Property Tax in Walworth County, Wisconsin

What the Walworth County numbers mean

Read the two medians together: $3,964 is the middle tax bill among owner-occupied households in Walworth County, and $275,900 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 Walworth County is 1.44% (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 Walworth 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.

Walworth County at a glance

• Median tax rank in Wisconsin: #10 of 72 counties
• Median home value rank in Wisconsin: #8 of 72
• Population rank in Wisconsin: #15 of 72 (105,447 residents)
• Population density rank: #14 of 72 (190 people per square mile)
• Land area rank in Wisconsin: #54 of 72 (555 sq mi, 1.0% of the combined county land area)
• Median tax as a monthly figure: $330; per $1,000 of home value: $1.44

How Walworth County compares

Set against its state, Walworth County's median bill of $3,964 is about 6% higher than the Wisconsin median ($3,746). Against the country as a whole it is about 34% higher than the US median ($2,969). That places the county #10 of 72 Wisconsin counties ranked by median taxes paid.

Remember what drives the ranking: bills follow home values as much as rates. Walworth County's median home, at $275,900, ranks #8 by value in Wisconsin, while its derived rate of 1.44% compares with a derived US figure of 0.98%.

Some extra context for Walworth County: the median bill works out to about $330 a month, and the derived rate equals roughly $1,437 of tax per $100,000 of home value. The county is home to 105,447 people — the #15 most populous county in Wisconsin, spread over 555 square miles, a density of about 190 people per square mile. Its median home value, $275,900, ranks #8 among the state's 72 counties with data.

Nationally, Walworth County's median bill of $3,964 ranks #231 of 3133 counties with published data — inside the top 7% of counties by tax paid. The county accounts for about 1.8% of Wisconsin's population, its median home value is about 12% above the state median, and at the derived rate the median home would hand over roughly 14.37% of its value in tax across a decade. Within the state, the distance from Walworth County to the most expensive county, Dane County ($6,276), is $2,312 a year.

Counties nearest Walworth County in the Wisconsin ranking

Walworth County and its population peers

Population is a useful lens on these figures, so the table below sets Walworth 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, Walworth County's $3,964 bill is the highest.

The closest population match is Franklin County, Missouri (105,316 residents), where the median real estate tax paid is $1,774 on a median home value of $214,900 — $2,190 more than Walworth County pays.

Walworth County's nearest population neighbours within Wisconsin are Sheboygan County (117,783 residents, median tax $3,234 on a median value of $218,400); Eau Claire County (106,328 residents, median tax $3,461 on a median value of $242,400); Fond du Lac County (104,053 residents, median tax $3,311 on a median value of $209,800); St. Croix County (94,819 residents, median tax $4,297 on a median value of $349,700). 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. Walworth County's medians imply a derived rate of 1.44%; applied illustratively, a $400,000 home would owe about $5,748 a year, or around $479 a month spread evenly. Individual properties depart from the illustration in both directions.

Illustrative bills in Walworth County at the derived rate

The derived rate of 1.44% is only an estimate built from medians, but applying it to different home values gives a sense of scale for Walworth 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 Walworth 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 Walworth 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

• Eau Claire County, WI — $3,461
• Fond du Lac County, WI — $3,311
• St. Croix County, WI — $4,297
• Sheboygan County, WI — $3,234
• Ozaukee County, WI — $4,629
• La Crosse County, WI — $3,963

Frequently asked questions