Property tax assessment caps by state

States with a cap or a similar limit

• Alabama: Assessed value = appraised value x class ratio: Class I utilities 30%, Class II other property 20%, Class III owner-occupied residential, agricultural and forest 10%, Class IV private cars and pickups 15%. Since tax year 2025 (Act 2024-344), the taxable assessed value of Class II and III real property may rise by at most 7% a year; the cap resets on a sale or new improvement and runs through the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2027. Official page
• Arkansas: Assessed value is 20% of market value (Ark. Code § 26-26-303). Counties reappraise on a 3-, 4- or 5-year cycle. Under Amendment 79, the taxable value of a homestead may rise by at most 5% a year and other real property by 10% a year after reappraisal, except for new construction and substantial improvements. Official page
• California: Proposition 13: real property is assessed at its base-year value (purchase price or value at new construction), which may rise by no more than 2% a year; reassessment to market value on change of ownership or new construction. The general tax rate is 1% of taxable value plus voter-approved debt rates. Official page
• Florida: Property is assessed at just (market) value as of January 1. After the first homestead year, Save Our Homes limits the annual increase in a homestead's assessed value to 3% or the CPI change, whichever is less; the benefit is lost on a change of ownership but can be 'ported' to a new Florida homestead. Official page
• Indiana: Property is taxed on its net assessed value (gross assessed value minus deductions) times the local rate. Indiana's constitutional circuit-breaker caps limit the bill to 1% of gross assessed value for homesteads, 2% for other residential property and farmland, and 3% for other real and personal property; voter-approved referendum levies sit outside the caps. Official page
• Maryland: For an owner-occupied principal residence, the taxable assessment used for the State tax cannot rise more than 10% a year (homestead credit percentage of 110%); each county and Baltimore City sets its own cap between 0% and 10% (100%-110%), and municipalities may set theirs. Tax on any assessment increase above the cap is credited. Official page
• Michigan: Tax is levied on 'taxable value', not market value. Under Proposal A of 1994, taxable value is capped: each year it can rise only by the capped value formula using the State Tax Commission's inflation rate multiplier (1.027, i.e. 2.7%, for 2026), until the property is transferred, when it 'uncaps' the following year. Official page
• Nevada: Nevada has no flat homestead value exemption on the property tax bill. Instead, the tax on an owner-occupied single-family home that is the owner's primary residence cannot rise more than 3% over the prior year's bill (or less, if the county's general abatement is lower). Any amount above that is abated. The cap does not apply to new construction or to a change of use. Official page
• New Mexico: Property is valued at current and correct value as of January 1; the New Mexico Constitution caps the taxable share at 33 1/3% of value. Residential valuation increases are limited to the higher of 3% over the prior year or 6.1% over two years (Section 7-36-21.2), except for new construction and improvements. Official page
• Oklahoma: Real property is assessed at a county-set percentage of fair cash value between 11% and 13.5% (State Board of Equalization range). The fair cash value of homestead and agricultural land may not rise more than 3% a year (5% for other property) unless the property is sold or improved (Okla. Const. art. X §8B). Official page
• Oregon: Each property is taxed on the lesser of its real market value (RMV) and its maximum assessed value (MAV). Under Measure 50 (1997) MAV can grow no more than 3% a year unless the property changes (new structure, improvement, partition). Measure 5 (1990) caps operating taxes at $5 per $1,000 of RMV for schools and $10 per $1,000 for general government. Official page
• South Carolina: Taxable value = fair market value x assessment ratio. A legal residence (owner's domicile, up to 5 acres) is assessed at 4%; other property, such as second homes and rentals, at 6%. Counties reappraise every fifth year, and increases from reappraisal are capped at 15% over five years (Act 388) unless the property is sold. Official page
• South Dakota: SB 216 (2025) caps the annual growth of total owner-occupied valuation at 3% per county and local property tax budgets at 3%, for five years; first seen on 2026 assessment notices, applied to taxes payable in 2027. Official page
• Wyoming: Residential and most other property is assessed at 9.5% of fair market value (industrial property 11.5%). The assessed value of a single family home and its land may not rise more than 4% a year over the prior year (the excess is exempt), unless the owner bought it the prior year or made structural changes. Official page

The other 37 jurisdictions reassess homes toward market value without a general cap on yearly increases, though many limit the growth of levies instead, require rates to roll back when values jump, or give seniors a freeze. Their rules are on each state page.

Cap on value versus limit on levy

Two families of rules protect owners against rising bills, and they work differently. A cap on assessed value acts on each property: the taxable value of your home may rise only so much a year, so your share of the tax burden shrinks if the market rises faster than the cap. A limit on levies acts on each taxing unit: a county or school district may raise only so much more revenue a year without a vote, and the rate falls when values rise. Under a levy limit alone, a home whose value rises faster than its neighbors' still sees its bill rise faster than theirs.

The price of a cap: the gap between neighbors

A cap rewards staying put. Two identical houses on the same street can carry very different bills if one has been owned for twenty years and the other was bought last year, because the sale reset the second one's value to market. That gap also discourages moving, since a move means giving up the accumulated benefit; some states let owners carry part of it to a new home, which the state pages mention when the official page does. Census medians reflect this: in capped states, the median effective rate of all owners can be well below the rate a new buyer faces. California's median effective rate in the Census 2024 data is 0.71%, a figure that blends long-held homes with recent purchases.

What resets a capped value

A sale is the most common trigger. Depending on the state, a change in ownership through inheritance, a transfer to a company, new construction or a major addition can also reset or partly reset the value. Transfers between spouses, and in some states between parents and children, may be excluded. The official page of each state, linked above, sets out its triggers.

Estimating the effect on your bill

The mini-calculator above projects a value under a cap against an uncapped market value. To turn either value into a bill, use the property tax calculator in mill rate mode, entering the capped assessed value printed on your notice as the market value with a 100% ratio. For the other levers on a bill, see how property tax is calculated and the homestead exemption by state.