Property Tax in Wise County, Texas
Homeowners in Wise County, Texas pay a median of $3,293 a year in real estate taxes, on a median home value of $277,200. 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 Wise County numbers mean
Read the two medians together: $3,293 is the middle tax bill among owner-occupied households in Wise County, and $277,200 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 Wise County is 1.19% (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 Wise County
| Measure | Wise County |
|---|---|
| Median real estate taxes paid per year | $3,293 |
| Median home value | $277,200 |
| Derived effective rate* | 1.19% |
| Equivalent monthly tax | $274 |
| Tax per $100,000 of value (derived) | $1,188 |
| Illustrative tax on a $400,000 home (derived rate) | $4,752 |
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.
Wise County at a glance
- Median tax rank in Texas: #35 of 250 counties
- Median home value rank in Texas: #29 of 250
- Population rank in Texas: #51 of 250 (72,359 residents)
- Population density rank: #54 of 250 (80 people per square mile)
- Land area rank in Texas: #132 of 250 (904 sq mi, 0.4% of the combined county land area)
- Median tax as a monthly figure: $274; per $1,000 of home value: $1.19
How Wise County compares
Set against its state, Wise County's median bill of $3,293 is about 20% lower than the Texas median ($4,111). Against the country as a whole it is about 11% higher than the US median ($2,969). That places the county #35 of 250 Texas counties ranked by median taxes paid.
Remember what drives the ranking: bills follow home values as much as rates. Wise County's median home, at $277,200, ranks #29 by value in Texas, while its derived rate of 1.19% compares with a derived US figure of 0.98%.
Some extra context for Wise County: the median bill works out to about $274 a month, and the derived rate equals roughly $1,188 of tax per $100,000 of home value. The county is home to 72,359 people — the #51 most populous county in Texas, spread over 904 square miles, a density of about 80 people per square mile. Its median home value, $277,200, ranks #29 among the state's 250 counties with data.
Zooming out: of 3133 counties nationwide with published Census figures, only 371 record a higher median tax bill than Wise County — it sits in the top 12% nationally. The county holds roughly 0.2% of Texas's people. Its homes are worth more than the state norm (median $277,200 versus $260,400), and a decade at the derived rate of 1.19% adds up to about 11.88% of the median home's value in tax. The cheapest county in the state, Crockett County, medians $466 — $2,827 less than Wise County per year.
Counties nearest Wise County in the Texas ranking
| County | Median tax paid | Median home value | Derived rate* |
|---|---|---|---|
| McLennan County, TX | $3,347 | $219,200 | 1.53% |
| Webb County, TX | $3,312 | $178,900 | 1.85% |
| Chambers County, TX | $3,290 | $289,900 | 1.14% |
| Nueces County, TX | $3,268 | $194,700 | 1.68% |
Wise County and its population peers
For a like-for-like sense of scale, compare Wise County with its national population peers: the counties nearest to its 72,359 residents, listed in the table below with their own Census medians. Of the 9 counties in that group, Wise County's median bill of $3,293 is the highest.
| County | Population | Median tax paid | Median home value | Derived rate* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boone County, IN | 72,827 | $2,725 | $341,800 | 0.80% |
| Grand Forks County, ND | 72,764 | $2,754 | $244,200 | 1.13% |
| Christian County, KY | 72,599 | $1,065 | $149,200 | 0.71% |
| Lewis and Clark County, MT | 72,580 | $2,886 | $358,200 | 0.81% |
| Creek County, OK | 72,353 | $1,261 | $170,900 | 0.74% |
| Morgan County, IN | 72,202 | $1,056 | $220,100 | 0.48% |
| Lauderdale County, MS | 71,984 | $1,223 | $124,500 | 0.98% |
| Franklin County, NC | 71,962 | $1,732 | $240,900 | 0.72% |
The closest population match is Creek County, Oklahoma (72,353 residents), where the median real estate tax paid is $1,261 on a median home value of $170,900 — $2,032 more than Wise County pays.
Inside Texas itself, the counties closest to Wise County in population are Henderson County (83,658 residents, median tax $1,859 on a median value of $189,600); Walker County (78,292 residents, median tax $2,312 on a median value of $207,900); Harrison County (69,584 residents, median tax $1,811 on a median value of $178,200); San Patricio County (69,519 residents, median tax $2,754 on a median value of $180,400). 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
As an illustration of the arithmetic: at Wise County's derived rate of 1.19%, a home valued at $400,000 would carry a tax bill of roughly $4,752 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 Wise County at the derived rate
The derived rate of 1.19% is only an estimate built from medians, but applying it to different home values gives a sense of scale for Wise 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 | $1,782 | $148 |
| $250,000 | $2,970 | $248 |
| $350,000 | $4,158 | $346 |
| $500,000 | $5,940 | $495 |
| $750,000 | $8,910 | $742 |
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 Wise 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 Wise 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 Wise County, Texas?
The median real estate tax paid in Wise County, Texas is $3,293 per year, on a median home value of $277,200 (US Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, 2023).
What is the effective property tax rate in Wise County, Texas?
The derived effective rate is 1.19% — the median bill ($3,293) expressed as a share of the median home value ($277,200). No authority sets a rate this way; it exists to make counties with different home prices comparable.
How does Wise County compare with the rest of Texas?
By median taxes paid, Wise County stands at #35 among the 250 Texas counties the Census publishes figures for. Its $3,293 median bill is about 20% lower than the state median ($4,111), and 34 counties in the state record a higher median.
How are property taxes calculated in Wise 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 Wise County is $3,293 of tax on a $277,200 median home value.
Can I appeal my property tax assessment in Wise County, Texas?
Yes. Request your property record card from the Wise County assessor's office and check it for errors, then compare your assessed value with recent sales of similar homes. If it still looks too high, file a formal appeal with the local review board named on your assessment notice before the deadline printed on the notice — windows are short, often 30 to 90 days.