Texas · County property tax · ACS 2024
Zapata County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Zapata County pays $920 a year, an effective rate of 0.95%, far below the U.S. average.
- $920
- Median tax / yr · Low bill
- 0.95%
- Effective rate · Above-median rate
- -54%
- vs U.S. average
- #206 of 250
- rank in TX
The verdict
Homeowners in Zapata County pay a median $920 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.95%, more affordable than 39% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $920
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.95%
- Effective rate on median home
- #1904 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -54%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($97,100). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Texas. Population: 13,841. Owner-occupied homes: 3,285.
The median annual property tax in Zapata County is $920, which is 78% lower than the Texas state average and 54% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.95% on a median home value of $97,100. Property taxes represent 2.3% of the median household income in this county.
Zapata County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Zapata County's 0.95% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 39%).
Decision signal 2
The bill sits well below the national median
Homeowners in Zapata County pay a median annual property tax of $920, far below the national median and far below the Texas state median. On a $97,100 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.95% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 3
High among Texas counties by effective rate
Zapata County ranks #206 of 250 counties in Texas by effective rate (18% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 4
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Zapata County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 2.3% of the $39,239 median household income.
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Zapata 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.
Most of the market's rise reached the bill
The effective rate here moved 7.8% down between 2020 and 2024, a smaller shift than in 68% of U.S. counties. With the median home value rose 9.5%, the median bill rose 0.9% to $920: the rate did comparatively little to offset the market.
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
Very little moved here between 2020 and 2024: the typical bill went from $912 to $920, a change of 1%. The comparison describes county-level medians only; individual assessments and bills can differ.
The largest reported group here falls at the bottom of the national range: 1,405 of 3,285 owner-occupied homes (42.8%) report annual real-estate taxes under $800. This distribution describes reported owner-occupied homes, not an affordability judgment for any property.
This county earns in the bottom quarter of the country and taxes above the median rate, so the median bill absorbs 2.3% of median household income. The rate alone understates that; it is the pairing that matters.
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 Zapata County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Zapata County homeowners, 1,405 of 3,285 owner-occupied homes (42.8%), pays less than $800 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 42.8% (1,405)
- $800 to $1,499 25.0% (821)
- $1,500 to $1,999 9.4% (308)
- $2,000 to $2,999 9.6% (315)
- $3,000 or more 11.3% (371)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
65 homes here (2.0%) 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 Zapata County pay more than double the bill of those without one (+178%), the widest kind of value gap this dataset tracks.
Zapata County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Zapata County's effective rate is higher than 18% of the 250 counties in Texas - ranking #206 of 250.
Where Zapata County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
0.95% more affordable than 39% 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 Texas on both measures
Zapata County's effective rate runs 36% under the Texas median and its bill 78% 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 $920 median bill reflects a genuinely lighter charge than the Texas norm rather than a different denominator. Compare it against the state page before reading anything into the county rank.
Zapata County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Zapata County | Texas Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Low bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Above-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Below-median income burden | 2.3% | - | - |
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.
Zapata County is UNDER · LIGHT on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · Texas counties.
Zapata County rate trail · UNDER
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $920 +0.9% | 0.95% |
| 2023 | $912 +6.3% | 1.03% |
| 2022 | $858 +1.5% | 1.01% |
| 2021 | $845 -7.3% | 1.02% |
| 2020 | $912 | 1.03% |
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.
Zapata County: tax-to-income at 2.3%
Counties near Zapata County's effective rate
On effective rate, Zapata County sits nearest Tripp County (SD), Benton County (OR), Shelby County (OH).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Logan County (WV), Morgan County (WV), Hamilton 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
Zapata County: only 1% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 30 of 5,440 returns from Zapata County reported real estate taxes, averaging $3,533 - 100% of those reporters sat in the $50-75k 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 Texas
Zapata County rate FAQs
- How does Zapata County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Zapata County run far below the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.95% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the average property tax in Zapata County, Texas?
- The median annual property tax in Zapata County is $920, an effective rate of 0.95% on a $97,100 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What is the tax affordability score for Zapata County?
- Zapata County, Texas scores D (49/100) 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 bill size at A- ($920/yr). 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 percentage of income goes to property taxes in Zapata County?
- Property taxes in Zapata County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 2.3% of the $39,239 median household income.
- Are property taxes increasing in Zapata County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Zapata County held roughly steady, up 0.9% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $912 to $920, 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 Zapata County's UNDER rate
Zapata County's $920 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 →
Zapata County ranks #206 of 250 Texas counties by effective rate - on the lower-burden half of the state ACS set. Texas overview →
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for Zapata 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: 0.95%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $920/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Zapata County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Zapata County (UNDER · LIGHT), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
UNDER LIGHT
Humphreys County, TN
ABS(median_tax) peer · $921/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.48% vs Zapata County 0.95%.
Lamb County, TX
ABS(median_tax) peer · $919/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 1.12% vs Zapata County 0.95%.
Lewis County, MO
ABS(median_tax) peer · $919/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.71% vs Zapata County 0.95%.
Prince Edward County, VA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $921/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.43% vs Zapata County 0.95%.
Texas county set
State ACS overview for every published Texas county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Zapata County stamps UNDER · 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 Zapata County (UNDER · LIGHT) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.