Grays Harbor ranks high in overall value for property taxes
A new study on property taxes ranked Grays Harbor among the top 10 counties in the state in overall value.
Financial technology company SmartAsset released its annual study on property taxes, showing each county ranked by property tax rate, school rating, crimes per 100k people, and overall value.
Grays Harbor ranked 7th in the state for Best Overall Value, with Lincoln County ranking 1st. Pacific County came in 22nd on the list. SmartAssett says Grays Harbor ranked at 1525 nationwide out of over 3000.
In School Value, Grays Harbor also ranked high at 3rd in the state. This measurement was done by analyzing the local math and reading/language arts proficiencies for every school district , according to SmartAsset. They created an average score for each district, assigning each county a score between 1 and 10 (with 10 being the best). Grays Harbor showed a 10 rating, while Pacific County showed a 3, ranking them 26th.
For Crime Rate, Ferry County showed the lowest rate of violent and property crimes per 100k people. Grays Harbor ranked 26th on that list, showing 3902 crimes per 100k people. Pacific County ranked 12th out of 36 counties at 2574. In comparison, Ferry County showed only 436 crimes per 100k people. The next lowest county is San Juan at 1406 crimes.
For the Lowest Average Property Tax category, based on lowest taxes paid as a percentage of home value, both local counties ranked in the bottom half of the state. Grays Harbor at 27 and Pacific County at 22.
For a look at how the leaders in Washington performed, check out the table below:
| Rank | County | Property Tax Rate | School Rating | Crimes Per 100k People | Overall Value Index |
| 1 | Lincoln, WA | 0.84% | 9.00 | 1808 | 72.83 |
| 2 | Whitman, WA | 0.99% | 10.00 | 1649 | 69.02 |
| 3 | Okanogan, WA | 0.89% | 10.00 | 1950 | 67.21 |
| 4 | Stevens, WA | 0.81% | 5.00 | 2018 | 44.79 |
| 5 | San Juan, WA | 0.62% | 8.00 | 1406 | 44.23 |
| 6 | Ferry, WA | 0.79% | 1.00 | 436 | 42.94 |
| 7 | Grays Harbor, WA | 1.06% | 10.00 | 3902 | 41.77 |
| 8 | Klickitat, WA | 0.73% | 4.00 | 1724 | 41.51 |
| 9 | Pend Oreille, WA | 0.74% | 6.00 | 2755 | 40.38 |
| 10 | Island, WA | 0.84% | 7.00 | 1894 | 37.13 |
The full study results, methodology and interactive map can be found here: https://smartasset.com/taxes/washington-property-tax-calculator#map
