Wharton County Property Taxes
Short answer
Above the national median — roughly 1.6% effective, per commercial tax-data services — paid from household incomes that run about 80% of the state and national medians.
Third-party data — commercial aggregator, treat with more caution
Wharton County’s median effective property-tax rate is approximately 1.63%, versus a national median of about 1.02%.
Source: Ownwell (commercial property-tax service); O'Connor (appraisal consultant) cites ~2.1%
Fact — government / primary source
Median household income in the county is $66,924 — about 80 percent of both the Texas ($78,476) and U.S. ($80,734) figures.
Source: Census Reporter, ACS 2024 5-year estimates
Context that cuts both ways: Texas has no state income tax, so property taxes carry more of the load everywhere in the state — Wharton County is not unique in leaning on them. The question is what the money buys. Note also that your total bill combines several separate taxing units (county, city, school district, and others), each with its own rate and its own elected board.
Our take — opinion
An above-average rate on a below-average income would sting less if it purchased above-average services. A “D” school district and a levee that took 25 years to break ground suggest otherwise.