Study Indicates Bedford, Blair Counties Get Good School Value for Tax Dollar

A recent study indicates that property owners in Blair and Bedford counties receive statewide among the highest value for their property taxes.

Financial technology company SmartAsset found the places in Pennsylvania where residents receive the most value for what they pay in property taxes.

Bedford County ranked fifth best and Blair County ranked 10th best in Pennsylvania (See accompanying chart).

First, the study used the number of households, median home value and average property tax rate to calculate a per-capita property tax collected for each county.

As a way to measure the quality of schools, the study analyzed the math and reading/language arts proficiencies for every school district in the country. The study's authors then created an average score for each district by looking at the scores for every school in that district, weighting it to account for the number of students in each school.

Within each state, the study assigned every county a score between 1 and 10 (with 10 being the best) based on the average scores of the districts in each county.

Then, we calculated the change in property tax value in each county over a five-year period. Places where property values rose by the greatest amount indicated where consumers were motivated to buy homes, and a positive return on investment for homeowners in the community.

Finally, the study calculated a property tax index, based on the criteria above.

Counties with the highest scores were those where property tax dollars are going the furthest.

Taken together, these factors determine where residents are seeing the most value for their property taxes.

For the top performing counties in Pennsylvania, check out the table accompanying this article.

Sources for the date were the U.S. Census Bureau 2018 American Community Survey, and the U.S. Department of Education.

Additional details on the study, including the methodology and interactive map, can be found at this website

https://smartasset.com/taxes/pennsylvania-property-tax-calculator#pennsylvania