Property Tax in Cochise County, Arizona

What the Cochise County numbers mean

Read the two medians together: $1,325 is the middle tax bill among owner-occupied households in Cochise County, and $207,400 is the middle home value. Neither figure describes a specific property — together they describe the typical homeowner's situation in the county.

The derived effective rate for Cochise County is 0.64% (median tax ÷ median value). Treat it as an estimate for comparison only: it comes from survey medians of different households, not from the county's rate schedule.

Cochise County by the numbers

*Estimate derived from Census medians (tax ÷ value), not an official rate.

Cochise County at a glance

• Median tax rank in Arizona: #8 of 15 counties
• Median home value rank in Arizona: #9 of 15
• Population rank in Arizona: #8 of 15 (125,458 residents)
• Population density rank: #7 of 15 (20 people per square mile)
• Land area rank in Arizona: #8 of 15 (6,209 sq mi, 5.5% of the combined county land area)
• Median tax as a monthly figure: $110; per $1,000 of home value: $0.64

How Cochise County compares

Of the 15 Arizona counties with published data, 7 have a higher median property tax bill than Cochise County's $1,325, putting the county at #8 in the state. Its bill is about 29% lower than the state median of $1,858 and about 55% lower than the national median of $2,969.

Rates and values pull in opposite directions: an expensive housing market can produce big bills at ordinary rates. Here the derived rate is 0.64%, versus 0.98% derived nationally, and the median home value ranks #9 within Arizona.

Some extra context for Cochise County: the median bill works out to about $110 a month, and the derived rate equals roughly $639 of tax per $100,000 of home value. The county is home to 125,458 people — the #8 most populous county in Arizona, spread over 6,209 square miles, a density of about 20 people per square mile. Its median home value, $207,400, ranks #9 among the state's 15 counties with data.

Zooming out: of 3133 counties nationwide with published Census figures, only 1920 record a higher median tax bill than Cochise County — it sits in the top 61% nationally. The county holds roughly 1.7% of Arizona's people. Its homes are worth less than the state norm (median $207,400 versus $358,900), and a decade at the derived rate of 0.64% adds up to about 6.39% of the median home's value in tax. The cheapest county in the state, Greenlee County, medians $489 — $836 less than Cochise County per year.

Counties nearest Cochise County in the Arizona ranking

Cochise County and its population peers

For a like-for-like sense of scale, compare Cochise County with its national population peers: the counties nearest to its 125,458 residents, listed in the table below with their own Census medians. Of the 9 counties in that group, Cochise County's median bill of $1,325 is #6 of 9.

The closest population match is Kennebec County, Maine (125,614 residents), where the median real estate tax paid is $2,510 on a median home value of $219,900 — $1,185 less than Cochise County pays.

Cochise County's nearest population neighbours within Arizona are Yuma County (207,685 residents, median tax $1,281 on a median value of $195,700); Coconino County (144,643 residents, median tax $2,008 on a median value of $413,200); Navajo County (107,744 residents, median tax $1,126 on a median value of $186,100); Apache County (65,680 residents, median tax $574 on a median value of $68,500). Comparing them is a reminder that even inside one state's rules, the bill follows local home values and local district rates more than anything decided at the state level.

How the tax is worked out

As an illustration of the arithmetic: at Cochise County's derived rate of 0.64%, a home valued at $400,000 would carry a tax bill of roughly $2,556 a year. That is only an illustration using the derived rate — a real bill is computed from the property's assessed value, its exemptions, and the combined rates of its specific taxing districts, so it can be higher or lower.

The usual sequence is: the local assessor values the property; exemptions are applied; the taxable value is multiplied by the combined local rates; and the county bills and collects the tax, distributing it to the schools, municipalities and districts that levied it.

Illustrative bills in Cochise County at the derived rate

The derived rate of 0.64% is only an estimate built from medians, but applying it to different home values gives a sense of scale for Cochise County — and a quick way to compare with the state derived rate of 0.52% and the US figure of 0.98%:

Illustration only: real bills are computed from the assessed value, exemptions, and the combined rates of the property's actual taxing districts.

Checking your assessment in Cochise County

If your bill looks wrong, work through these steps:

1. Get your property record card from the assessor and check the basics — living area, lot size, bedrooms, condition, and any exemptions you should have.
2. Compare your assessed value with recent sale prices of similar homes in Cochise County.
3. Talk to the assessor's office informally first; clear errors are often fixed without a hearing.
4. If needed, file a formal appeal with the local review board before the deadline on your assessment notice, with your evidence attached.
5. Keep paying the bill as issued while the appeal runs, unless your notice says otherwise — unpaid taxes accrue penalties regardless of an appeal.

More Arizona counties

• Navajo County, AZ — $1,126
• Coconino County, AZ — $2,008
• Apache County, AZ — $574
• Gila County, AZ — $1,331
• Santa Cruz County, AZ — $1,387
• Yuma County, AZ — $1,281

Frequently asked questions