Property Tax in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin

What the Manitowoc County numbers mean

A median is the middle household: half of owner-occupied households in Manitowoc County pay more than $2,660, and half pay less. Your own bill is set by your home's assessed value, the exemptions you qualify for, and the local taxing districts your property sits in — so individual bills vary widely around the median.

Dividing the median tax by the median home value gives a derived effective rate of 1.54% for Manitowoc County. It is an estimate built from two survey medians, not the county's official rate, but it is a fair way to compare the local tax burden with other counties where home values are very different.

The key figures for Manitowoc County

For context, the Wisconsin medians are $3,746 of tax on $247,400 of value, and the US medians are $2,969 on $303,400. *Derived figures are estimates from Census medians, not official rates.

Manitowoc County at a glance

• Median tax rank in Wisconsin: #47 of 72 counties
• Median home value rank in Wisconsin: #60 of 72
• Population rank in Wisconsin: #21 of 72 (81,314 residents)
• Population density rank: #19 of 72 (138 people per square mile)
• Land area rank in Wisconsin: #48 of 72 (589 sq mi, 1.1% of the combined county land area)
• Median tax as a monthly figure: $222; per $1,000 of home value: $1.54

How Manitowoc County compares

Set against its state, Manitowoc County's median bill of $2,660 is about 29% lower than the Wisconsin median ($3,746). Against the country as a whole it is about 10% lower than the US median ($2,969). That places the county #47 of 72 Wisconsin counties ranked by median taxes paid.

Remember what drives the ranking: bills follow home values as much as rates. Manitowoc County's median home, at $172,900, ranks #60 by value in Wisconsin, while its derived rate of 1.54% compares with a derived US figure of 0.98%.

Some extra context for Manitowoc County: the median bill works out to about $222 a month, and the derived rate equals roughly $1,538 of tax per $100,000 of home value. The county is home to 81,314 people — the #21 most populous county in Wisconsin, spread over 589 square miles, a density of about 138 people per square mile. Its median home value, $172,900, ranks #60 among the state's 72 counties with data.

Zooming out: of 3133 counties nationwide with published Census figures, only 601 record a higher median tax bill than Manitowoc County — it sits in the top 19% nationally. The county holds roughly 1.4% of Wisconsin's people. Its homes are worth less than the state norm (median $172,900 versus $247,400), and a decade at the derived rate of 1.54% adds up to about 15.38% of the median home's value in tax. The cheapest county in the state, Iron County, medians $1,777 — $883 less than Manitowoc County per year.

Counties nearest Manitowoc County in the Wisconsin ranking

Manitowoc County and its population peers

Population is a useful lens on these figures, so the table below sets Manitowoc 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, Manitowoc County's $2,660 bill is #3 of 9.

The closest population match is Putnam County, Tennessee (81,366 residents), where the median real estate tax paid is $1,299 on a median home value of $246,800 — $1,361 more than Manitowoc County pays.

Manitowoc County's nearest population neighbours within Wisconsin are Dodge County (88,818 residents, median tax $3,395 on a median value of $218,400); Jefferson County (85,867 residents, median tax $3,988 on a median value of $253,800); Wood County (74,039 residents, median tax $2,629 on a median value of $168,100); Portage County (70,375 residents, median tax $3,396 on a median value of $230,400). 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

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. Manitowoc County's medians imply a derived rate of 1.54%; applied illustratively, a $400,000 home would owe about $6,152 a year, or around $513 a month spread evenly. Individual properties depart from the illustration in both directions.

Illustrative bills in Manitowoc County at the derived rate

The derived rate of 1.54% is only an estimate built from medians, but applying it to different home values gives a sense of scale for Manitowoc County — and a quick way to compare with the state derived rate of 1.51% 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 Manitowoc 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 Manitowoc 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 Wisconsin counties

• Jefferson County, WI — $3,988
• Wood County, WI — $2,629
• Dodge County, WI — $3,395
• Portage County, WI — $3,396
• Ozaukee County, WI — $4,629
• St. Croix County, WI — $4,297

Frequently asked questions