Jefferson County is ranked in the top five in the state in terms of bang for your tax buck.
A financial technology company did an evaluation of the value of property taxes per county in Pennsylvania, ranking each county. The firm, SmartAsset measured property tax rates against the benefits they produce, especially in terms of education and public safety.
It studied school rankings (based on scores for math and reading & the language arts), violent crimes and property crimes per 100,000 residents, the number of households, median home values, and property tax rates to calculate a “community score.”
Cameron County did not have information available, so the company only ranked 66 of the 67 counties.
Jefferson County’s numbers are outstanding … the county ranks number 4 in PA, with a school ranking of 7 out of a possible 10. According to SmartAsset’s scoring, Jefferson County’s property tax rate is 1.36 percent. Niche.com notes that Jefferson County’s annual crime rates for violent crimes, per 100,000 residents, fall well below the State and national rates.
And our region places two counties in the top ten in the tax-benefit list, as Armstrong ranks at No. 9. Indiana County ranks 24th in the state, with a school ranking of 7, has a crime rate of about 1,800 per 100,000 residents. Indiana County’s effective property tax rate is 1.73 percent.
Right behind Indiana County are Clearfield and Cambria, at numbers 25 and 26.
Union County has the top score in the state, followed by Somerset and Sullivan.
The worst score is Lehigh County’s, with Philadelphia and Delaware counties only slightly better.
Jefferson County is also in the top five for affordable cost of living, where it ranks 5th.
