Property Tax in Dougherty County, Georgia

What the Dougherty County numbers mean

Read the two medians together: $1,800 is the middle tax bill among owner-occupied households in Dougherty County, and $129,200 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 Dougherty County is 1.39% (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.

The key figures for Dougherty County

For context, the Georgia medians are $2,214 of tax on $272,900 of value, and the US medians are $2,969 on $303,400. *Derived figures are estimates from Census medians, not official rates.

Dougherty County at a glance

• Median tax rank in Georgia: #43 of 159 counties
• Median home value rank in Georgia: #98 of 159
• Population rank in Georgia: #31 of 159 (83,915 residents)
• Population density rank: #28 of 159 (255 people per square mile)
• Land area rank in Georgia: #87 of 159 (328 sq mi, 0.6% of the combined county land area)
• Median tax as a monthly figure: $150; per $1,000 of home value: $1.39

How Dougherty County compares

Set against its state, Dougherty County's median bill of $1,800 is about 19% lower than the Georgia median ($2,214). Against the country as a whole it is about 39% lower than the US median ($2,969). That places the county #43 of 159 Georgia counties ranked by median taxes paid.

Remember what drives the ranking: bills follow home values as much as rates. Dougherty County's median home, at $129,200, ranks #98 by value in Georgia, while its derived rate of 1.39% compares with a derived US figure of 0.98%.

Some extra context for Dougherty County: the median bill works out to about $150 a month, and the derived rate equals roughly $1,393 of tax per $100,000 of home value. The county is home to 83,915 people — the #31 most populous county in Georgia, spread over 328 square miles, a density of about 255 people per square mile. Its median home value, $129,200, ranks #98 among the state's 159 counties with data.

Zooming out: of 3133 counties nationwide with published Census figures, only 1269 record a higher median tax bill than Dougherty County — it sits in the top 41% nationally. The county holds roughly 0.8% of Georgia's people. Its homes are worth less than the state norm (median $129,200 versus $272,900), and a decade at the derived rate of 1.39% adds up to about 13.93% of the median home's value in tax. The cheapest county in the state, Wheeler County, medians $562 — $1,238 less than Dougherty County per year.

Counties nearest Dougherty County in the Georgia ranking

Dougherty County and its population peers

Population is a useful lens on these figures, so the table below sets Dougherty County beside the counties closest to it in population anywhere in the country — communities of a similar scale operating under different state and local tax systems. Ranked by median tax paid within this peer group of 9, Dougherty County's $1,800 bill is #5 of 9.

The closest population match is Lewis County, Washington (83,925 residents), where the median real estate tax paid is $2,433 on a median home value of $341,500 — $633 less than Dougherty County pays.

Inside Georgia itself, the counties closest to Dougherty County in population are Barrow County (86,982 residents, median tax $2,124 on a median value of $255,200); Glynn County (84,987 residents, median tax $1,712 on a median value of $268,300); Bulloch County (81,372 residents, median tax $1,491 on a median value of $191,600); Jackson County (80,640 residents, median tax $2,761 on a median value of $312,700). Same state, same broad tax framework — yet the median bills still differ, because assessed values and the mix of county, municipal and school-district rates are set locally.

How the tax is worked out

Think of the final bill as three ingredients: the assessed value of the property, the exemptions subtracted from it, and the combined rate of every district the property sits in. Dougherty County's medians imply a derived rate of 1.39%; applied illustratively, a $400,000 home would owe about $5,572 a year, or around $464 a month spread evenly. Individual properties depart from the illustration in both directions.

Illustrative bills in Dougherty County at the derived rate

The derived rate of 1.39% is only an estimate built from medians, but applying it to different home values gives a sense of scale for Dougherty County — and a quick way to compare with the state derived rate of 0.81% 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 Dougherty 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 Dougherty 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 Georgia counties

• Glynn County, GA — $1,712
• Bulloch County, GA — $1,491
• Barrow County, GA — $2,124
• Jackson County, GA — $2,761
• Rockdale County, GA — $1,843
• Troup County, GA — $1,826

Frequently asked questions