Property Tax in Yellowstone County, Montana
Homeowners in Yellowstone County, Montana pay a median of $2,669 a year in real estate taxes, on a median home value of $317,600. 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 Yellowstone County numbers mean
Read the two medians together: $2,669 is the middle tax bill among owner-occupied households in Yellowstone County, and $317,600 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 Yellowstone County is 0.84% (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.
The key figures for Yellowstone County
| Measure | Yellowstone County |
|---|---|
| Median real estate taxes paid per year | $2,669 |
| Median home value | $317,600 |
| Derived effective rate* | 0.84% |
| Equivalent monthly tax | $222 |
| Tax per $100,000 of value (derived) | $840 |
| Illustrative tax on a $400,000 home (derived rate) | $3,360 |
For context, the Montana medians are $2,535 of tax on $338,100 of value, and the US medians are $2,969 on $303,400. *Derived figures are estimates from Census medians, not official rates.
Yellowstone County at a glance
- Median tax rank in Montana: #5 of 56 counties
- Median home value rank in Montana: #15 of 56
- Population rank in Montana: #1 of 56 (167,340 residents)
- Population density rank: #1 of 56 (64 people per square mile)
- Land area rank in Montana: #23 of 56 (2,633 sq mi, 1.8% of the combined county land area)
- Median tax as a monthly figure: $222; per $1,000 of home value: $0.84
How Yellowstone County compares
Of the 56 Montana counties with published data, 4 have a higher median property tax bill than Yellowstone County's $2,669, putting the county at #5 in the state. Its bill is about 5% higher than the state median of $2,535 and about 10% 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 0.84%, versus 0.98% derived nationally, and the median home value ranks #15 within Montana.
Some extra context for Yellowstone County: the median bill works out to about $222 a month, and the derived rate equals roughly $840 of tax per $100,000 of home value. The county is home to 167,340 people — the #1 most populous county in Montana, spread over 2,633 square miles, a density of about 64 people per square mile. Its median home value, $317,600, ranks #15 among the state's 56 counties with data.
Nationally, Yellowstone County's median bill of $2,669 ranks #597 of 3133 counties with published data — inside the top 19% of counties by tax paid. The county accounts for about 15.1% of Montana's population, its median home value is about 6% below the state median, and at the derived rate the median home would hand over roughly 8.40% of its value in tax across a decade. Within the state, the distance from Yellowstone County to the most expensive county, Missoula County ($3,833), is $1,164 a year.
Counties nearest Yellowstone County in the Montana ranking
| County | Median tax paid | Median home value | Derived rate* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis and Clark County, MT | $2,886 | $358,200 | 0.81% |
| Flathead County, MT | $2,867 | $467,700 | 0.61% |
| Park County, MT | $2,454 | $429,700 | 0.57% |
| Lake County, MT | $2,436 | $369,200 | 0.66% |
Yellowstone County and its population peers
For a like-for-like sense of scale, compare Yellowstone County with its national population peers: the counties nearest to its 167,340 residents, listed in the table below with their own Census medians. Of the 9 counties in that group, Yellowstone County's median bill of $2,669 is #6 of 9.
| County | Population | Median tax paid | Median home value | Derived rate* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charles County, MD | 168,710 | $4,179 | $402,300 | 1.04% |
| Greene County, OH | 168,531 | $4,021 | $238,000 | 1.69% |
| Kenosha County, WI | 168,413 | $4,180 | $247,800 | 1.69% |
| Monroe County, PA | 167,784 | $4,435 | $241,200 | 1.84% |
| Wyandotte County, KS | 167,277 | $2,240 | $152,700 | 1.47% |
| Beaver County, PA | 166,993 | $2,672 | $185,500 | 1.44% |
| Houston County, GA | 166,902 | $1,759 | $205,600 | 0.86% |
| Maui County, HI | 164,632 | $1,442 | $858,600 | 0.17% |
The closest population match is Wyandotte County, Kansas (167,277 residents), where the median real estate tax paid is $2,240 on a median home value of $152,700 — $429 more than Yellowstone County pays.
Staying within Montana, the counties nearest Yellowstone County by population 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). 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. Yellowstone County's medians imply a derived rate of 0.84%; applied illustratively, a $400,000 home would owe about $3,360 a year, or around $280 a month spread evenly. Individual properties depart from the illustration in both directions.
Illustrative bills in Yellowstone County at the derived rate
The derived rate of 0.84% is only an estimate built from medians, but applying it to different home values gives a sense of scale for Yellowstone County — and a quick way to compare with the state derived rate of 0.75% and the US figure of 0.98%:
| Home value | Illustrative tax / year | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| $150,000 | $1,260 | $105 |
| $250,000 | $2,100 | $175 |
| $350,000 | $2,940 | $245 |
| $500,000 | $4,200 | $350 |
| $750,000 | $6,300 | $525 |
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 Yellowstone County
Believe your assessment is too high? The practical order of attack is: obtain your record card and audit it line by line; collect comparable recent sales in Yellowstone County; ask the assessor's office to correct anything plainly wrong; and, if the value still seems off, lodge a formal appeal ahead of the deadline printed on your assessment notice. Windows are short — often 30 to 90 days — and late appeals are usually rejected outright, however strong the case.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the median property tax in Yellowstone County, Montana?
The median real estate tax paid in Yellowstone County, Montana is $2,669 per year, on a median home value of $317,600 (US Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, 2023).
What is the effective property tax rate in Yellowstone County, Montana?
Dividing Yellowstone County's median tax bill ($2,669) by its median home value ($317,600) gives a derived effective rate of 0.84%. This is an estimate computed from two Census survey medians — it is not the county's official tax rate.
How does Yellowstone County compare with the rest of Montana?
By median taxes paid, Yellowstone County stands at #5 among the 56 Montana counties the Census publishes figures for. Its $2,669 median bill is about 5% higher than the state median ($2,535), and 4 counties in the state record a higher median.
How are property taxes calculated in Yellowstone County, Montana?
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 Yellowstone County, the median outcome of that process is a bill of $2,669 on a median home value of $317,600.
Can I appeal my property tax assessment in Yellowstone County, Montana?
You can. Pull your property record card from the Yellowstone 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.