Property Tax in Butler County, Kansas
The median real estate tax bill in Butler County, Kansas is $2,918 per year, and the median home is worth $199,600. Both figures are the US Census Bureau's survey medians for owner-occupied households (US Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, 2023).
What the Butler County numbers mean
The median is the midpoint of the county's actual bills: half of Butler County homeowners pay more than $2,918 a year and half pay less. The exact bill for any one home depends on its assessed value, exemptions, and which school, municipal and special districts cover it.
Set against the median home value of $199,600, the median bill works out to a derived effective rate of 1.46%. That rate is an estimate computed from the two medians — no county publishes a rate calculated this way — but it adjusts for home prices, which makes comparisons between counties more meaningful.
The key figures for Butler County
| Measure | Butler County |
|---|---|
| Median real estate taxes paid per year | $2,918 |
| Median home value | $199,600 |
| Derived effective rate* | 1.46% |
| Equivalent monthly tax | $243 |
| Tax per $100,000 of value (derived) | $1,462 |
| Illustrative tax on a $400,000 home (derived rate) | $5,848 |
For context, the Kansas medians are $2,643 of tax on $203,400 of value, and the US medians are $2,969 on $303,400. *Derived figures are estimates from Census medians, not official rates.
Butler County at a glance
- Median tax rank in Kansas: #6 of 105 counties
- Median home value rank in Kansas: #9 of 105
- Population rank in Kansas: #8 of 105 (67,916 residents)
- Population density rank: #15 of 105 (48 people per square mile)
- Land area rank in Kansas: #1 of 105 (1,429 sq mi, 1.7% of the combined county land area)
- Median tax as a monthly figure: $243; per $1,000 of home value: $1.46
How Butler County compares
Of the 105 Kansas counties with published data, 5 have a higher median property tax bill than Butler County's $2,918, putting the county at #6 in the state. Its bill is about 10% higher than the state median of $2,643 and about the same as 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 1.46%, versus 0.98% derived nationally, and the median home value ranks #9 within Kansas.
Some extra context for Butler County: the median bill works out to about $243 a month, and the derived rate equals roughly $1,462 of tax per $100,000 of home value. The county is home to 67,916 people — the #8 most populous county in Kansas, spread over 1,429 square miles, a density of about 48 people per square mile. Its median home value, $199,600, ranks #9 among the state's 105 counties with data.
Nationally, Butler County's median bill of $2,918 ranks #466 of 3133 counties with published data — inside the top 15% of counties by tax paid. The county accounts for about 2.3% of Kansas's population, its median home value is about 2% below the state median, and at the derived rate the median home would hand over roughly 14.62% of its value in tax across a decade. Within the state, the distance from Butler County to the most expensive county, Johnson County ($4,221), is $1,303 a year.
Counties nearest Butler County in the Kansas ranking
| County | Median tax paid | Median home value | Derived rate* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riley County, KS | $3,317 | $231,200 | 1.44% |
| Leavenworth County, KS | $3,136 | $260,600 | 1.20% |
| McPherson County, KS | $2,780 | $198,400 | 1.40% |
| Franklin County, KS | $2,737 | $187,400 | 1.46% |
Butler County and its population peers
For a like-for-like sense of scale, compare Butler County with its national population peers: the counties nearest to its 67,916 residents, listed in the table below with their own Census medians. Of the 9 counties in that group, Butler County's median bill of $2,918 is #2 of 9.
| County | Population | Median tax paid | Median home value | Derived rate* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Otero County, NM | 68,235 | $841 | $149,500 | 0.56% |
| Spalding County, GA | 68,215 | $1,897 | $196,600 | 0.96% |
| Lake County, CA | 68,139 | $2,295 | $316,800 | 0.72% |
| Shiawassee County, MI | 68,061 | $2,214 | $164,600 | 1.34% |
| Laurens County, SC | 67,904 | $673 | $153,500 | 0.44% |
| Allegany County, MD | 67,762 | $1,609 | $149,200 | 1.08% |
| McCracken County, KY | 67,584 | $1,342 | $182,900 | 0.73% |
| Madison County, NY | 67,572 | $4,058 | $176,800 | 2.29% |
The closest population match is Laurens County, South Carolina (67,904 residents), where the median real estate tax paid is $673 on a median home value of $153,500 — $2,245 more than Butler County pays.
Staying within Kansas, the counties nearest Butler County by population are Leavenworth County (82,493 residents, median tax $3,136 on a median value of $260,600); Riley County (71,710 residents, median tax $3,317 on a median value of $231,200); Reno County (61,693 residents, median tax $2,180 on a median value of $125,000); Saline County (53,801 residents, median tax $2,283 on a median value of $171,900). 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. Butler County's medians imply a derived rate of 1.46%; applied illustratively, a $400,000 home would owe about $5,848 a year, or around $487 a month spread evenly. Individual properties depart from the illustration in both directions.
Illustrative bills in Butler County at the derived rate
The derived rate of 1.46% is only an estimate built from medians, but applying it to different home values gives a sense of scale for Butler County — and a quick way to compare with the state derived rate of 1.30% and the US figure of 0.98%:
| Home value | Illustrative tax / year | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| $150,000 | $2,193 | $183 |
| $250,000 | $3,655 | $305 |
| $350,000 | $5,117 | $426 |
| $500,000 | $7,310 | $609 |
| $750,000 | $10,965 | $914 |
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 Butler County
Most successful appeals are won on facts, not arguments. Start with the property record card held by the Butler 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 Kansas counties
Frequently asked questions
What is the median property tax in Butler County, Kansas?
The median real estate tax paid in Butler County, Kansas is $2,918 per year, on a median home value of $199,600 (US Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, 2023).
What is the effective property tax rate in Butler County, Kansas?
On a derived basis, 1.46%: the county's median tax bill of $2,918 divided by its median home value of $199,600. Because it is calculated from two survey medians, read it as a comparison estimate rather than an official rate.
How does Butler County compare with the rest of Kansas?
By median taxes paid, Butler County stands at #6 among the 105 Kansas counties the Census publishes figures for. Its $2,918 median bill is about 10% higher than the state median ($2,643), and 5 counties in the state record a higher median.
How are property taxes calculated in Butler County, Kansas?
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 Butler County, the median outcome of that process is a bill of $2,918 on a median home value of $199,600.
Can I appeal my property tax assessment in Butler County, Kansas?
You can. Pull your property record card from the Butler 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.