Property tax by state

About these numbers

The effective property tax rate is median property tax paid divided by median home value for each state. It reflects what a typical homeowner in that state actually pays as a percentage of their home's value — folding together every variable that complicates a raw mill-rate comparison: assessment methods, exemption structures, special districts, and statutory caps.

Actual rates vary significantly by county, city, and school district within each state. A New Jersey town can easily exceed 3% while another NJ town is under 1.5% — the state median is just the middle. Use this ranking to narrow candidates, then drill down to the county or municipality before making decisions.

Looking to relocate? Use our state-to-state relocation calculator to see the tax delta for a specific home value, or our retirement state ranking for a property-tax-focused retirement view.

Why high-burden states are high

The states clustered at the top of the ranking are not random — most share two structural traits:

• Heavy reliance on local property tax for school funding. New Jersey, Illinois, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Connecticut fund a large share of public education locally rather than via state revenue, which pushes mill rates up to support school budgets.
• Low or no state income tax. Texas, New Hampshire, Tennessee (recently zero), and Wyoming all have minimal income tax — and the revenue gap is filled in part by property tax. The total state-and-local burden is often closer to the national average than property tax alone suggests.
• Many overlapping taxing districts. Illinois has roughly 7,000 local taxing districts (more than any other state). Each layer adds to the stacked mill rate.

A state can rank "high property tax" while still being middle-of-pack on total tax burden, and vice versa. Compare carefully across all tax types when making relocation decisions.

Why low-burden states are low

The lowest-property-tax states tend to share a different profile:

• Strong revenue from non-property sources. Hawaii and Louisiana run substantial sales tax, hospitality, and natural-resource revenue. Wyoming and Alaska benefit from oil/gas/mineral severance taxes that subsidize the property tax base.
• Centralized school funding. Hawaii is the only state with a single statewide school district funded by general state revenue — so local property tax doesn't carry education the way it does in NJ or IL.
• High state-level assessment caps. California's Prop 13 (2% cap) keeps long-term homeowners' bills extremely low even as market values rise.
• Lower cost of services overall. Some lower-cost states simply spend less per capita on local government services, which translates to lower property tax requirements.

Methodology and caveats

Effective rates here are computed from US Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) data and aggregated alongside the Tax Foundation property-tax-by-state rankings. The methodology divides median property tax paid (across owner-occupied housing units in a state) by median home value reported for the same population.

• Median, not mean. Medians ignore outliers (very high-value homes that skew averages). They better represent the "typical" homeowner.
• Owner-occupied only. Rental and commercial properties have different rate structures and aren't included in these medians.
• Assumes the home value the homeowner reports. Self-reported home values track market values reasonably well but not perfectly.
• Doesn't include personal-property tax. Some states (VA, MA, MO, CT) tax vehicles separately. These are excluded.
• Annual updates. The Tax Foundation publishes updated rankings each year (typically late spring). Rankings shift only modestly year to year because median home values and tax bills move together.

Frequently asked questions

Why isn't there a "tax-free" state?

Every US state and DC levies property tax — there's no escape at the state level. Hawaii is the lowest at around 0.27%, but even that's not zero. A handful of jurisdictions (e.g., parts of Alaska's Unorganized Borough) effectively pay no property tax, but those are small exceptions, not state-level rules.

Which states have the most county-level variation?

Texas, Illinois, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania all show enormous within-state variation — in some cases 3× or more between the lowest and highest counties. California's variation is smaller in headline rate but compounded by Mello-Roos special assessments that can vary widely between developments.

Should I trust state-median rates for my specific situation?

Use them for narrowing candidates, but always verify with the destination county's actual mill rate before making decisions. State medians are a planning tool, not a precise quote.

How do these rates compare to other countries?

The US runs higher property tax (relative to property value) than most developed economies. UK Council Tax, French Taxe Foncière, and Australian rates typically work out to 0.3–0.7% of property value — comparable only to the lowest US states. The structural reason is the heavy US reliance on local property tax for school funding.