Property Tax by State: Rates and Median Bills

New Jersey and Illinois have the highest effective property tax rates in the US at 1.88% of home value, and Hawaii has the lowest at 0.29%. The national average effective rate is 0.90%, and the median homeowner pays $3,211 a year, ranging from under $900 in West Virginia and Alabama to $9,358 in New Jersey.

The effective rate is the tax actually paid as a share of a home's market value. It is the fairest way to compare states, because it folds in each state's assessment rules, exemptions and caps. The rates below come from the Tax Foundation's analysis of 2024 Census data, and the median bills come from the Census Bureau's 2024 American Community Survey, the latest available for both.

Highest and Lowest Property Taxes at a Glance

A low rate does not always mean a low bill. Hawaii has the lowest rate, but its homes are so expensive that the median bill ($2,385) is higher than in Alabama ($890), where the rate is higher. The states with the largest median bills are New Jersey ($9,358), New Hampshire ($6,707), Connecticut ($6,573), New York ($6,542) and Massachusetts ($6,080).

Property Tax by State: All 50 States and DC

Effective rate is the mean property tax paid on owner-occupied homes divided by their total value, calendar year 2024, ranked 1 (highest) to 50 (lowest) by the Tax Foundation, Facts & Figures 2026. Median annual bill is the median real estate taxes paid by owner-occupied households from the Census Bureau's 2024 American Community Survey (one-year estimates). States with tied rates keep the Tax Foundation's ranking order, which uses unrounded figures.

US totals: 0.90% effective rate and a $3,211 median bill. Your own bill depends on your county, city and school district, which can differ a lot from the statewide figure.

How Property Tax Is Calculated

Almost every property tax bill follows the same formula:

Property tax = (assessed value − exemptions) × tax rate

• Market value is what the assessor thinks your home would sell for.
• Assessment ratio. Many states tax only a percentage of market value. If your state assesses homes at 50% of market value, a $400,000 home has an assessed value of $200,000.
• Exemptions reduce the taxable amount. The most common is a homestead exemption for your primary residence.
• Tax rate is often written in mills, where one mill is $1 of tax per $1,000 of taxable value. The rate combines every local body that taxes you: county, city, school district and special districts.

Worked example. A $400,000 home in a place that assesses at 50%, with a $25,000 homestead exemption and a combined rate of 40 mills (4%):

• Assessed value: $400,000 × 50% = $200,000
• Taxable value: $200,000 − $25,000 = $175,000
• Tax: $175,000 × 4% = $7,000 a year
• Effective rate: $7,000 ÷ $400,000 = 1.75%

The 4% rate looks alarming on its own, but the effective rate is 1.75%. That is why comparing statutory rates across states misleads, and why the table above uses effective rates. For a quick estimate, multiply your home value by your state's effective rate: a $350,000 home in Texas at 1.40% is about $4,900 a year. Run your own numbers in the property tax calculator, and see how the bill feeds into your monthly payment with the mortgage calculator.

Homestead Exemptions and Assessment Caps

Two tools keep owner-occupied homes from being taxed at full market value.

Homestead exemptions knock a fixed amount or a percentage off your home's taxable value, but usually only for your primary residence and only if you apply. Two examples:

• Texas requires school districts to exempt $140,000 of a residence homestead's value, plus an additional $60,000 for homeowners 65 or older or disabled (Texas Comptroller).
• Florida offers a homestead exemption that can cut a home's taxable value by as much as $50,000 (Florida Department of Revenue).

Assessment caps limit how fast your taxable value can rise, even when home prices jump.

• California's Proposition 13 limits the basic tax to 1% of assessed value and holds increases in that value to no more than 2% a year. A home is reassessed to market value only when it changes hands or is newly built (California State Board of Equalization). Local voter-approved charges come on top, and the homeowners' exemption takes $7,000 off the taxable value of a primary residence.
• Florida's Save Our Homes caps annual increases in a homestead's assessed value at 3% or the change in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower (Florida Statutes 193.155).

Caps help long-time owners, but they shift more of the burden to recent buyers, whose homes start at full market value. Two identical houses on the same street can carry very different bills.

Property Tax Relief for Seniors

Most states offer some form of relief for older homeowners. The common types are:

• Extra exemptions, like the Texas $60,000 school exemption for homeowners 65 and older.
• Assessment freezes that lock the taxable value once you reach a set age, often with an income limit.
• Circuit breakers, which refund or credit property tax that exceeds a set share of your income.
• Deferrals, which let you postpone the tax until the home is sold, with the unpaid amount secured against the property.

None of these are automatic in most places. Check your county assessor's website for the forms and deadlines.

Property Tax and the SALT Deduction in 2026

If you itemize, property tax is deductible on your federal return as part of the state and local tax (SALT) deduction. For 2026 the SALT cap is $40,400, and it covers property tax plus either state income tax or sales tax combined. Above $505,000 of modified adjusted gross income the cap shrinks by 30 cents per extra dollar, down to a floor of $10,000. Married couples filing separately get half these amounts.

The catch is that you only benefit if your itemized deductions beat the 2026 standard deduction: $16,100 for single filers and $32,200 for married couples filing jointly (IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32).

Worked example. A married couple pays $11,000 in property tax and $9,000 in state income tax, for $20,000 of SALT, plus $14,000 of mortgage interest. Their itemized total is $34,000, which is only $1,800 more than the $32,200 standard deduction. In the 22% bracket, itemizing saves them about $396 compared with taking the standard deduction. Without the mortgage interest, they would be better off with the standard deduction. More detail is in our guide to the 2026 SALT cap, and the state tax calculator shows your state income tax.

How to Appeal Your Property Tax Assessment

You cannot appeal the tax rate, but you can challenge the value the assessor put on your home. If the assessed value drops, your bill drops with it.

1. Check the notice for errors. Wrong square footage, an extra bathroom or a garage you do not have are the easiest wins.
2. Pull comparable sales. Find three to five similar homes nearby that sold for less than your assessed value around the assessment date.
3. Document problems. Photos of a failing roof, foundation cracks or other issues support a lower value.
4. Meet the deadline. Appeal windows are often only 30 to 60 days after the assessment notice is mailed.
5. Start informally. Many assessors will adjust a value after a short review before a formal hearing.

Example: if an appeal lowers your assessed value from $320,000 to $290,000 and your rate is 2.1%, you save $630 a year, and the savings repeat every year the lower value holds.

Frequently asked questions