Property tax
Property tax by state
What owners actually pay, state by state, from the Census Bureau's 2024 American Community Survey.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
The typical homeowner in New Jersey paid $9,358 of property tax, the highest median bill of the 51 jurisdictions, against $881 in West Virginia, the lowest, according to the Census Bureau's American Community Survey for 2024. As a share of home value, the ranking changes: Illinois has the highest effective rate at 1.92%, followed by New Jersey, Connecticut and New Hampshire, while Hawaii is lowest at 0.27%. The effective rate here is the median real estate tax paid by owner-occupants divided by the median value of their homes, so it already includes the homestead exemptions and assessment caps owners receive. The middle state sits at 0.75% and $2,937 a year. Use the table to compare, the calculator to apply a state's rate to your own home value, and each state page for its exemptions.
Typical property tax in a state
Typical bill in Alabama
$1,334
| Per month | $111 |
| Median effective rate | 0.38% |
| Median bill in the state | $890 |
All 51 jurisdictions, by effective rate
Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 1-year estimates, read on October 5, 2026.
| State | Median bill | Effective rate | Median value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois | $5,399 | 1.92% | $280,700 |
| New Jersey | $9,358 | 1.89% | $496,000 |
| Connecticut | $6,573 | 1.66% | $396,900 |
| New Hampshire | $6,707 | 1.46% | $458,800 |
| New York | $6,542 | 1.45% | $449,800 |
| Vermont | $5,026 | 1.43% | $352,800 |
| Nebraska | $3,739 | 1.42% | $263,100 |
| Texas | $4,108 | 1.31% | $313,200 |
| Iowa | $2,937 | 1.29% | $227,300 |
| Kansas | $2,983 | 1.25% | $238,700 |
| Wisconsin | $3,680 | 1.25% | $294,700 |
| Ohio | $2,937 | 1.23% | $239,800 |
| Michigan | $2,988 | 1.18% | $254,200 |
| Pennsylvania | $3,214 | 1.16% | $277,600 |
| Rhode Island | $4,886 | 1.07% | $455,700 |
| Alaska | $3,976 | 1.06% | $376,500 |
| Minnesota | $3,501 | 1.02% | $344,600 |
| South Dakota | $2,940 | 1.02% | $289,600 |
| Massachusetts | $6,080 | 1.00% | $607,400 |
| North Dakota | $2,550 | 0.96% | $266,100 |
| Maryland | $4,144 | 0.95% | $436,300 |
| Maine | $3,103 | 0.91% | $341,900 |
| Missouri | $2,021 | 0.79% | $254,400 |
| Washington | $4,729 | 0.78% | $602,200 |
| Oregon | $3,895 | 0.78% | $497,500 |
| Florida | $2,993 | 0.75% | $396,900 |
| Oklahoma | $1,672 | 0.75% | $222,100 |
| Georgia | $2,554 | 0.74% | $343,300 |
| Indiana | $1,798 | 0.74% | $243,500 |
| Kentucky | $1,611 | 0.71% | $226,000 |
| Virginia | $2,872 | 0.71% | $403,500 |
| California | $5,369 | 0.71% | $759,500 |
| Montana | $2,939 | 0.69% | $425,400 |
| Mississippi | $1,221 | 0.66% | $186,500 |
| New Mexico | $1,776 | 0.64% | $279,900 |
| District of Columbia | $4,594 | 0.63% | $733,400 |
| North Carolina | $2,044 | 0.61% | $333,000 |
| Wyoming | $1,947 | 0.57% | $339,500 |
| Louisiana | $1,187 | 0.53% | $223,200 |
| Arkansas | $1,113 | 0.52% | $215,600 |
| West Virginia | $881 | 0.52% | $170,800 |
| Colorado | $2,828 | 0.49% | $574,600 |
| Utah | $2,648 | 0.49% | $545,200 |
| Delaware | $1,750 | 0.47% | $371,600 |
| Nevada | $2,143 | 0.47% | $455,500 |
| Tennessee | $1,488 | 0.45% | $332,600 |
| South Carolina | $1,337 | 0.45% | $299,500 |
| Arizona | $1,828 | 0.43% | $426,000 |
| Idaho | $1,912 | 0.43% | $446,400 |
| Alabama | $890 | 0.38% | $233,300 |
| Hawaii | $2,385 | 0.27% | $875,900 |
Rate and bill are two different rankings
A high effective rate does not always mean a high bill, and the reverse. Where home values are high, a modest rate still produces a large bill: California's effective rate of 0.71% is below the middle of the table, yet its median bill of $5,369 is above the middle, because its median home is worth $759,500. Hawaii shows the effect most clearly: the lowest rate of all on homes with a median value of $875,900. When you compare states before a move, look at the rate if you know what you will spend on a home, and at the bill to see what a typical owner there pays.
How these figures are built
The Census Bureau asks a sample of households each year how much they paid in real estate taxes and what their home is worth. Table B25103 gives the median taxes paid by owner-occupied housing units, table B25077 the median value of those homes. Both are 2024 one-year estimates, read on October 5, 2026; the next release usually comes in September. Dividing one median by the other is a convention: it is not the median of each household's own ratio, but it is stable, dated and published for every state, which is what a comparison needs. Each figure carries a margin of error: on the median bill it ranges from $15 in the most surveyed state to $245 in the least.
What the table cannot tell you
Property tax is local. Inside one state, the levy of a city with its own school district can be twice that of a rural county, and the Census median does not show it. Owners who have held their homes for decades in states with assessment caps pay far less than new buyers of identical houses, which pulls the median rate down. Renters are not in these figures at all, although landlords pass part of the tax into rents. And the median bill describes owners, many of whom have a mortgage with an escrow account; the figures with and without a mortgage are on each state page.
Why the gap between states is so large
States finance schools and local services in different mixes. Where local governments depend heavily on property tax for schools, rates are high, as in much of the Northeast and the Midwest; where the state funds more of the schools from income or sales taxes, or where large homestead exemptions remove much of the value from the rolls, rates are low. Assessment practice adds another layer: a state that assesses homes at a fraction of their value, or caps annual increases, can look low on paper while its levies are high. The step-by-step explanation shows where each of these levers acts on a bill.
With a mortgage, without a mortgage
The Census splits owners in two: those still paying a mortgage, whose tax usually goes through an escrow account, and those who own outright. In 49 of the 51, owners with a mortgage pay more, partly because they bought more recently and at higher values, which matters wherever a sale resets the assessment. The gap is widest in Texas, where the median bill is $5,273 with a mortgage against $2,771 without, and in California ($6,071 against $3,956). The order is reversed in Hawaii, Utah. If you are about to buy, the figure with a mortgage is the closer guide to your own first bills.
The ten highest and lowest rates
Highest effective rates, in order: Illinois (1.92%), New Jersey (1.89%), Connecticut (1.66%), New Hampshire (1.46%), New York (1.45%), Vermont (1.43%), Nebraska (1.42%), Texas (1.31%), Iowa (1.29%), Kansas (1.25%). Lowest, from the bottom: Hawaii (0.27%), Alabama (0.38%), Idaho (0.43%), Arizona (0.43%), South Carolina (0.45%), Tennessee (0.45%), Nevada (0.47%), Delaware (0.47%), Utah (0.49%), Colorado (0.49%). Each name opens the state's page, with the homestead exemption, the other relief programs and the official pages that describe how its counties assess and levy.
Using the numbers
For an order of magnitude, the mini-calculator above applies a state's median rate to the value you type. For a specific address, the property tax calculator accepts the mill rate, the assessment ratio and the exemptions of your bill. To weigh property tax against sales tax between two states, use the two-state comparison. And before buying, check the homestead exemption of the state, since it changes the bill of an owner-occupant from the first year.