Property Tax in Benton County, Washington

What the Benton County numbers mean

Read the two medians together: $2,910 is the middle tax bill among owner-occupied households in Benton County, and $369,400 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 Benton County is 0.79% (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 Benton County

For context, the Washington medians are $4,361 of tax on $519,800 of value, and the US medians are $2,969 on $303,400. *Derived figures are estimates from Census medians, not official rates.

Benton County at a glance

• Median tax rank in Washington: #19 of 39 counties
• Median home value rank in Washington: #21 of 39
• Population rank in Washington: #10 of 39 (210,224 residents)
• Population density rank: #9 of 39 (124 people per square mile)
• Land area rank in Washington: #22 of 39 (1,700 sq mi, 2.6% of the combined county land area)
• Median tax as a monthly figure: $242; per $1,000 of home value: $0.79

How Benton County compares

The median tax bill in Benton County is about 33% lower than the state median ($4,361 for Washington) and about the same as the US median ($2,969 nationally). By median taxes paid, the county ranks #19 out of 39 Washington counties with published Census data — 18 counties in the state have a higher median bill.

Comparisons cut both ways: a county can have a modest rate but high bills because homes are expensive, or a high rate but modest bills because homes are cheaper. Benton County's derived rate of 0.79% sits below the derived US figure of 0.98%.

Some extra context for Benton County: the median bill works out to about $242 a month, and the derived rate equals roughly $788 of tax per $100,000 of home value. The county is home to 210,224 people — the #10 most populous county in Washington, spread over 1,700 square miles, a density of about 124 people per square mile. Its median home value, $369,400, ranks #21 among the state's 39 counties with data.

Zooming out: of 3133 counties nationwide with published Census figures, only 471 record a higher median tax bill than Benton County — it sits in the top 15% nationally. The county holds roughly 2.7% of Washington's people. Its homes are worth less than the state norm (median $369,400 versus $519,800), and a decade at the derived rate of 0.79% adds up to about 7.88% of the median home's value in tax. The cheapest county in the state, Garfield County, medians $1,306 — $1,604 less than Benton County per year.

Counties nearest Benton County in the Washington ranking

Benton County and its population peers

Population is a useful lens on these figures, so the table below sets Benton 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, Benton County's $2,910 bill is #5 of 9.

The closest population match is Clermont County, Ohio (209,862 residents), where the median real estate tax paid is $3,141 on a median home value of $245,600 — $231 less than Benton County pays.

Benton County's nearest population neighbours within Washington are Yakima County (256,605 residents, median tax $2,299 on a median value of $281,100); Whatcom County (228,432 residents, median tax $3,819 on a median value of $536,100); Skagit County (130,407 residents, median tax $4,008 on a median value of $486,200); Cowlitz County (111,539 residents, median tax $2,988 on a median value of $367,400). 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 0.79%, each $100,000 of value corresponds to about $788 of tax a year, and a $400,000 home to roughly $3,152. 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 Benton County at the derived rate

The derived rate of 0.79% is only an estimate built from medians, but applying it to different home values gives a sense of scale for Benton County — and a quick way to compare with the state derived rate of 0.84% 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 Benton County

Most successful appeals are won on facts, not arguments. Start with the property record card held by the Benton 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.

More Washington counties

• Whatcom County, WA — $3,819
• Yakima County, WA — $2,299
• Kitsap County, WA — $4,030
• Skagit County, WA — $4,008
• Thurston County, WA — $4,043
• Cowlitz County, WA — $2,988

Frequently asked questions