Property Tax in Houston County, Georgia
Homeowners in Houston County, Georgia pay a median of $1,759 a year in real estate taxes, on a median home value of $205,600. Those are the Census Bureau's published medians for the county (US Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, 2023) — the typical bill and the typical home value for owner-occupied households.
What the Houston County numbers mean
Read the two medians together: $1,759 is the middle tax bill among owner-occupied households in Houston County, and $205,600 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 Houston County is 0.86% (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.
Houston County by the numbers
| Measure | Houston County | Georgia | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median real estate taxes paid | $1,759 | $2,214 | $2,969 |
| Median home value | $205,600 | $272,900 | $303,400 |
| Derived effective rate* | 0.86% | 0.81% | 0.98% |
| Median tax per month | $147 | $184 | $247 |
*Estimate derived from Census medians (tax ÷ value), not an official rate.
Houston County at a glance
- Median tax rank in Georgia: #45 of 159 counties
- Median home value rank in Georgia: #51 of 159
- Population rank in Georgia: #14 of 159 (166,902 residents)
- Population density rank: #21 of 159 (444 people per square mile)
- Land area rank in Georgia: #66 of 159 (376 sq mi, 0.7% of the combined county land area)
- Median tax as a monthly figure: $147; per $1,000 of home value: $0.86
How Houston County compares
Of the 159 Georgia counties with published data, 44 have a higher median property tax bill than Houston County's $1,759, putting the county at #45 in the state. Its bill is about 21% lower than the state median of $2,214 and about 41% 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 0.86%, versus 0.98% derived nationally, and the median home value ranks #51 within Georgia.
Some extra context for Houston County: the median bill works out to about $147 a month, and the derived rate equals roughly $856 of tax per $100,000 of home value. The county is home to 166,902 people — the #14 most populous county in Georgia, spread over 376 square miles, a density of about 444 people per square mile. Its median home value, $205,600, ranks #51 among the state's 159 counties with data.
Zooming out: of 3133 counties nationwide with published Census figures, only 1320 record a higher median tax bill than Houston County — it sits in the top 42% nationally. The county holds roughly 1.5% of Georgia's people. Its homes are worth less than the state norm (median $205,600 versus $272,900), and a decade at the derived rate of 0.86% adds up to about 8.56% of the median home's value in tax. The cheapest county in the state, Wheeler County, medians $562 — $1,197 less than Houston County per year.
Counties nearest Houston County in the Georgia ranking
| County | Median tax paid | Median home value | Derived rate* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dougherty County, GA | $1,800 | $129,200 | 1.39% |
| Haralson County, GA | $1,787 | $210,400 | 0.85% |
| Clayton County, GA | $1,737 | $194,500 | 0.89% |
| White County, GA | $1,732 | $262,200 | 0.66% |
Houston County and its population peers
Population is a useful lens on these figures, so the table below sets Houston 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, Houston County's $1,759 bill is #7 of 9.
| County | Population | Median tax paid | Median home value | Derived rate* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monroe County, PA | 167,784 | $4,435 | $241,200 | 1.84% |
| Yellowstone County, MT | 167,340 | $2,669 | $317,600 | 0.84% |
| Wyandotte County, KS | 167,277 | $2,240 | $152,700 | 1.47% |
| Beaver County, PA | 166,993 | $2,672 | $185,500 | 1.44% |
| Maui County, HI | 164,632 | $1,442 | $858,600 | 0.17% |
| Dorchester County, SC | 164,322 | $1,710 | $294,400 | 0.58% |
| Johnson County, IN | 163,983 | $1,875 | $260,400 | 0.72% |
| Rock County, WI | 163,944 | $3,652 | $215,900 | 1.69% |
The closest population match is Beaver County, Pennsylvania (166,993 residents), where the median real estate tax paid is $2,672 on a median home value of $185,500 — $913 less than Houston County pays.
Staying within Georgia, the counties nearest Houston County by population are Muscogee County (204,383 residents, median tax $1,526 on a median value of $182,300); Paulding County (174,292 residents, median tax $2,444 on a median value of $289,000); Columbia County (159,638 residents, median tax $2,431 on a median value of $287,400); Bibb County (156,543 residents, median tax $1,826 on a median value of $165,800). The spread in their median bills — all under the same state framework — shows how much of the property tax burden is decided county by county and district by district.
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. Houston County's medians imply a derived rate of 0.86%; applied illustratively, a $400,000 home would owe about $3,424 a year, or around $285 a month spread evenly. Individual properties depart from the illustration in both directions.
Illustrative bills in Houston County at the derived rate
The derived rate of 0.86% is only an estimate built from medians, but applying it to different home values gives a sense of scale for Houston County — and a quick way to compare with the state derived rate of 0.81% and the US figure of 0.98%:
| Home value | Illustrative tax / year | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| $150,000 | $1,284 | $107 |
| $250,000 | $2,140 | $178 |
| $350,000 | $2,996 | $250 |
| $500,000 | $4,280 | $357 |
| $750,000 | $6,420 | $535 |
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 Houston County
Most successful appeals are won on facts, not arguments. Start with the property record card held by the Houston County assessor: wrong square footage, an extra room, or a missing homestead exemption are common and fixable. Next, line your assessed value up against recent sales of genuinely similar homes nearby. Many disputes end at an informal conversation with the assessor's office; if yours does not, file the formal appeal with the review board named on your notice before its deadline, evidence attached, and keep paying the bill in the meantime so penalties do not build up.
More Georgia counties
Frequently asked questions
What is the median property tax in Houston County, Georgia?
The median real estate tax paid in Houston County, Georgia is $1,759 per year, on a median home value of $205,600 (US Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, 2023).
What is the effective property tax rate in Houston County, Georgia?
The derived effective rate is 0.86% — the median bill ($1,759) expressed as a share of the median home value ($205,600). No authority sets a rate this way; it exists to make counties with different home prices comparable.
How does Houston County compare with the rest of Georgia?
Houston County ranks #45 of 159 Georgia counties with published data by median taxes paid. Its median bill of $1,759 is about 21% lower than the Georgia median of $2,214.
How are property taxes calculated in Houston County, Georgia?
The assessor estimates your property's market value; exemptions (such as a homestead exemption) reduce the taxable amount; and the result is multiplied by the combined rates of the local taxing districts — county, municipality, school district and any special districts. In Houston County, the median outcome of that process is a bill of $1,759 on a median home value of $205,600.
Can I appeal my property tax assessment in Houston County, Georgia?
You can. Pull your property record card from the Houston County assessor, verify its details, and compare the assessed value against similar homes that sold recently. If the value still seems too high, submit a formal appeal to the board named on your notice before the stated deadline — usually a 30-to-90-day window.