Last updated 2026-07-09
TL;DR
New Jersey has the highest effective property tax rate in the country at roughly 2.23%. Hawaii has the lowest at about 0.27%. Median annual bills run from under $700 in Alabama to over $9,000 in New Jersey. Your rate depends on assessment rules, local levies, and exemptions that swing wildly even inside one state.
How is a state's property tax rate actually calculated?
Two numbers drive every ranking you'll see: the nominal (statutory) mill rate and the effective rate. The effective rate is the one that matters. It's the annual tax bill divided by the property's actual market value, so it adjusts automatically for states that only tax a slice of market value.
Take California. Its nominal rates look modest, but Proposition 13 caps assessed value growth at 2% per year from the purchase price. A homeowner who bought in 2001 may have an assessed value far below market, which makes their effective rate tiny compared to what a new buyer in the same house pays. Texas is the opposite. It assesses at or near 100% of market value and has no income tax, so local governments lean hard on property levies to fund schools.
The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and the Minnesota Center for Fiscal Excellence publish the most rigorous annual survey of effective rates. Their 2023 "50-State Property Tax Comparison Study" found the effective rate on a median-value owner-occupied home ranged from 0.27% in Hawaii to 2.23% in New Jersey [1]. That spread sounds small. On a $500,000 home it's a difference of nearly $10,000 a year.
The U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey tracks median real estate taxes paid, which captures the dollar impact better than rates alone [2]. Both sources matter, and they tell slightly different stories. That's why most rankings you find online disagree depending on which metric the publisher picked.
What does the full 50-state property tax ranking look like?
The table below uses effective rates on median-value owner-occupied homes from the Lincoln Institute and MN Center for Fiscal Excellence 2023 study [1], plus median annual tax amounts from the Census Bureau 2023 American Community Survey [2]. States with the same approximate rate are sorted alphabetically. The order shifts a little year to year depending on methodology, but the top and bottom tiers barely move.
| Rank | State | Effective Rate | Median Annual Tax |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (highest) | New Jersey | 2.23% | $9,476 |
| 2 | Illinois | 2.08% | $5,055 |
| 3 | Connecticut | 1.92% | $6,153 |
| 4 | New Hampshire | 1.89% | $6,131 |
| 5 | Vermont | 1.83% | $4,893 |
| 6 | Texas | 1.68% | $3,872 |
| 7 | Wisconsin | 1.61% | $3,472 |
| 8 | Nebraska | 1.57% | $3,211 |
| 9 | Michigan | 1.54% | $2,828 |
| 10 | Ohio | 1.53% | $2,754 |
| 11 | Pennsylvania | 1.49% | $3,245 |
| 12 | Iowa | 1.49% | $2,731 |
| 13 | Rhode Island | 1.46% | $4,483 |
| 14 | Kansas | 1.40% | $2,567 |
| 15 | New York | 1.38% | $5,765 |
| 16 | Maine | 1.36% | $3,003 |
| 17 | Maryland | 1.07% | $3,633 |
| 18 | Oregon | 1.05% | $3,479 |
| 19 | Minnesota | 1.02% | $2,992 |
| 20 | South Dakota | 1.01% | $2,225 |
| 21 | Missouri | 1.01% | $1,821 |
| 22 | Indiana | 0.99% | $1,685 |
| 23 | Alaska | 0.99% | $3,464 |
| 24 | Montana | 0.98% | $2,212 |
| 25 | Massachusetts | 0.97% | $4,780 |
| 26 | North Dakota | 0.95% | $2,072 |
| 27 | Virginia | 0.93% | $3,140 |
| 28 | Mississippi | 0.89% | $1,000 |
| 29 | Georgia | 0.87% | $1,924 |
| 30 | Washington | 0.87% | $3,798 |
| 31 | California | 0.74% | $4,279 |
| 32 | Florida | 0.73% | $2,196 |
| 33 | North Carolina | 0.72% | $1,701 |
| 34 | Idaho | 0.69% | $1,616 |
| 35 | Kentucky | 0.68% | $1,357 |
| 36 | Wyoming | 0.66% | $1,659 |
| 37 | Tennessee | 0.65% | $1,368 |
| 38 | Nevada | 0.60% | $1,807 |
| 39 | Arkansas | 0.60% | $901 |
| 40 | New Mexico | 0.55% | $1,185 |
| 41 | Arizona | 0.54% | $1,648 |
| 42 | Oklahoma | 0.53% | $1,100 |
| 43 | West Virginia | 0.53% | $693 |
| 44 | Utah | 0.52% | $1,832 |
| 45 | South Carolina | 0.51% | $1,261 |
| 46 | Colorado | 0.51% | $2,017 |
| 47 | Louisiana | 0.44% | $972 |
| 48 | Delaware | 0.43% | $1,538 |
| 49 | Alabama | 0.37% | $700 |
| 50 (lowest) | Hawaii | 0.27% | $1,893 |
A few things jump out. Hawaii's low rate doesn't produce a low bill, because median home values there rank among the highest in the country, so the dollar figure climbs even at 0.27%. Alabama pairs a low rate with low home values, and that combination produces the smallest median bill anywhere. Texas lands in the top ten by rate even though people call it a low-tax state, because with no state income tax the burden falls on local property levies.
New Jersey has held the top spot in nearly every major study for at least a decade. Hawaii has held last place just as reliably [1].
Which states have the highest property taxes, and why?
New Jersey, Illinois, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Vermont sit in the top five of almost every credible ranking. The reasons behind each one differ.
New Jersey funds K-12 education almost entirely through local property taxes. The state has more than 500 school districts, and each one sets its own rate. The Tax Foundation's 2024 State Business Tax Climate Index reports that New Jersey's local property tax collections per capita top every other state [3]. Own a home in Bergen or Essex County and a 2.4% effective rate is normal.
Illinois has a structural problem. Pension obligations for state and local workers are constitutionally protected from reduction under Article XIII, Section 5 of the Illinois Constitution [4]. The state can't cut those pensions and hasn't funded them adequately for decades, so local governments turn to property taxes to fill the hole. Cook County homeowners often face effective rates above 2%, and some collar counties run higher.
Connecticut and New Hampshire both lack local income taxes and depend on property levies for municipal services. New Hampshire has no general income tax and no statewide sales tax, so property tax is basically the only major recurring tax residents pay [5].
Vermont works differently again. The state runs an education funding formula that pools property tax revenue statewide, then redistributes it. That formula, set up under Act 60 (1997) and reworked by Act 68 (2003), lets homeowners in low-value towns pay a lower rate while high-value towns push the statewide average up [6].
For a closer read on what drives bills in the worst states, see our guide on what states have the highest property taxes.
Which states have the lowest property taxes, and what's the catch?
Hawaii, Alabama, Louisiana, Delaware, and South Carolina sit at the bottom of every ranking. But "lowest" always comes with a catch.
Hawaii taxes residential property at the lowest effective rate in the nation, around 0.27%, but median home values above $700,000 mean the dollar bill isn't small [1]. Hawaii also runs high income and general excise taxes, so the state collects its money elsewhere.
Alabama keeps property taxes genuinely low across the board. The state constitution caps assessment ratios and the legislature has kept millage modest for years. A median bill under $700 is real, not a methodology quirk [2]. The trade-off shows up in the schools. Alabama's public school systems rank among the worst-funded in the country by per-pupil spending, according to National Education Association data [7].
Louisiana exempts the first $75,000 of assessed value on a primary residence under Louisiana Revised Statutes 47:1707, which is a constitutional provision [8]. That one exemption erases the tax bill entirely for lower-value homes.
South Carolina limits the assessed value increase on owner-occupied primary residences to 15% over any five-year period under its "15% cap" rule, South Carolina Code Section 12-37-3135 [9]. It behaves like California's Proposition 13: longtime owners pay far less than new buyers for the same property.
Delaware's low rate partly reflects the revenue it pulls from corporate franchise taxes, paid by the hundreds of thousands of businesses incorporated there. That money offsets the need for high property levies.
Researching states that get close to zero? Check our rundown of states with no property tax, and know this going in: no state eliminates property tax at the local level.
How does the property tax table by state change when you factor in home values?
Rate rankings and dollar rankings tell different stories, and which one matters depends on what you're deciding.
Compare Texas and California. Texas's effective rate of roughly 1.68% sits in the top tier. California's rate near 0.74% is below the national average. But median home values in coastal California routinely top $700,000, while Texas metros like San Antonio or El Paso run closer to $250,000 to $300,000. A Texas owner with a $275,000 home pays about $4,620 a year. A California owner in San Jose with a $1.1 million home pays roughly $8,140, more than double the dollar amount despite the lower rate.
That's exactly why the Lincoln Institute reports both effective rates and median bills [1]. The median bill is more useful for budget planning. The effective rate is more useful for comparing how heavy a state's system is.
High-value, low-rate states like Massachusetts and Washington still generate big median bills. Massachusetts sits at a modest 0.97% effective rate, but median home values near $500,000 push median bills above $4,700 a year [2].
For a dollar-by-dollar comparison across all 50 states, our article on property tax percentage by state breaks down how assessment ratios change what you actually pay.
The table in section 2 captures both dimensions. When people ask for a 2024 or 2025 update, the rates rarely move much. Assessed values do, and that swings dollar amounts hard in hot housing markets.
Does where you live within a state matter as much as which state you're in?
Yes, and often more. Inside New York, effective rates in Manhattan (New York County) can run well below 1% while parts of Upstate New York top 3% [1]. Inside Illinois, Cook County's classification system produces very different rates for condos, single-family homes, and commercial property. Inside Texas, Travis County (Austin) and Bexar County (San Antonio) run different total levy rates.
Here's why. Property tax in the U.S. is almost entirely a local government function. States set the frame: assessment ratios, rollback rules, appeal procedures, exemption eligibility. The actual rate is the sum of every overlapping local taxing district. In a typical Texas county, a homeowner's bill stacks the county rate, the city rate, the school district rate, a community college district rate, and sometimes a hospital or water district rate. Each district levies on its own.
So a state ranking, useful as it is for comparison, can mislead you about your real bill. Someone moving to "low-tax" Tennessee who buys in a Shelby County suburb may face effective rates around 0.9% to 1.0%, well above the Tennessee state average of 0.65%. Our guide on Shelby County property tax has the specifics.
Same idea in Minnesota. Washington County sits in one of the faster-appreciating suburban corridors of the Twin Cities metro, so its rates and bills differ from rural Minnesota counties. See our breakdown at Washington County MN property tax.
Use the state ranking to screen your target states. Then drill into the specific county before you make any decision.
How do property tax exemptions change where states really rank?
Exemptions can transform the real tax burden for eligible homeowners, and rankings built on gross rates miss them entirely.
Homestead exemptions are the most common. Florida exempts the first $50,000 of assessed value on a primary residence under Article VII, Section 6 of the Florida Constitution [10]. On a $300,000 home assessed at 100%, that drops the taxable value to $250,000 immediately. A Florida retiree gets an added $25,000 exemption for non-school taxes, which cuts the bill further. Florida also caps annual assessment increases at 3% under Save Our Homes.
Texas exempts $100,000 of a home's assessed value from school district taxes for any owner who claims a homestead exemption, up from $40,000 after HB 3 in 2023 [11]. On a $250,000 home in a school district levying $1.00 per $100 of value, that one exemption saves $1,000 a year.
Senior, disability, and veterans' exemptions stack on top of homestead exemptions in most states. New Jersey, despite its top rate, runs a Senior Freeze (Property Tax Reimbursement) that locks in the tax amount for eligible seniors. Illinois has a Senior Citizens Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption that freezes equalized assessed value for seniors earning under $65,000.
States with aggressive exemption programs don't necessarily drop in the overall ranking, because rankings usually run on typical owner-occupied homes before exemptions. The net bill for an eligible homeowner can look nothing like the stated effective rate.
For a wider look at property tax beyond real estate, including vehicles, see our rundown of personal property tax by state.
What's driving big year-over-year changes in property tax bills in 2024 and 2025?
Home values surged between 2020 and 2023 in most markets, up roughly 40% nationally according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index [12]. Assessed values lag market values in most states, either because assessors reassess on a cycle (every 1 to 4 years in most places) or because caps limit annual increases. That lag is catching up now.
In states without caps, like Texas, reassessments reflecting 2021 to 2022 peak values started hitting bills in 2022 and 2023. In states with caps or longer cycles, like California and Michigan, the impact spreads out slowly. Homeowners in reassessment years are seeing 20% to 40% jumps in assessed value even when they don't think their home has appreciated that much, and sometimes when values have slipped from the peak.
The state-level rankings don't move much from year to year. What moves is the dollar amount. A state that ranked 15th by effective rate in 2022 still ranks about 15th today. But a homeowner there whose assessed value jumped 30% may be paying 20% to 25% more in dollars, with any exemptions or caps closing the gap.
On timing: the Census Bureau's American Community Survey usually lags two years. The Lincoln Institute's next study lands in late 2024 or early 2025. For the most current snapshot, your county assessor publishes actual levy rates for the current tax year, and those are the authoritative numbers for your bill.
Want to see how 2024 and 2025 data land in your state specifically? Our property tax by state 2025 article tracks the latest updates as they publish.
If your state ranks high, is it worth appealing your assessment?
Living in a high-tax state doesn't mean your specific assessment is right. Those are two separate questions. Your state might rank second nationally by effective rate, and your individual home might still be assessed at 110% of its actual market value. That means you're paying more than your neighbors, and you have a real appeal case.
Appeal rates are shockingly low. The National Taxpayers Union Foundation has noted that only about 5% of homeowners appeal their assessments each year, while success rates for those who do typically run 30% to 60% depending on the jurisdiction. Nobody has clean national data on the success side; that 30% to 60% range comes from state-level studies cited in various assessor reports. The gap between low appeal rates and reasonable success rates is money left on the table.
The appeal itself is almost free to start. You file a form with your local assessor or board of review, usually inside a 30 to 90 day window after your assessment notice arrives. The cost is your time and the work of gathering comparable sales. The only real ongoing expense is a contingency firm, which typically takes 25% to 50% of your first year's savings as its fee.
The TaxFightBack appeal kit hands you the same comparable-sales method and filing templates those firms use, so you keep the whole saving instead of splitting it.
For state-specific steps, we have guides for the highest-burden states: how to appeal property taxes in New Jersey, how to appeal in Illinois, the Texas protest guide, and New York's grievance day process.
How do states rank when you compare property tax as a share of household income?
Rate and dollar rankings ignore affordability. A $4,000 annual bill is a rounding error for a household earning $200,000. It's 10% of gross income for a household earning $40,000.
The Lincoln Institute's 50-State study also calculates property tax as a percentage of household income, and that produces a different ranking [1]. On that measure, states like Mississippi and West Virginia, with modest incomes but non-trivial bills, look worse than their effective-rate ranking suggests. States like New Hampshire, near the top by rate, look slightly less extreme because incomes there run relatively high.
The Tax Policy Center and the Urban Institute have both noted that property taxes are regressive at lower income levels, because lower-income homeowners tend to hold a bigger share of their wealth in housing than higher-income households do [13]. Homestead exemptions and circuit-breaker programs offset some of that, and most states have some version of both.
A circuit breaker caps property tax as a share of income. Michigan's version, the Homestead Property Tax Credit, caps the burden at a percentage of household income (7.5% for most filers, lower for seniors) and rebates amounts above the cap. About 30 states run some form of circuit breaker [13].
For budgeting or a relocation decision, the income-share metric is the most honest gauge of how much a state's system will actually bite you. The rate table in section 2 is your starting point for an apples-to-apples comparison. Your household income is the final variable.
What's the single biggest mistake people make when reading property tax rankings?
Treating the state average as their likely bill. It isn't.
State averages hide huge within-state swings. Illinois has a statewide average effective rate of about 2.08%. That average blends Hardin County in rural southern Illinois (population under 4,000), where rates run around 0.7%, with Cook County suburbs where 2.5% to 3.0% is common. The state average is a statistical artifact. No single typical homeowner actually pays it.
Second mistake: confusing the nominal mill rate with the effective rate. A rate of 30 mills sounds steep, but if the state assesses at 10% of market value, the effective rate is just 0.30%. Alabama uses low assessment ratios exactly this way. Residential property in Alabama is assessed at 10% of market value under Alabama Code Section 40-8-1 [14], which is why nominal mill rates can look high while effective rates stay low.
Third mistake: ignoring the reassessment cycle. A state may show a low current effective rate simply because it hasn't reassessed in a while. When reassessment comes, bills can jump 20% to 40% in a single year even if the levy rate never changes.
Fourth mistake: forgetting personal property taxes. Several states, including Virginia, Missouri, and Connecticut, tax vehicles and business equipment on top of real estate. Compare total property tax burden by state and a real-estate-only figure understates the picture. Our car property tax by state guide covers which states hit vehicles hardest.
Use state rankings to narrow your focus. Then go to your county assessor's website and pull the actual levy rate for the parcel or neighborhood you care about. That's the only number that touches your bill.
Frequently asked questions
What state has the highest property tax rate?
New Jersey has the highest effective property tax rate on owner-occupied homes, roughly 2.23% per the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy's 2023 50-State Property Tax Comparison Study. That works out to a median annual bill near $9,476. New Jersey has held the top spot for over a decade, driven by its heavy reliance on property taxes to fund hundreds of independent local school districts.
What state has the lowest property tax rate?
Hawaii consistently ranks last with an effective rate near 0.27%. That low rate doesn't produce a tiny bill. Median home values in Hawaii top $700,000, so the median annual tax still runs close to $1,900. Alabama has both the lowest effective rate among continental states (around 0.37%) and the smallest median dollar bill in the country, under $700 a year.
How does Texas rank for property taxes despite having no state income tax?
Texas ranks around 6th highest nationally by effective rate, near 1.68%, because local governments run almost entirely on property levies instead of a state income tax. The 2023 HB 3 raised the homestead exemption from school taxes to $100,000, which helps owners of lower-value homes. But in fast-appreciating metros like Austin, effective bills stay well above the national median.
Does California have low property taxes?
California's effective rate is relatively low, around 0.74%, because Proposition 13 (1978) caps assessed value growth at 2% per year from the original purchase price. Longtime owners pay far less than recent buyers for identical property. In high-cost markets like San Francisco or Los Angeles, even a 0.74% rate on a $1.2 million home produces an annual bill over $8,800, well above the national median dollar amount.
What is the average property tax rate across all 50 states?
The national average effective property tax rate on owner-occupied residential property runs roughly 1.10%, per U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey data and the Lincoln Institute's 2023 study. The median annual dollar bill nationally sits around $2,700 to $2,900. Both numbers shift modestly year to year as home values and local levy rates change.
Do property tax rankings change much from year to year?
The rank order is stable. New Jersey, Illinois, and Connecticut have topped the list for at least ten straight years. Hawaii and Alabama stay at the bottom. What changes is the dollar amount. From 2021 to 2023, fast-appreciating markets saw median bills rise 15% to 25% even with unchanged rates. Annual Census data and Lincoln Institute studies confirm the pattern but usually lag 12 to 24 months.
How do I find the actual property tax rate for my specific county or city?
Your county assessor's or tax collector's website publishes the current year's levy rate by taxing district. Search "[your county] property tax rate 2025" or go straight to the county assessor's homepage. The total rate is the sum of all overlapping districts: county, city, school, and any special districts. State averages are useful for comparison but useless for estimating your actual bill.
Can I appeal my property tax assessment even if I live in a high-tax state?
Yes, and it's often more valuable in a high-tax state. Your right to appeal is independent of your state's ranking. If your assessed value tops true market value, you have grounds. Most jurisdictions require filing within 30 to 90 days of your assessment notice. Success rates for homeowners who appeal typically run 30% to 60% depending on the jurisdiction, and the appeal itself costs nothing to start.
Do states with no income tax always have higher property taxes?
Usually, but not always. Texas and New Hampshire lack broad income taxes and carry high property tax rates. Florida has no income tax but keeps property taxes moderate through its homestead exemption and Save Our Homes cap. Nevada also has no income tax and relatively low property taxes, funding government mostly through sales and gaming taxes. The correlation is real but not universal.
How do property tax rankings compare when you include personal property taxes on vehicles?
Some states tax vehicles annually on top of real estate. Virginia, Missouri, Kansas, and Connecticut are the notable ones. Virginia's personal property tax varies by locality but can add $500 to $1,500 a year for a mid-range vehicle. Add vehicle taxes to real estate taxes and states like Virginia and Missouri rank meaningfully higher in total burden than real-estate-only rankings suggest.
What's the most accurate source for comparing property tax rates by state?
The most rigorous annual source is the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and Minnesota Center for Fiscal Excellence's "50-State Property Tax Comparison Study," which calculates effective rates on standardized representative properties. For dollar amounts, the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey reports median real estate taxes paid by state. They use different methods, so cross-reference both.
Does renting vs. owning affect how much property tax burden you carry?
Renters pay property taxes indirectly through rent. Landlords fold their tax bill into pricing, so higher-tax states generally produce higher rents, all else equal. Several states, including California and Michigan, offer renter property tax credits or circuit-breaker rebates that recognize renters' indirect burden. The exact pass-through rate varies with local rental market conditions.
How do senior citizens' property tax exemptions affect state rankings?
Senior exemptions can slash net bills for eligible homeowners without moving a state's published ranking, because rankings run on typical assessed values before exemptions. New Jersey's Senior Freeze, Texas's added $10,000 senior exemption from school taxes, and Illinois's Senior Assessment Freeze all cut effective rates for qualifying owners. Check your state's department of revenue for current income and age thresholds.
Which states have the most favorable property tax treatment for new homebuyers?
States with assessment caps favor long-term owners and hurt new buyers. For new buyers, states without caps but with strong homestead exemptions are often the better deal. Florida's $50,000 homestead exemption applies immediately to any primary-residence buyer. Texas's $100,000 school tax exemption (post-2023) helps most at lower price points. Michigan's taxable value cap also protects buyers, since the cap resets only at sale.
Sources
- Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and Minnesota Center for Fiscal Excellence, 50-State Property Tax Comparison Study, 2023: Effective property tax rates on median-value owner-occupied homes range from 0.27% in Hawaii to 2.23% in New Jersey
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, Median Real Estate Taxes Paid: Median annual real estate taxes paid by state, used for dollar-amount comparisons
- Tax Foundation, State Business Tax Climate Index 2024: New Jersey's local property tax collections per capita exceed every other state
- Illinois Constitution, Article XIII, Section 5: Illinois pension obligations are constitutionally protected from reduction, limiting the state's ability to cut costs and increasing reliance on property taxes
- New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration, Property Tax Overview: New Hampshire has no general income tax and no statewide sales tax, making property tax the primary recurring tax on residents
- Vermont Agency of Education, Act 68 Education Finance: Vermont's statewide education funding formula (Act 60, 1997; modified Act 68, 2003) pools and redistributes property tax revenue, elevating the statewide average rate
- National Education Association, Rankings of the States 2023: Alabama's public school systems rank among the worst-funded in the country by per-pupil spending
- Louisiana Revised Statutes 47:1707, Homestead Exemption: Louisiana's homestead exemption exempts the first $75,000 of assessed value on a primary residence
- South Carolina Code of Laws, Section 12-37-3135, 15% Assessment Cap: South Carolina limits assessed value increases on owner-occupied primary residences to 15% over any five-year period
- Florida Constitution, Article VII, Section 6, Homestead Exemption: Florida exempts the first $50,000 of assessed value on a primary residence under the state constitution
- Texas HB 3 (88th Legislature, 2023), Homestead Exemption Increase: Texas HB 3 (2023) raised the homestead exemption from school district taxes to $100,000 from $40,000
- Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index, 2020-2023: U.S. home values rose roughly 40% nationally between 2020 and 2023
- Urban Institute / Tax Policy Center, Property Taxes: Who Pays and How Much?: Property taxes are regressive at lower income levels; approximately 30 states have circuit-breaker programs that cap property tax as a share of income
- Alabama Code Section 40-8-1, Property Assessment Classifications: Alabama assesses residential property at 10% of market value, which keeps effective rates low despite higher nominal millage rates