Property Tax 101

The median property tax (also known as real estate tax) in Whatcom County is $2,173.00 per year, based on a median home value of $293,500.00 and a median effective property tax rate of 0.74% of property value.

Whatcom County collects relatively high property taxes, and is ranked in the top half of all counties in the United States by property tax collections. Of the thirty-nine counties in Washington, Whatcom County is ranked 9th by median property taxes, and 29th by median tax as percentage of home value.

Whatcom County has lower property taxes than many other Washington counties. The median home value is $293,500.00, compared to the median property value in Washington of $287,200.00

• County Tax Comparison
• National Tax Comparison
• Other Washington Counties
• Property Lookup

9th out of 39 By median yearly property tax

29th out of 39 By percentage of median home value

11th out of 39 By percentage of median income

You can see how Whatcom County (highlighted in green) compares to the thirty-nine other counties in Washington with the bar chart above, sorted by median property tax in dollars. For a visual map of county property tax rates in Washington, see our Washington county property tax map.

Remember: Real estate prices also play a large part in which Washington counties have the highest and lowest median property taxes. Higher-valued properties will generally have higher taxes, even if the median percentage of home value levied as property tax is different. For comparisons, you can also use Percentage Of Home Value.

Property tax assessments in Whatcom County are the responsibility of the Whatcom County Tax Assessor, whose office is located in Bellingham, Washington.

If you need to pay your property tax bill, ask about a property tax assessment, look up the Whatcom County property tax due date, or find property tax records, visit the Whatcom County Tax Assessor's page. Applications for the Whatcom County homestead exemption, any property tax appeals, and applications for a current use tax reduction must also be submitted to the Whatcom County Assessor's Office.

For some properties, you can easily find the most recent tax assessment by looking up the property address with our property records search. You can also use our Whatcom County Property Tax Calculator to estimate your property tax based on median tax values (results open in new page).