Washington · County property tax · ACS 2024
Whatcom County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Whatcom County pays $4,087 a year, an effective rate of 0.70%, far above the U.S. average.
- $4,087
- Median tax / yr · Highest-decile bill
- 0.70%
- Effective rate · Below-median rate
- +105%
- vs U.S. average
- #28 of 39
- rank in WA
The verdict
Homeowners in Whatcom County pay a median $4,087 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.70%, more affordable than 60% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $4,087
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.70%
- Effective rate on median home
- #1260 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +105%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($585,800). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Washington. Population: 230,503. Owner-occupied homes: 59,904.
The median annual property tax in Whatcom County is $4,087, which is 10% lower than the Washington state average and 105% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.70% on a median home value of $585,800. Property taxes represent 5.0% of the median household income in this county.
Why Whatcom County's ACS bill runs high vs the U.S.
Primary signal
The bill sits well above the national median
Homeowners in Whatcom County pay a median annual property tax of $4,087, far above the national median and notably lower than the Washington state median. On a $585,800 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.70% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Whatcom County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 5.0% of the $81,784 median household income.
Decision signal 3
Near the middle of Washington counties by effective rate
Whatcom County ranks #28 of 39 counties in Washington by effective rate (28% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 4
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Whatcom County's 0.70% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 60%).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Whatcom 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
Whatcom County's effective rate fell 12.5% across the 4-year span while its median home value rose 58.8%, leaving the median bill 38.9% higher at $4,087. That rate move is larger than the one in 51% 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
The bill here climbed steeply over 2020-2024, up 39% from $2,943 to $4,087. 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 heaviest band is also the fullest one here: 40,201 of 59,904 owner-occupied homes (67.1%) 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.
Top-quartile earnings meet a below-median rate, putting the median bill at 5.0% of median household income. Counties in this position span a wide range on the ratio above, because the dollar bill tracks home values rather than the rate.
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 Whatcom County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Whatcom County homeowners, 40,201 of 59,904 owner-occupied homes (67.1%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 6.2% (3,734)
- $800 to $1,499 5.4% (3,232)
- $1,500 to $1,999 4.8% (2,882)
- $2,000 to $2,999 12.5% (7,491)
- $3,000 or more 67.1% (40,201)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
2,364 homes here (3.9%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Washington handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged and non-mortgaged homeowners in Whatcom County pay about the same bill, a 4% gap.
Whatcom County's bill vs state & U.S. medians
Median annual bill bars around Whatcom County's HEAVY ACS 2024 figure.
Whatcom County's median bill is 10% below the Washington median and 105% above the U.S. median.
What changed since 2020
The median bill in Whatcom County moved from $2,943 in the 2020 release to $4,087 in 2024, a change of about 39%. 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.
Whatcom County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Whatcom County | Washington Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Highest-decile bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Below-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Highest-decile income burden | 5.0% | - | - |
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.
Is Whatcom County's $4,087 median bill appeal-worthy?
At Whatcom County's $4,087 ACS median (HEAVY), a 10% assessment cut is worth about $409/yr before exemptions. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for Washington.
Whatcom County bill trail · HEAVY
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $4,087 +7.0% | 0.70% |
| 2023 | $3,819 +8.4% | 0.71% |
| 2022 | $3,523 +10.1% | 0.74% |
| 2021 | $3,199 +8.7% | 0.81% |
| 2020 | $2,943 | 0.80% |
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.
Whatcom County: tax takes 5.0% of income
Counties near Whatcom County's median bill
On effective rate, Whatcom County sits nearest Staunton city (VA), Stafford County (VA), Isle of Wight County (VA).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Webster County (NE), Henry County (IA), Jackson County (TX).
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
Whatcom County: only 8% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 8,710 of 112,120 returns from Whatcom County reported real estate taxes, averaging $6,584 - 33% 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 Washington
Whatcom County bill FAQs
- How does Whatcom County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Whatcom County run far above the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.70% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Whatcom County?
- Property taxes in Whatcom County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 5.0% of the $81,784 median household income.
- Are property taxes increasing in Whatcom County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Whatcom County jumped 38.9% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $2,943 to $4,087, 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 is the average property tax in Whatcom County, Washington?
- The median annual property tax in Whatcom County is $4,087, an effective rate of 0.70% on a $585,800 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What is the tax affordability score for Whatcom County?
- Whatcom County, Washington scores F (31/100) 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 B (+$148). 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 to do with Whatcom County's HEAVY bill
Whatcom County's $4,087 median bill sits well above the U.S. median - size a personal estimate before treating the county headline as your budget. Estimate your bill →
Whatcom County ranks #28 of 39 Washington counties by effective rate - on the lower-burden half of the state ACS set. Washington overview →
Nationwide peers by median bill (then rate)
Bill-first peers for Whatcom County's HEAVY median, then a disjoint out-of-state rate set, not the same-state geography lattice.
Similar effective rate
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS effective rate. This county: 0.70%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $4,087/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Whatcom County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Whatcom County (UNDER · HEAVY), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
UNDER HEAVY
Racine County, WI
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,099/yr (near-tied bill ABS $12); rate 1.63% vs Whatcom County 0.70%.
Pitkin County, CO
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,074/yr (near-tied bill ABS $13); rate 0.36% vs Whatcom County 0.70%.
Greene County, OH
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,071/yr (near-tied bill ABS $16); rate 1.61% vs Whatcom County 0.70%.
Genesee County, NY
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,113/yr (near-tied bill ABS $26); rate 2.41% vs Whatcom County 0.70%.
Washington county set
State ACS overview for every published Washington county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Whatcom County stamps UNDER · HEAVY - 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 Whatcom County (UNDER · HEAVY) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.