Property Tax in Buchanan County, Missouri

What the Buchanan County numbers mean

Read the two medians together: $1,253 is the middle tax bill among owner-occupied households in Buchanan County, and $156,600 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 Buchanan County is 0.80% (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.

Buchanan County by the numbers

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

Buchanan County at a glance

• Median tax rank in Missouri: #34 of 115 counties
• Median home value rank in Missouri: #57 of 115
• Population rank in Missouri: #14 of 115 (83,855 residents)
• Population density rank: #10 of 115 (205 people per square mile)
• Land area rank in Missouri: #109 of 115 (408 sq mi, 0.6% of the combined county land area)
• Median tax as a monthly figure: $104; per $1,000 of home value: $0.80

How Buchanan County compares

The median tax bill in Buchanan County is about 34% lower than the state median ($1,887 for Missouri) and about 58% lower than the US median ($2,969 nationally). By median taxes paid, the county ranks #34 out of 115 Missouri counties with published Census data — 33 counties in the state have a higher median bill.

Comparisons cut both ways: a county can have a modest rate but high bills because homes are expensive, or a high rate but modest bills because homes are cheaper. Buchanan County's derived rate of 0.80% sits below the derived US figure of 0.98%.

Some extra context for Buchanan County: the median bill works out to about $104 a month, and the derived rate equals roughly $800 of tax per $100,000 of home value. The county is home to 83,855 people — the #14 most populous county in Missouri, spread over 408 square miles, a density of about 205 people per square mile. Its median home value, $156,600, ranks #57 among the state's 115 counties with data.

Zooming out: of 3133 counties nationwide with published Census figures, only 2015 record a higher median tax bill than Buchanan County — it sits in the top 64% nationally. The county holds roughly 1.4% of Missouri's people. Its homes are worth less than the state norm (median $156,600 versus $215,600), and a decade at the derived rate of 0.80% adds up to about 8.00% of the median home's value in tax. The cheapest county in the state, Reynolds County, medians $553 — $700 less than Buchanan County per year.

Counties nearest Buchanan County in the Missouri ranking

Buchanan County and its population peers

For a like-for-like sense of scale, compare Buchanan County with its national population peers: the counties nearest to its 83,855 residents, listed in the table below with their own Census medians. Of the 9 counties in that group, Buchanan County's median bill of $1,253 is #8 of 9.

The closest population match is Wood County, West Virginia (83,829 residents), where the median real estate tax paid is $943 on a median home value of $153,700 — $310 more than Buchanan County pays.

Buchanan County's nearest population neighbours within Missouri are Franklin County (105,316 residents, median tax $1,774 on a median value of $214,900); Christian County (91,229 residents, median tax $1,878 on a median value of $249,700); Cape Girardeau County (82,180 residents, median tax $1,404 on a median value of $208,300); Cole County (76,924 residents, median tax $1,728 on a median value of $214,400). 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 Buchanan County's derived rate of 0.80%, a home valued at $400,000 would carry a tax bill of roughly $3,200 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 Buchanan County at the derived rate

The derived rate of 0.80% is only an estimate built from medians, but applying it to different home values gives a sense of scale for Buchanan County — and a quick way to compare with the state derived rate of 0.88% 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 Buchanan 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 Buchanan 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 Missouri counties

• Cape Girardeau County, MO — $1,404
• Cole County, MO — $1,728
• Christian County, MO — $1,878
• St. Francois County, MO — $1,161
• Franklin County, MO — $1,774
• Lincoln County, MO — $1,731

Frequently asked questions