County Property Tax Scorecard

Statewide, almost 22 percent of all property taxes paid are for Iowa counties.

How do your taxes compare with other counties?

Using information from the Iowa Department of Management and the U.S. Census Bureau, TEF created scorecards by looking at the change in three measurements from Fiscal Year 2016 to Fiscal Year 2017.

  1. Change in property tax rates (both rural and urban)
  2. Change in property tax revenue relative to inflation and population growth
  3. Change in the total revenue per resident

Scoring was as follows for each category:

  • One point (1) was given for a decrease
  • Zero points (0) were given for no change
  • Negative one point (-1) was given for an increase
  • Individual points were then totaled for a final ranking.

These scorecards are meant to provide objective data that is consistent among taxing authorities. TEF did not investigate the reason for a location’s rate or revenue change; circumstances vary from location to location.

The default table is sorted by total points and then alphabetically.

CountyChange in Property Tax Urban RateChange in Property Tax Rural RateProperty Tax Revenue growth compared to inflation + population growth$ Change in property tax revenue per residentTotal Score
Black Hawk-4.50%-1.21%-6.60%($131.11)4
Buchanan-5.30%-5.26%-3.40%($2.25)4
Clarke-10.50%-6.37%-7.50%($5.66)4
Clinton-2.10%-1.81%-2.30%($14.52)4
Grundy-3.30%-0.44%-4.60%($18.85)4
Lee-1.90%-4.67%-5.50%($181.65)4
Mills-3.50%-2.31%-4.00%($5.10)4
Monroe-0.90%-0.64%-3.70%($607.91)4
Page-10.10%-7.41%-7.90%($63.10)4
Story-10.30%-6.58%-9.10%($33.16)4
Warren-0.20%-0.10%-3.10%($0.94)4
Worth-0.80%-0.53%-2.30%($13.04)4
Adams-3.20%-2.23%1.30%($933.26)2
Appanoose-1.10%-0.77%-7.60%$58.992
Butler-3.70%-2.29%-3.90%$50.952
Cedar-0.20%-1.67%-0.10%$42.732
Cerro Gordo-0.30%-0.17%-1.80%$46.182
Cherokee-7.60%-7.75%-2.20%$148.642
Des Moines-5.00%-3.85%-4.00%$50.372
Floyd-0.80%-2.70%-3.60%$18.302
Franklin-13.40%-8.37%-9.30%$122.422
Hamilton-6.20%-3.74%-7.70%$66.112
Hancock-1.10%-0.57%-1.20%$63.692
Hardin-4.10%-0.45%1.70%($12.58)2
Harrison-8.60%-7.75%-4.20%$47.892
Henry-14.30%-9.52%-13.80%$11.662
Iowa-5.30%-3.60%-2.00%$52.492
Johnson-1.90%-1.27%1.20%($5.08)2
Kossuth-5.50%-4.68%-3.40%$72.842
Lucas-1.70%-3.05%-3.50%$62.672
Marshall-6.70%-4.74%-5.50%$5.612
Monona-4.40%-4.54%-1.40%$129.322
Montgomery-3.60%-4.96%-1.50%$73.032
O'Brien-8.10%-6.33%-3.10%$61.162
Palo Alto-6.70%-4.26%-4.30%$34.962
Pottawattamie-4.00%-2.87%-5.30%$17.042
Sac-4.10%-0.32%-4.20%$31.902
Scott-3.00%-2.50%-3.60%$7.142
Shelby-3.30%-1.43%-0.80%$130.052
Union-8.80%-5.61%-5.30%$169.552
Van Buren-3.40%-5.78%-1.00%$159.872
Wapello-0.50%-2.31%-1.20%$8.672
Washington-2.90%-4.08%0.00%$91.112
Benton-1.30%0.00%-0.50%$61.001
Linn0.00%-0.63%-3.60%$10.641
Muscatine0.00%-0.01%1.10%($12.67)1
Bremer-2.40%-1.36%1.70%$20.380
Cass-0.40%-0.36%1.00%$21.990
Chickasaw0.00%0.00%-0.70%$116.340
Clayton-1.80%-1.23%1.20%$38.770
Delaware-3.30%-2.23%5.00%$76.740
Dickinson-6.10%-3.88%0.20%$93.700
Emmet-1.10%-0.71%2.10%$48.320
Fayette-1.70%-1.09%3.60%$135.090
Guthrie-0.30%-0.23%4.80%$550.680
Howard-2.40%-1.50%1.40%$59.870
Jasper5.20%2.57%-1.20%($114.90)0
Jones-2.70%-3.86%0.20%$50.560
Keokuk-3.60%-2.28%1.30%$235.140
Louisa0.00%0.00%1.00%($115.87)0
Lyon-2.50%-1.43%2.30%$46.630
Mitchell0.00%0.00%-2.70%$34.280
Plymouth-0.80%-0.40%3.60%$13.340
Pocahontas-0.50%0.20%-0.20%$105.870
Polk0.00%0.00%2.60%($44.39)0
Sioux-3.50%-2.37%7.70%$42.780
Taylor-4.90%-5.30%0.30%$85.650
Webster-7.00%-4.43%6.80%$5.670
Winneshiek-0.30%-1.87%3.50%$191.800
Woodbury-0.80%-1.34%5.50%$50.130
Adair0.00%0.56%-4.50%$99.90-1
Dubuque-1.40%0.00%1.70%$161.04-1
Greene0.00%0.46%-1.50%$99.10-1
Ida0.00%-2.00%0.30%$80.72-1
Jackson0.00%0.01%-1.00%$77.18-1
Boone0.00%0.00%0.20%$25.38-2
Clay2.30%-0.32%7.30%$63.42-2
Dallas3.20%1.59%-0.70%$23.07-2
Decatur8.30%2.84%-1.40%$52.58-2
Humboldt1.20%0.72%-2.70%$59.59-2
Madison8.30%5.50%3.70%($15.29)-2
Marion-0.70%0.07%2.10%$43.05-2
Osceola-0.40%0.01%3.00%$174.36-2
Tama0.00%0.00%2.60%$64.12-2
Wayne-0.30%0.00%0.30%$87.99-2
Carroll0.00%0.41%0.20%$35.42-3
Allamakee1.10%0.68%7.70%$131.48-4
Audubon11.30%6.03%5.50%$680.83-4
Buena Vista0.40%0.25%0.10%$12.25-4
Calhoun11.90%7.31%4.50%$130.00-4
Crawford5.60%3.11%3.60%$6.19-4
Davis20.90%25.15%16.40%$186.59-4
Fremont1.10%0.75%5.30%$49.49-4
Jefferson1.90%1.37%7.40%$193.28-4
Mahaska24.90%12.94%13.40%$76.56-4
Poweshiek2.40%1.25%2.00%$58.96-4
Ringgold5.80%3.81%4.10%$187.00-4
Winnebago15.00%6.22%10.10%$154.38-4
Wright1.50%0.95%1.30%$44.92-4
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