on a $127,100 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Wayne County?
- Property taxes in Wayne County run well below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.0% of the $58,878 median household income.
- Are property taxes increasing in Wayne County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Wayne County held roughly steady, down 1.0% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $600 to $594, 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 Wayne County's QUIET rate
Wayne County's $594 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 1.0% of Wayne County's $58,878 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for Wayne County's QUIET 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: 0.47%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $594/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
Iberia Parish, LA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $593/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.36% vs Wayne County 0.47%.
Lee County, VA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $595/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.60% vs Wayne County 0.47%.
Alfalfa County, OK
ABS(median_tax) peer · $592/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 0.58% vs Wayne County 0.47%.
Cross County, AR
ABS(median_tax) peer · $596/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 0.51% vs Wayne County 0.47%.
West Virginia county set
State ACS overview for every published West Virginia 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.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, county median real-estate taxes · 2024 Wayne County (QUIET · LIGHT) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.