Property tax in Sawyer County, Wisconsin

By Brent Chudoba, editor Updated September 23, 2026

In Sawyer County, the property tax bill comes from the Sawyer County Treasurer (your town, village or city treasurer mails the bill and collects the full payment or first installment). The 2026 bill is paid in 2 installments, and the next one is due January 31, 2027. You can look up and pay the bill on the county's own payment page. Taken from Sawyer County's own pages, checked September 23, 2026.

The median property tax bill in Sawyer County, Wisconsin is $1,897 a year, which is about 0.8% of the county's median home value of $236,200. That effective rate is lower than the typical Wisconsin county (1.36%) and lower than the national median (0.81%). These are American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2024); your own bill depends on your home's assessed value and any exemptions.

Who sends the property tax bill in Sawyer County, and how do you pay it?

The bill comes from the Sawyer County Treasurer (your town, village or city treasurer mails the bill and collects the full payment or first installment). The value it is based on is set by a separate office, the assessor for your town, village or city (each municipality in Sawyer County values its own properties; the county does not), which is who to ask if the value looks wrong. For how to look up and pay the bill, go to the county's own payment information.

Sawyer County taxes are paid to two offices. Your town, village or city treasurer mails the bill in December and takes the full payment or first installment; the second installment and any late taxes go to the Sawyer County Treasurer at the courthouse in Hayward (mail to P.O. Box 935, Hayward, WI 54843). Include a copy of the bill, the payment stub or the tax ID number with a mailed payment, and a self-addressed stamped envelope if you want a receipt. The county's phone and online payments, through an outside processor that charges $1.50 for an e-check, 2.39% for a credit card and $3.95 for a debit card, run only February through November and take only second installments and late taxes. The county asks owners to update their mailing address before November 15; not receiving a bill does not excuse a late payment.

When are property taxes due in Sawyer County?

For the 2026 (payable 2027) bill, Sawyer County splits the bill into 2 payments, the first due January 31, 2027 and the last July 31, 2027. If the first installment is late, the installment option is lost and the whole unpaid balance becomes delinquent as of February 1. A late second installment makes the remaining balance delinquent as of August 1, with interest and penalty counted back to February 1. Delinquent taxes are paid to the Sawyer County Treasurer and carry interest of 1% a month plus a county penalty of 0.25% a month, 1.25% a month in all, added on the first day of each month until paid in full. The county takes regular partial payments on delinquent taxes.

Sawyer County property tax due dates, 2026 (payable 2027)
Payment	Due	Note
Full payment, or first installment (paid to your town, village or city treasurer)	January 31, 2027	The county treasurer cannot accept current-year payments due by January 31, and its phone and online payments are switched off in December and January. January 31, 2027 is a Sunday; Wisconsin law moves a deadline that falls on a Sunday to the next business day, Monday, February 1, 2027. State law also does not treat the first installment as late if the treasurer receives it within 5 working days after January 31, and because January 31 falls on a weekend that period ends at the close of business on Friday, February 5, 2027; the payment must arrive by then. Paying in installments is allowed only when the real estate tax on the parcel is $100 or more; smaller bills must be paid in full by January 31. Personal property taxes, except improvements on leased land, are also due in full by January 31.
Second installment (paid to the Sawyer County Treasurer)	July 31, 2027	July 31, 2027 is a Saturday. The Sawyer County Treasurer's office is open Monday through Friday, and Wisconsin law then moves the deadline to the next business day, Monday, August 2, 2027. State law does not treat the second installment as late if the county treasurer receives it within 5 working days after July 31, and because July 31 falls on a weekend that period ends at the close of business on Friday, August 6, 2027; the payment must arrive by then.

From Sawyer County's published schedule, checked September 23, 2026. If a date falls on a weekend or holiday, the county's own rules on the next business day apply.

Estimate the property tax on a home in Sawyer County

Enter a home's market value for a ballpark at Sawyer County's average effective rate of 0.8% (Census). The real bill depends on the home's assessed value, the millage where it sits and any exemptions.

Home market value

Estimated property tax: $1,890 / year

Property tax in Sawyer County at a glance

Sawyer County, Wisconsin property tax (Census ACS, reviewed September 23, 2026)
Measure	Value
Median annual property tax	$1,897
Median home value	$236,200
Effective tax rate	0.8%
Typical Wisconsin county rate	1.36%
National median county rate	0.81%

Effective rate = median real estate taxes paid divided by median home value. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates.

How does Sawyer County compare in Wisconsin?

Among Wisconsin's 72 counties, Sawyer County has the 71st highest effective property-tax rate: 70 rank higher and 1 rank lower. That places it among the least taxed counties in the state. Nationally, it ranks 1597th of 3135 US counties by effective rate. See every Wisconsin county ranked.

How much do homeowners in Sawyer County actually pay?

The median is only the middle bill. Across Sawyer County's 6,759 owner-occupied homes, 24.9% pay $3,000 or more a year in property tax, 43.3% pay at least $2,000, and 11.9% pay under $800. Another 7% report paying no property tax at all, which usually means an exemption covers the whole bill.

Annual property tax paid by Sawyer County homeowners (Census ACS 2020-2024)
Annual bill	Homes	Share
Under $800	807	11.9%
$800 to $1,499	1,517	22.4%
$1,500 to $1,999	1,029	15.2%
$2,000 to $2,999	1,245	18.4%
$3,000 or more	1,686	24.9%
No property tax paid	475	7%

Owners with a mortgage pay a median of $2,018 and owners without one pay $1,751. Owners who have paid off a home have usually held it longer, and in states that cap how fast an existing owner's assessment can rise, long-held homes carry lower assessed values. Census table B25103.

How does the Sawyer County property tax bill compare with local incomes?

The median property tax bill of $1,897 is about 2.7% of the median income of Sawyer County homeowner households, $70,156 a year. That compares two middles, so a retiree in a long-held home can pay a far larger share. 76.7% of Sawyer County's occupied homes are lived in by their owners; renters pay property tax too, just folded into rent.

Have property taxes gone up in Sawyer County?

Yes. The median bill went from $1,738 in 2015-2019 to $1,897 in 2020-2024, a 9.1% rise. Over the same span the median home value moved 40.3%, from $168,400 to $236,200. Bills rose more slowly than values, which is what assessment caps and falling millage rates do: the county is taxing a smaller share of each home's worth.

Two Census ACS 5-year periods with no survey years in common, in each period's own dollars. A change counts only if it exceeds the combined 90% margin of error.

Property tax in counties next to Sawyer County

Sawyer County borders 7 counties.

Sawyer County and its neighbors, highest effective rate first (Census ACS 2020-2024)
County	Effective rate	Median bill	Median home value
Ashland County, WI	1.42%	$2,413	$170,300
Price County, WI	1.32%	$2,150	$162,500
Barron County, WI	1.31%	$2,843	$216,600
Douglas County, WI	1.26%	$2,599	$205,800
Rusk County, WI	1.12%	$1,834	$163,400
Washburn County, WI	1.05%	$2,377	$226,100
Bayfield County, WI	1.01%	$2,425	$240,800
Sawyer County, WI (this county)	0.8%	$1,897	$236,200

How is a home assessed in Sawyer County?

Wisconsin assesses homes at 100% of market value in every county, Sawyer County included. How Wisconsin assesses and reappraises homes.

Is there a homestead exemption in Sawyer County?

No. Wisconsin has no homestead exemption; owner-occupants instead see the Lottery and Gaming Credit and the School Levy Tax Credit printed on the bill. That is the Wisconsin rule, and it applies in Sawyer County. Wisconsin's exemptions and relief programs in full.

Sawyer County does not add relief programs of its own beyond the Wisconsin ones (checked September 23, 2026).

How to appeal your Sawyer County property assessment

In Sawyer County you appeal to the The Board of Review of your town, village or city. The deadline: Talk to your municipal assessor first. To appeal to the Board of Review, give the board's clerk written or oral notice that you intend to object at least 48 hours before the board's first meeting, then file a written objection within the first 2 hours of that meeting. State law sets this schedule: each board meets once a year, some time in the 45 days starting on the fourth Monday in April; check the date with your municipal clerk. How to file. Checked September 23, 2026 against the official appeal rules.

How Wisconsin's appeal process works, including the next level if the first one turns you down.

Wisconsin rules from primary state sources, reviewed September 7, 2026; sources on the Wisconsin page.

Work out your own numbers

Sources

Median real estate taxes paid and median home value for Sawyer County, Wisconsin: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2020-2024), tables B25103, B25077, B25102, B25119 and B25003; the five-year comparison uses the 2015-2019 estimates. Neighboring counties: Census county adjacency file.