Property Tax in Flathead County, Montana

What the Flathead County numbers mean

A median is the middle household: half of owner-occupied households in Flathead County pay more than $2,867, and half pay less. Your own bill is set by your home's assessed value, the exemptions you qualify for, and the local taxing districts your property sits in — so individual bills vary widely around the median.

Dividing the median tax by the median home value gives a derived effective rate of 0.61% for Flathead County. It is an estimate built from two survey medians, not the county's official rate, but it is a fair way to compare the local tax burden with other counties where home values are very different.

Flathead County by the numbers

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

Flathead County at a glance

• Median tax rank in Montana: #4 of 56 counties
• Median home value rank in Montana: #2 of 56
• Population rank in Montana: #4 of 56 (108,445 residents)
• Population density rank: #7 of 56 (21 people per square mile)
• Land area rank in Montana: #3 of 56 (5,087 sq mi, 3.5% of the combined county land area)
• Median tax as a monthly figure: $239; per $1,000 of home value: $0.61

How Flathead County compares

Set against its state, Flathead County's median bill of $2,867 is about 13% higher than the Montana median ($2,535). Against the country as a whole it is about 3% lower than the US median ($2,969). That places the county #4 of 56 Montana counties ranked by median taxes paid.

Remember what drives the ranking: bills follow home values as much as rates. Flathead County's median home, at $467,700, ranks #2 by value in Montana, while its derived rate of 0.61% compares with a derived US figure of 0.98%.

Some extra context for Flathead County: the median bill works out to about $239 a month, and the derived rate equals roughly $613 of tax per $100,000 of home value. The county is home to 108,445 people — the #4 most populous county in Montana, spread over 5,087 square miles, a density of about 21 people per square mile. Its median home value, $467,700, ranks #2 among the state's 56 counties with data.

Zooming out: of 3133 counties nationwide with published Census figures, only 493 record a higher median tax bill than Flathead County — it sits in the top 16% nationally. The county holds roughly 9.8% of Montana's people. Its homes are worth more than the state norm (median $467,700 versus $338,100), and a decade at the derived rate of 0.61% adds up to about 6.13% of the median home's value in tax. The cheapest county in the state, Wibaux County, medians $654 — $2,213 less than Flathead County per year.

Counties nearest Flathead County in the Montana ranking

Flathead County and its population peers

Population is a useful lens on these figures, so the table below sets Flathead 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, Flathead County's $2,867 bill is #6 of 9.

The closest population match is Carver County, Minnesota (108,622 residents), where the median real estate tax paid is $4,380 on a median home value of $426,900 — $1,513 less than Flathead County pays.

Flathead County's nearest population neighbours within Montana are Gallatin County (122,194 residents, median tax $3,625 on a median value of $604,900); Missoula County (119,639 residents, median tax $3,833 on a median value of $423,100); Cascade County (84,601 residents, median tax $2,236 on a median value of $243,300); Lewis and Clark County (72,580 residents, median tax $2,886 on a median value of $358,200). 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

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. Flathead County's medians imply a derived rate of 0.61%; applied illustratively, a $400,000 home would owe about $2,452 a year, or around $204 a month spread evenly. Individual properties depart from the illustration in both directions.

Illustrative bills in Flathead County at the derived rate

The derived rate of 0.61% is only an estimate built from medians, but applying it to different home values gives a sense of scale for Flathead County — and a quick way to compare with the state derived rate of 0.75% 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 Flathead 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 Flathead 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 Montana counties

• Missoula County, MT — $3,833
• Gallatin County, MT — $3,625
• Cascade County, MT — $2,236
• Lewis and Clark County, MT — $2,886
• Yellowstone County, MT — $2,669
• Ravalli County, MT — $2,303

Frequently asked questions