Property Tax in Moore County, North Carolina

What the Moore County numbers mean

The median is the midpoint of the county's actual bills: half of Moore County homeowners pay more than $1,784 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 $315,300, the median bill works out to a derived effective rate of 0.57%. 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.

Moore County by the numbers

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

Moore County at a glance

• Median tax rank in North Carolina: #19 of 100 counties
• Median home value rank in North Carolina: #15 of 100
• Population rank in North Carolina: #27 of 100 (102,840 residents)
• Population density rank: #39 of 100 (147 people per square mile)
• Land area rank in North Carolina: #17 of 100 (697 sq mi, 1.4% of the combined county land area)
• Median tax as a monthly figure: $149; per $1,000 of home value: $0.57

How Moore County compares

Of the 100 North Carolina counties with published data, 18 have a higher median property tax bill than Moore County's $1,784, putting the county at #19 in the state. Its bill is about the same as the state median of $1,815 and about 40% 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 0.57%, versus 0.98% derived nationally, and the median home value ranks #15 within North Carolina.

Some extra context for Moore County: the median bill works out to about $149 a month, and the derived rate equals roughly $566 of tax per $100,000 of home value. The county is home to 102,840 people — the #27 most populous county in North Carolina, spread over 697 square miles, a density of about 147 people per square mile. Its median home value, $315,300, ranks #15 among the state's 100 counties with data.

Zooming out: of 3133 counties nationwide with published Census figures, only 1290 record a higher median tax bill than Moore County — it sits in the top 41% nationally. The county holds roughly 1.0% of North Carolina's people. Its homes are worth more than the state norm (median $315,300 versus $259,400), and a decade at the derived rate of 0.57% adds up to about 5.66% of the median home's value in tax. The cheapest county in the state, Hyde County, medians $753 — $1,031 less than Moore County per year.

Counties nearest Moore County in the North Carolina ranking

Moore County and its population peers

Population is a useful lens on these figures, so the table below sets Moore 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, Moore County's $1,784 bill is #5 of 9.

The closest population match is Tompkins County, New York (102,879 residents), where the median real estate tax paid is $6,374 on a median home value of $271,500 — $4,590 less than Moore County pays.

Moore County's nearest population neighbours within North Carolina are Henderson County (117,387 residents, median tax $1,667 on a median value of $317,800); Robeson County (116,858 residents, median tax $799 on a median value of $88,600); Craven County (101,074 residents, median tax $1,372 on a median value of $206,200); Cleveland County (100,170 residents, median tax $1,240 on a median value of $180,200). 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

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 0.57%, each $100,000 of value corresponds to about $566 of tax a year, and a $400,000 home to roughly $2,264. 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 Moore County at the derived rate

The derived rate of 0.57% is only an estimate built from medians, but applying it to different home values gives a sense of scale for Moore County — and a quick way to compare with the state derived rate of 0.70% 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 Moore 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 Moore 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 North Carolina counties

• Craven County, NC — $1,372
• Cleveland County, NC — $1,240
• Nash County, NC — $1,320
• Rockingham County, NC — $1,230
• Lincoln County, NC — $1,660
• Robeson County, NC — $799

Frequently asked questions