Property tax percentage by state: 2025 effective rates for all 50 states

Last updated 2026-07-09

What is an effective property tax rate, and why does it differ from the nominal rate?

The effective rate is what you actually pay divided by your home's market value. The nominal rate is the number printed on the books, like 2% or 35 mills. Those two figures can sit miles apart.

Here's why. Most states assess property at something below full market value. Illinois assesses most residential property at 33.3% of market value ^[1]. So a nominal rate of 9% applied to a 33.3% assessment lands closer to 3%, not 9%. The Tax Foundation defines the effective rate the same way: total taxes paid divided by the property's full market value ^[2].

When you compare states, compare effective rates. Nominal rates are close to meaningless across jurisdictions because assessment ratios swing so widely. Two neighbors in different counties with identical $400,000 homes can face very different bills depending on local assessment practices, exemptions, and caps. The effective rate cuts through that noise and gives you a number you can compare.

One caution. The effective rate you see below is a statewide median or average. Your own number depends on your county's assessment ratio, your municipality's mill rate, and the exemptions you've filed. Treat state averages as a starting point for comparison, not a bill estimate.

What is the average effective property tax rate by state in 2025?

The table below shows effective property tax rates for all 50 states, drawn from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy's 50-State Property Tax Comparison Study and the Tax Foundation's state-by-state analysis ^[2][3]. Where the two sources differ, I note the range. These figures reflect 2023 tax-year data, the most current published as of mid-2025, and are the best proxy available for average effective property tax rates by state in 2025.

State	Effective Rate	Median Home Value (approx.)	Typical Annual Bill
Alabama	0.37%	$172,000	$636
Alaska	0.98%	$316,000	$3,097
Arizona	0.49%	$316,000	$1,548
Arkansas	0.57%	$150,000	$855
California	0.68%	$659,000	$4,481
Colorado	0.48%	$444,000	$2,131
Connecticut	1.73%	$340,000	$5,882
Delaware	0.43%	$285,000	$1,226
Florida	0.71%	$338,000	$2,400
Georgia	0.72%	$249,000	$1,793
Hawaii	0.27%	$669,000	$1,806
Idaho	0.43%	$331,000	$1,423
Illinois	1.88%	$239,000	$4,493
Indiana	0.73%	$183,000	$1,336
Iowa	1.38%	$166,000	$2,291
Kansas	1.22%	$187,000	$2,281
Kentucky	0.72%	$177,000	$1,274
Louisiana	0.55%	$175,000	$963
Maine	0.99%	$266,000	$2,633
Maryland	0.99%	$381,000	$3,772
Massachusetts	1.04%	$465,000	$4,836
Michigan	1.23%	$201,000	$2,472
Minnesota	0.96%	$280,000	$2,688
Mississippi	0.65%	$140,000	$910
Missouri	0.88%	$199,000	$1,751
Montana	0.57%	$305,000	$1,739
Nebraska	1.46%	$195,000	$2,847
Nevada	0.48%	$358,000	$1,718
New Hampshire	1.86%	$348,000	$6,477
New Jersey	2.23%	$417,000	$9,299
New Mexico	0.55%	$218,000	$1,199
New York	1.46%	$368,000	$5,373
North Carolina	0.67%	$245,000	$1,642
North Dakota	0.84%	$199,000	$1,672
Ohio	1.41%	$175,000	$2,468
Oklahoma	0.85%	$163,000	$1,386
Oregon	0.82%	$394,000	$3,231
Pennsylvania	1.26%	$213,000	$2,684
Rhode Island	1.30%	$340,000	$4,420
South Carolina	0.43%	$209,000	$898
South Dakota	1.08%	$186,000	$2,009
Tennessee	0.48%	$233,000	$1,118
Texas	1.60%	$300,000	$4,800
Utah	0.44%	$393,000	$1,729
Vermont	1.59%	$268,000	$4,261
Virginia	0.75%	$339,000	$2,543
Washington	0.84%	$451,000	$3,788
West Virginia	0.53%	$128,000	$678
Wisconsin	1.51%	$225,000	$3,398
Wyoming	0.55%	$256,000	$1,408

A few things jump out. Hawaii has the lowest effective rate in the country at 0.27%, yet its median bill isn't the lowest because home values run so high ^[2]. New Jersey holds the top spot at 2.23%, so an owner with a $417,000 house pays roughly $9,300 a year before exemptions ^[2]. Illinois and New Hampshire sit right behind New Jersey.

The Sun Belt states look cheap on a rate basis. Alabama, South Carolina, Arizona, and Tennessee all clear well under 0.5%. They are cheap, mostly. But home values in those markets have climbed fast, so a low rate now produces a bigger bill than it did five years ago. The rate held. The assessed value moved.

Which states have the highest property tax rates?

Six states carry effective rates above 1.7%: New Jersey (2.23%), Illinois (1.88%), New Hampshire (1.86%), Connecticut (1.73%), Texas (1.60%), and Vermont (1.59%) ^[2][3]. They share a handful of structural traits.

New Jersey and Connecticut fund heavy local education spending through property taxes, which is the single biggest driver of high rates nationally. New Hampshire has no income tax and no sales tax, so property taxes carry an outsized share of the state's revenue. Texas has no state income tax either. School finance reforms after 2019's House Bill 3 compressed some school district rates, yet local tax bills stay among the highest in absolute dollars for mid-value homes ^[4].

Illinois is its own story. Pension obligations at the local government level push rates higher year after year in many counties. Cook County homeowners face a double squeeze: above-average rates and an assessment system that historically overvalued lower-priced homes relative to expensive ones. A 2017 ProPublica Illinois investigation documented that pattern and helped push the assessor's office toward reforms.

Here's the math that makes appealing worth your afternoon. A 10% assessment error in New Jersey on a $400,000 home costs you roughly $890 a year. In a high-rate state, a small overvaluation turns into a large check.

For a closer look at this group, see what states have the highest property taxes and the full states ranked by property tax.

Which states have the lowest property tax rates?

The six lowest effective rates belong to Hawaii (0.27%), Alabama (0.37%), South Carolina (0.43%), Nevada (0.48%), Tennessee (0.48%), and Arizona (0.49%) ^[2]. Low-rate states either lean on other big revenue sources (Hawaii's general excise tax, Nevada's gaming taxes) or suppress property taxes through statutory caps.

California is the interesting case. Its effective rate of about 0.68% sits well below the national median, entirely because of Proposition 13 (1978), which caps assessed value increases at 2% a year for existing owners and reassesses only at sale ^[5]. Long-term California owners pay on an assessed value frozen decades ago. New buyers pay on full market value. That's a structural subsidy to tenure, and it's why California's rate reads low even though home prices there are sky-high.

Some states pair low rates with generous exemptions. South Carolina caps the assessment ratio for owner-occupied homes at 4% of fair market value under its 4% special assessment, producing an effective rate of 0.43% ^[6]. Buy a South Carolina home and skip the owner-occupied filing, and you get taxed at 6% instead. That one form is worth real money.

For states that zero out the bill in certain situations, see states with no property tax and what states don't have property tax.

How is your property tax bill actually calculated from the rate?

The formula is simple: assessed value times the mill rate equals your tax before exemptions. Each piece has moving parts.

First, the assessor sets your property's market value. Then that value gets multiplied by the assessment ratio to reach the assessed value. In states that assess at full market value (Florida, Texas, California for new buyers), the ratio is 100%. In Illinois it's roughly 33.3% for residential property ^[1]. Massachusetts also assesses at 100%, with a residential exemption available in some cities.

Next, the local governing bodies (county, municipality, school district, hospital district) set their levy, meaning the amount they want to collect. Divide the levy by the total assessed value in the jurisdiction and you get the mill rate. One mill equals $1 per $1,000 of assessed value. A 20-mill rate on a $200,000 assessed value is a $4,000 bill.

Then exemptions come off. The homestead exemption is the most common. Texas gives every homeowner at least a $100,000 school district homestead exemption starting with the 2023 tax year, after voters approved Proposition 4 in November 2023 ^[4]. Florida's homestead exemption removes the first $25,000 of assessed value from all taxes and another $25,000 from non-school taxes ^[7]. Senior, veteran, and disability exemptions stack on top in many states.

What's left after exemptions is your taxable value. Multiply by the mill rate and you have your bill. Each piece matters because each piece is contestable: the market value through an appeal, the exemptions through proper filing, and occasionally the levy itself through local politics.

What drives differences in property tax rates between states and counties?

Property tax is a local revenue tool. The state writes the rules, but counties, school districts, and municipalities set the actual levies. That's why rates inside a single state can vary as much as rates between states.

School funding is the biggest factor. Where local districts depend heavily on property taxes rather than state formula money, rates run high. Texas is the clearest example. In New England, town-based governance with separately funded school systems explains why New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Vermont cluster near the top.

State income and sales taxes matter too. States without a broad income tax (Texas, Nevada, Washington, New Hampshire, Florida) pull more from property or sales taxes to fund services. The mix shifts, but the total tax burden converges more than the individual pieces suggest.

Assessment caps create their own distortions. California's Prop 13 freezes long-term owners at low assessed values and shifts the burden onto newer buyers. Michigan's Proposal A (1994) limits annual taxable value increases to the lesser of 5% or the rate of inflation until the property transfers ^[8].

Appeals shape the system too. When many homeowners win reductions, the assessment roll shrinks and the mill rate rises on everyone else to raise the same revenue. The Lincoln Institute has traced this dynamic in high-appeal jurisdictions ^[3]. It's no reason to skip your appeal. It just means appeals are competitive in a quiet way.

How do effective property tax rates compare to home values across states?

Here's where it turns counterintuitive. The states with the lowest effective rates often have the highest home values, so the dollar bill isn't necessarily smallest where the rate is smallest.

Hawaii posts the nation's lowest rate at 0.27%, but median home values near $669,000 push the typical bill to around $1,800 ^[2]. An Alabama owner, meanwhile, pays about $636 a year on a $172,000 home at 0.37%.

Run it the other way. Texas charges 1.60% on a median home worth roughly $300,000, producing a typical annual bill near $4,800. That beats California's $4,481 even though California homes cost far more, because Prop 13 keeps assessed values suppressed for long-term owners ^[5].

The gap between rate and bill is also why coastal California owners get complacent about assessments. Their effective rate is capped by law. New buyers, though, take a hard hit in year one because they're assessed at full purchase price, and $659,000 at 0.68% clears $4,400 before any local parcel taxes.

For detailed 2024 data, property tax by state 2024 breaks down year-over-year changes. For forward-looking numbers, see property tax by state 2025.

Does property tax apply to vehicles and personal property too?

In most states, the property tax system covers real property (land and buildings) only. But 27 states also tax personal property such as vehicles, boats, and business equipment ^[9]. Virginia taxes passenger vehicles at the local level, with rates that vary by county and city. Fairfax County's personal property rate is $4.57 per $100 of assessed value as of 2024.

If you're focused on your real estate bill, vehicle taxes run on a separate track. But compare your total burden across states and the personal property piece counts. A family moving from North Carolina (no vehicle property tax) to Virginia meets a new annual bill of several hundred to over a thousand dollars per vehicle they never budgeted for.

Business personal property taxes on equipment and inventory vary even more and sit outside this article's scope, though they're a real cost for small business owners in states like Texas, Tennessee, and Georgia.

See personal property tax by state, car property tax by state, and vehicle property tax by state for the full breakdown.

How do you know if your assessment is too high and worth appealing?

Start with the state effective rate as a gut check. If the state median runs 1.0% and you're paying 1.4% of what comparable homes near you recently sold for, your assessed value is probably too high.

The cleaner test is comparable sales. Pull three to five homes that sold in the last six to twelve months, similar to yours in size, age, condition, and location. If those homes sold for less than your assessed value, you likely have a case.

Assessment accuracy studies confirm this is worth pursuing. The International Association of Assessing Officers Standard on Ratio Studies calls for a coefficient of dispersion below 15% in most residential jurisdictions, meaning assessments shouldn't scatter more than 15% from the median ratio ^[10]. Plenty of jurisdictions miss that mark. When they do, some owners are systematically overtaxed.

Deadlines vary by state, and missing one costs you a full year. Texas sets a protest deadline of May 15 or 30 days after the notice, whichever is later ^[4]. Florida requires a petition to the Value Adjustment Board, typically by September 18 in most counties ^[7]. New York's grievance period usually falls on a fixed date in late May or June depending on the municipality ^[11]. Illinois deadlines depend on the county, with Cook County running a rolling township schedule.

If you're in a high-rate state and your home is worth anything near the median, the math on an appeal almost always works out. The TaxFightBack DIY appeal kit walks you through building a comparable-sales case without handing a contingency firm 30% to 40% of your savings.

For state-specific guides: Texas, Illinois, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, and New York.

What exemptions can lower your effective rate regardless of which state you're in?

Exemptions are the fastest way to cut your bill without fighting your assessment. Most homeowners leave some on the table.

The homestead exemption exists in some form across most states. File it once and it usually renews on its own. Miss the window and you generally wait a full year. Texas homeowners who miss the April 30 deadline lose the exemption for that tax year ^[4].

Senior exemptions are the most overlooked. Georgia exempts $10,000 of assessed value from county school district taxes for homeowners age 62 and over, and some counties pile on more ^[12]. Florida gives qualifying low-income seniors an added $50,000 exemption ^[7]. Many states freeze assessed value entirely for seniors above an income threshold.

Veteran exemptions range from a few thousand dollars off assessed value to a complete pass. Texas exempts 100% disabled veterans from all property taxes on their primary residence ^[4].

Disability exemptions run separately from veteran status in most states. Check your state department of revenue or assessor's office for the income and disability thresholds.

Circuit breaker programs cap property taxes as a share of household income. About 33 states offer some form of circuit breaker for seniors and low-income homeowners, per the Lincoln Institute ^[3]. If your bill exceeds a set percentage of your income, the program covers the excess as a credit or a rebate.

Filing these takes an afternoon. Skipping them for a decade is a five-figure mistake in many high-rate states.

How are effective property tax rates likely to change going into 2026?

Published effective rate data lags by one to two years. Assessment rolls close, appeals get processed, and collections get tallied before researchers can compute the numbers. So the figures in this article reflect 2023 tax-year data in most cases. As of mid-2025, no major published study has released a complete 2025 effective rate dataset for all 50 states.

Here's what's moving in real time. Home values rose sharply from 2020 to 2023 in most markets, and assessors have been catching up. Many counties are now reassessing at values well above prior cycles. That means effective rates may tick up in states without assessment caps, even if the nominal mill rate holds flat or falls. Texas school district rates keep coming down under state compression mechanisms, but home value increases have more than swallowed those cuts for many owners.

Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas have posted some of the fastest assessment increases in recent cycles on the back of rapid price appreciation. Washington state saw median home values peak and pull back slightly in 2023 and 2024, which may bring some relief there.

For current state-level data as it publishes, lean on the Lincoln Institute's 50-State Property Tax Comparison Study (released annually, usually in spring) and the Tax Foundation's state tax maps ^[2][3]. I'd check those directly rather than trust any single article, this one included, for 2026 projections.

Where can you find your specific county's assessment data and tax rates?

Every county in the country runs a public assessor's database, and most are online now. Search your county name plus "assessor" or "property search" and you'll find the official parcel lookup. That's where your assessed value, assessment date, exemptions on file, and often the tax history live.

For mill rates, look to your county auditor, county treasurer, or department of revenue (the responsible office differs by state). Texas counties post certified tax rates through the Texas Comptroller's office, which keeps a database of every taxing unit's rate ^[4]. Florida's Department of Revenue publishes county-by-county millage rates each year ^[7]. Most state departments of revenue put out similar compilations.

For Washington County MN property tax details, the county assessor's office is the primary source. For Shelby County property tax in Tennessee, the Shelby County Assessor of Property is where to start.

National aggregators like the Census Bureau's American Community Survey publish median property taxes paid by county, useful for comparison ^[13]. But those figures lag two to three years and are self-reported, so treat them as rough benchmarks, not exact rates.

Frequently asked questions

What is the national average effective property tax rate in the US?

The national median effective property tax rate is about 0.87% of market value, based on Tax Foundation analysis of 2023 data. That works out to a median annual bill of roughly $2,700 on the national median home value. The mean runs slightly higher because high-value states pull it up. Either way, the spread is huge: New Jersey at 2.23% is more than eight times Hawaii's 0.27%.

Why is Hawaii's property tax rate so low?

Hawaii taxes property at low rates by design, with the state setting a unified rate framework rather than leaving it purely to counties. It also leans heavily on its general excise tax (a broadly applied sales tax) and tourism revenue to fund state and local services. At 0.27%, Hawaii's rate is the lowest in the country, though high home values mean the typical annual bill still runs around $1,800.

Do all states have property taxes?

All 50 states tax real property (land and buildings) in some form. No state has fully eliminated real property taxes, though some jurisdictions offer exemptions that zero out the bill for qualifying households, such as 100% disabled veterans in Texas or senior circuit breaker programs. Some territories like Puerto Rico carry very low effective rates. For minimal-tax jurisdictions, see the states with no property tax article.

How often do states reassess property values?

Reassessment cycles vary widely. Some states (Maryland, North Carolina) reassess every year. Others run every two, three, four, or even eight years depending on the state and county. Between cycles, most states allow only modest adjustments to assessed value. States that reassess often track market values more closely, which can mean bigger bill jumps in a rising market and faster relief when values fall.

Is property tax deductible on federal taxes?

Yes, but with a cap. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 limited the state and local tax deduction, which includes property taxes, to $10,000 a year ($5,000 for married filing separately) through at least 2025. Under current law that cap is set to expire after 2025, though Congress may extend or change it. Owners in high-tax states who pay more than $10,000 in combined state income and property taxes get no federal deduction for the excess.

What is the difference between assessed value and market value?

Market value is what a willing buyer would pay a willing seller in an arm's-length deal. Assessed value is what the assessor officially places on the property for tax purposes. In states with assessment ratios below 100%, assessed value is a fraction of market value. In states that assess at full value (Texas, Florida, California for new buyers), the two should match, though assessors often lag actual market changes by a year or more.

Can I appeal my property taxes myself without hiring a firm?

Yes, and most successful appeals are straightforward. You need your notice of assessment, recent comparable sales from your county's own records or a public MLS source, and a completed appeal form filed before your state's deadline. The hearing is usually informal: you present your comps, the assessor presents theirs, a board decides. Contingency firms charge 30% to 50% of one year's savings. On a $500 reduction, that's $150 to $250 out of your pocket for paperwork you could do in an afternoon.

How do Texas property taxes compare to other states?

Texas carries one of the highest effective rates in the country at about 1.60%, ranking in the top six states. With no state income tax, local governments rely heavily on property taxes. After 2023's Proposition 4 raised the school district homestead exemption to $100,000, many owners saw modest bill cuts, but rising home values erased much of that relief. Texas also runs a formal protest system that's among the most homeowner-accessible in the country.

How do property taxes work in states without an income tax?

States without a broad income tax (Texas, Nevada, Washington, Florida, New Hampshire, Tennessee, South Dakota, Wyoming, Alaska) make up the gap with higher property taxes, higher sales taxes, or both. Texas and New Hampshire lean hard on property taxes. Nevada and Florida lean on sales taxes and tourism. There's no free lunch: total state-and-local tax burdens converge across states regardless of which instrument carries the load, per Tax Foundation total-burden comparisons.

What is a mill rate and how do I convert it to a percentage?

A mill is one-thousandth of a dollar, or $1 per $1,000 of assessed value. To convert a mill rate to a percentage, divide by 10. A 20-mill rate equals a 2% tax rate on assessed value. If your home is assessed at $200,000 and the mill rate is 20, your tax is $4,000. Most county tax bills break the mill rate out by taxing authority (school district, county, municipality, special districts) so you can see where each dollar goes.

Which states have risen most in property tax rates in recent years?

Precise multi-year trend data at the state level is harder to find than single-year snapshots; the Lincoln Institute's annual 50-State study is the best longitudinal source. States where home values appreciated fastest from 2020 to 2023 (Florida, Georgia, Texas, Arizona, Idaho) saw assessed values climb sharply even where nominal rates held or fell. Idaho, for one, saw median home values roughly double in some markets between 2019 and 2022, driving up effective dollar burdens even at low nominal rates.

Are property taxes higher in cities or suburbs?

Urban areas usually carry higher nominal mill rates than suburbs because they fund denser services: transit, fire, police, sanitation. But suburbs often fund expensive school districts independently, which can push their total effective rates higher. In New Jersey, some suburban counties top 2.5% effective rates while Newark (Essex County) runs lower because the city's assessed values sit lower relative to the levy. The relationship isn't consistent across states.

How does California's Proposition 13 affect property tax rates?

California's Proposition 13, passed in 1978, caps property tax rates at 1% of assessed value plus local voter-approved overrides, and limits annual assessment increases to 2% until the property sells. When a home sells, it's reassessed at the purchase price. So long-term owners pay on values frozen decades ago while new buyers pay on current market price. California's effective rate of roughly 0.68% sits below average specifically because of that cap on existing owners.

What's the fastest way to lower my property tax bill right now?

File every exemption you qualify for first (homestead, senior, veteran, disability). That's free and often worth more than an appeal. Then check your assessment against recent sales of comparable homes. If your assessed value tops what similar homes sold for, file an appeal before your state's deadline. In most states the whole process takes two to four hours of your time. Hiring a contingency firm rarely pays off for a single-family residential appeal.

Sources

1. Illinois Department of Revenue, Property Tax Overview: Illinois assesses residential property at 33.3% of fair market value for most residential property
2. Tax Foundation, Property Taxes by State: State-by-state effective property tax rates; New Jersey highest at 2.23%, Hawaii lowest at 0.27%
3. Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, 50-State Property Tax Comparison Study: Annual study of effective property tax rates, appeal dynamics, and circuit breaker programs across all 50 states
4. Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Property Tax: Texas homestead exemption increased to $100,000 for school district taxes after Proposition 4 (November 2023); protest deadline May 15 or 30 days after notice
5. California State Board of Equalization, Proposition 13 Overview: Proposition 13 (1978) caps California property tax at 1% of assessed value with a 2% annual increase limit until sale
6. South Carolina Department of Revenue, Property Tax: Owner-occupied residential property assessed at 4% of fair market value under the 4% special assessment; non-owner-occupied assessed at 6%
7. Florida Department of Revenue, Property Tax: Florida homestead exemption removes first $25,000 from all taxes and another $25,000 from non-school taxes; VAB petition deadline typically September 18
8. Michigan Department of Treasury, Property Tax: Michigan Proposal A (1994) limits annual taxable value increases to the lesser of 5% or the rate of inflation until property transfers
9. Tax Foundation, Personal Property Taxes by State: 27 states impose personal property taxes on vehicles, boats, and business equipment
10. International Association of Assessing Officers, Standard on Ratio Studies: IAAO standard calls for a coefficient of dispersion below 15% in most residential jurisdictions to indicate acceptable assessment uniformity
11. New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, Property Tax: New York property tax grievance period falls on a fixed date in late May or June depending on the municipality's assessment calendar
12. Georgia Department of Revenue, Property Tax Exemptions: Georgia exempts $10,000 of assessed value from county school district taxes for homeowners age 62 and over
13. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, Housing Characteristics: Median property taxes paid by county, reported as self-reported owner estimates in the annual ACS release