Property Tax in Orange County, Texas
In Orange County, Texas, the typical homeowner pays $2,036 a year in property taxes on a home worth a median of $163,400. The figures on this page are the Census Bureau's published medians (US Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, 2023), shown exactly as released.
What the Orange County numbers mean
Read the two medians together: $2,036 is the middle tax bill among owner-occupied households in Orange County, and $163,400 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 Orange County is 1.25% (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 Orange County
| Measure | Orange County |
|---|---|
| Median real estate taxes paid per year | $2,036 |
| Median home value | $163,400 |
| Derived effective rate* | 1.25% |
| Equivalent monthly tax | $170 |
| Tax per $100,000 of value (derived) | $1,246 |
| Illustrative tax on a $400,000 home (derived rate) | $4,984 |
For context, the Texas medians are $4,111 of tax on $260,400 of value, and the US medians are $2,969 on $303,400. *Derived figures are estimates from Census medians, not official rates.
Orange County at a glance
- Median tax rank in Texas: #108 of 250 counties
- Median home value rank in Texas: #113 of 250
- Population rank in Texas: #47 of 250 (84,993 residents)
- Population density rank: #27 of 250 (255 people per square mile)
- Land area rank in Texas: #241 of 250 (333 sq mi, 0.1% of the combined county land area)
- Median tax as a monthly figure: $170; per $1,000 of home value: $1.25
How Orange County compares
Set against its state, Orange County's median bill of $2,036 is about 50% lower than the Texas median ($4,111). Against the country as a whole it is about 31% lower than the US median ($2,969). That places the county #108 of 250 Texas counties ranked by median taxes paid.
Remember what drives the ranking: bills follow home values as much as rates. Orange County's median home, at $163,400, ranks #113 by value in Texas, while its derived rate of 1.25% compares with a derived US figure of 0.98%.
Some extra context for Orange County: the median bill works out to about $170 a month, and the derived rate equals roughly $1,246 of tax per $100,000 of home value. The county is home to 84,993 people — the #47 most populous county in Texas, spread over 333 square miles, a density of about 255 people per square mile. Its median home value, $163,400, ranks #113 among the state's 250 counties with data.
Zooming out: of 3133 counties nationwide with published Census figures, only 1036 record a higher median tax bill than Orange County — it sits in the top 33% nationally. The county holds roughly 0.3% of Texas's people. Its homes are worth less than the state norm (median $163,400 versus $260,400), and a decade at the derived rate of 1.25% adds up to about 12.46% of the median home's value in tax. The cheapest county in the state, Crockett County, medians $466 — $1,570 less than Orange County per year.
Counties nearest Orange County in the Texas ranking
| County | Median tax paid | Median home value | Derived rate* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moore County, TX | $2,066 | $135,400 | 1.53% |
| Dallam County, TX | $2,065 | $140,500 | 1.47% |
| Matagorda County, TX | $2,035 | $162,200 | 1.25% |
| Potter County, TX | $2,028 | $134,900 | 1.50% |
Orange County and its population peers
Population is a useful lens on these figures, so the table below sets Orange 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, Orange County's $2,036 bill is #4 of 9.
| County | Population | Median tax paid | Median home value | Derived rate* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Muskingum County, OH | 86,382 | $1,609 | $170,100 | 0.95% |
| Jefferson County, WI | 85,867 | $3,988 | $253,800 | 1.57% |
| Lawrence County, PA | 85,423 | $1,983 | $136,700 | 1.45% |
| Newport County, RI | 85,095 | $5,345 | $559,700 | 0.95% |
| Glynn County, GA | 84,987 | $1,712 | $268,300 | 0.64% |
| Rockingham County, VA | 84,739 | $1,532 | $287,900 | 0.53% |
| Cascade County, MT | 84,601 | $2,236 | $243,300 | 0.92% |
| Wagoner County, OK | 84,339 | $1,753 | $216,000 | 0.81% |
The closest population match is Glynn County, Georgia (84,987 residents), where the median real estate tax paid is $1,712 on a median home value of $268,300 — $324 more than Orange County pays.
Inside Texas itself, the counties closest to Orange County in population are Victoria County (91,281 residents, median tax $2,941 on a median value of $197,600); Angelina County (86,791 residents, median tax $1,872 on a median value of $149,800); Coryell County (83,772 residents, median tax $2,509 on a median value of $177,400); Henderson County (83,658 residents, median tax $1,859 on a median value of $189,600). Same state, same broad tax framework — yet the median bills still differ, because assessed values and the mix of county, municipal and school-district rates are set locally.
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. Orange County's medians imply a derived rate of 1.25%; applied illustratively, a $400,000 home would owe about $4,984 a year, or around $415 a month spread evenly. Individual properties depart from the illustration in both directions.
Illustrative bills in Orange County at the derived rate
The derived rate of 1.25% is only an estimate built from medians, but applying it to different home values gives a sense of scale for Orange County — and a quick way to compare with the state derived rate of 1.58% and the US figure of 0.98%:
| Home value | Illustrative tax / year | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| $150,000 | $1,869 | $156 |
| $250,000 | $3,115 | $260 |
| $350,000 | $4,361 | $363 |
| $500,000 | $6,230 | $519 |
| $750,000 | $9,345 | $779 |
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 Orange County
Most successful appeals are won on facts, not arguments. Start with the property record card held by the Orange 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.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the median property tax in Orange County, Texas?
The median real estate tax paid in Orange County, Texas is $2,036 per year, on a median home value of $163,400 (US Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, 2023).
What is the effective property tax rate in Orange County, Texas?
The derived effective rate is 1.25% — the median bill ($2,036) expressed as a share of the median home value ($163,400). No authority sets a rate this way; it exists to make counties with different home prices comparable.
How does Orange County compare with the rest of Texas?
By median taxes paid, Orange County stands at #108 among the 250 Texas counties the Census publishes figures for. Its $2,036 median bill is about 50% lower than the state median ($4,111), and 107 counties in the state record a higher median.
How are property taxes calculated in Orange County, Texas?
Three steps produce the bill: an assessment of market value by the local assessor, a reduction for exemptions you qualify for (a homestead exemption is the common one), and multiplication by the combined rates of the county, municipality, school district and any special districts covering the property. The median result in Orange County is $2,036 of tax on a $163,400 median home value.
Can I appeal my property tax assessment in Orange County, Texas?
You can. Pull your property record card from the Orange 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.