Property Tax in Black Hawk County, Iowa

What the Black Hawk County numbers mean

Read the two medians together: $2,790 is the middle tax bill among owner-occupied households in Black Hawk County, and $182,400 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 Black Hawk County is 1.53% (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.

Black Hawk County by the numbers

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

Black Hawk County at a glance

• Median tax rank in Iowa: #13 of 99 counties
• Median home value rank in Iowa: #26 of 99
• Population rank in Iowa: #5 of 99 (130,693 residents)
• Population density rank: #5 of 99 (231 people per square mile)
• Land area rank in Iowa: #57 of 99 (565 sq mi, 1.0% of the combined county land area)
• Median tax as a monthly figure: $232; per $1,000 of home value: $1.53

How Black Hawk County compares

Of the 99 Iowa counties with published data, 12 have a higher median property tax bill than Black Hawk County's $2,790, putting the county at #13 in the state. Its bill is about the same as the state median of $2,795 and about 6% 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 1.53%, versus 0.98% derived nationally, and the median home value ranks #26 within Iowa.

Some extra context for Black Hawk County: the median bill works out to about $232 a month, and the derived rate equals roughly $1,530 of tax per $100,000 of home value. The county is home to 130,693 people — the #5 most populous county in Iowa, spread over 565 square miles, a density of about 231 people per square mile. Its median home value, $182,400, ranks #26 among the state's 99 counties with data.

Nationally, Black Hawk County's median bill of $2,790 ranks #528 of 3133 counties with published data — inside the top 17% of counties by tax paid. The county accounts for about 4.1% of Iowa's population, its median home value is about 7% below the state median, and at the derived rate the median home would hand over roughly 15.30% of its value in tax across a decade. Within the state, the distance from Black Hawk County to the most expensive county, Dallas County ($4,849), is $2,059 a year.

Counties nearest Black Hawk County in the Iowa ranking

Black Hawk County and its population peers

For a like-for-like sense of scale, compare Black Hawk County with its national population peers: the counties nearest to its 130,693 residents, listed in the table below with their own Census medians. Of the 9 counties in that group, Black Hawk County's median bill of $2,790 is #6 of 9.

The closest population match is Tazewell County, Illinois (130,555 residents), where the median real estate tax paid is $3,481 on a median home value of $164,500 — $691 less than Black Hawk County pays.

Inside Iowa itself, the counties closest to Black Hawk County in population are Scott County (174,302 residents, median tax $3,221 on a median value of $212,500); Johnson County (154,881 residents, median tax $4,587 on a median value of $293,100); Woodbury County (105,760 residents, median tax $2,542 on a median value of $172,000); Dallas County (104,136 residents, median tax $4,849 on a median value of $333,400). 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

The bill is built in stages. First the assessor puts a market value on the property. Exemptions — a homestead exemption above all — then reduce the taxable amount. Finally the combined local rate is applied. To see the scale: at the county's derived rate of 1.53%, each $100,000 of value corresponds to about $1,530 of tax a year, and a $400,000 home to roughly $6,120. Real bills use the official assessment and district rates, not this derived figure, so treat the example as a sense of scale only.

Illustrative bills in Black Hawk County at the derived rate

The derived rate of 1.53% is only an estimate built from medians, but applying it to different home values gives a sense of scale for Black Hawk County — and a quick way to compare with the state derived rate of 1.43% 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 Black Hawk 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 Black Hawk 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 Iowa counties

• Johnson County, IA — $4,587
• Woodbury County, IA — $2,542
• Dallas County, IA — $4,849
• Dubuque County, IA — $2,848
• Story County, IA — $3,586
• Pottawattamie County, IA — $2,961

Frequently asked questions