A Comprehensive Analysis of Property Tax Rates Across Regions, Highlighting Key Differences Impacting Homeowners Nationwide Property taxes in the United States vary significantly across different regions, influenced by state and local policies, property values, and funding requirements for public services. Understanding these variations is crucial for homeowners, prospective buyers, and policymakers. Regional Differences in Property Taxes At the state level, the Northeast and Midwest exhibit the highest effective property tax rates for owner-occupied homes. Illinois leads with a rate of 1.825%, followed closely by New Jersey at 1.773%. Other states with high rates include Connecticut (1.485%), Nebraska (1.435%), and Vermont (1.417%). These elevated rates often correspond to densely populated or older states requiring substantial revenue to support infrastructure and services. In contrast, the South and Mountain West regions generally have lower effective rates. Hawaii has the lowest at 0.318%, with Alabama (0.359%), Arizona (0.442%), and South Carolina (0.471%) also among the states with minimal property tax burdens. Notably, Texas deviates from this regional trend, ranking seventh overall with an effective property tax rate of 1.356%. Source: Construction Coverage analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data | Image Credit: Construction Coverage At the county level, disparities become more pronounced. Salem County, NJ, has the highest effective tax rate in the country at 2.382%, followed by Monroe County, NY, at 2.314%. Conversely, DeKalb County, AL, boasts the lowest rate at 0.157%, with other counties in Alabama and Hawaii also featuring among those with the lowest rates. City-level differences mirror these trends. Trenton, NJ, has the highest effective property tax rate of any U.S. city at 2.653%, while Montgomery, AL, has the lowest at 0.277%. Cities in Illinois, New Jersey, and Connecticut dominate the higher end of the spectrum, whereas cities in Alabama, Louisiana, and Hawaii are among those with the smallest property tax burdens. States With the Highest Property Taxes Here are the top 15 states with the highest effective property tax rates for owner-occupied homes: Rank State Rate 1 Illinois 1.825% 2 New Jersey 1.773% 3 Connecticut 1.485% 4 Nebraska 1.435% 5 Vermont 1.417% 6 New Hampshire 1.413% 7 Texas 1.356% 8 Ohio 1.306% 9 New York 1.263% 10 Wisconsin 1.254% 11 Iowa 1.235% 12 Kansas 1.194% 13 Pennsylvania 1.190% 14 Michigan 1.148% 15 Rhode Island 1.052% States With the Lowest Property Taxes Here are the top 15 states with the lowest effective property tax rates for owner-occupied homes: Rank State Rate 1 Hawaii 0.318% 2 Alabama 0.359% 3 Arizona 0.442% 4 South Carolina 0.471% 5 Utah 0.473% 6 West Virginia 0.476% 7 Idaho 0.477% 8 Tennessee 0.488% 9 Nevada 0.491% 10 Colorado 0.500% 11 Delaware 0.503% 12 Arkansas 0.534% 13 Wyoming 0.549% 14 Louisiana 0.553% 15 Mississippi 0.575% Counties With the Highest Property Taxes Here are the top 15 counties with the highest effective property tax rates for owner-occupied homes: Rank County State Rate 1 Salem County NJ 2.382% 2 Monroe County NY 2.314% 3 Kendall County IL 2.281% 4 DeKalb County IL 2.212% 5 Gloucester County NJ 2.208% 6 Winnebago County IL 2.195% 7 Camden County NJ 2.188% 8 McHenry County IL 2.164% 9 Wayne County NY 2.162% 10 Lake County IL 2.161% 11 Warren County NJ 2.141% 12 Steuben County NY 2.128% 13 Passaic County NJ 2.102% 14 McLean County IL 2.090% 15 Putnam County NY 2.089% Counties With the Lowest Property Taxes Here are the top 15 counties with the lowest effective property tax rates for owner-occupied homes: Rank County State Rate 1 DeKalb County AL 0.157% 2 Maui County HI 0.188% 3 Cullman County AL 0.215% 4 Apache County AZ 0.224% 5Elmore County Full Results Construction coverage experts, views, and guides Methodology The data used in this analysis is from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2023 American Community Survey. To determine the locations with the highest property taxes, researchers at Construction Coverage calculated the effective property tax rate for owner-occupied homes by dividing the aggregate annual real estate taxes paid by the aggregate value of housing units. In the event of a tie, the location with the greater median property taxes paid for owner-occupied homes was ranked higher. Additionally, due to top-coding limitations in the survey data, median home values over $2,000,000 were presented as >$2,000,000, median household incomes over $250,000 were presented as >$250,000, and median property taxes paid over $10,000 were replaced with the average property taxes paid. References Tax Policy Center. (2024). The Tax Policy Briefing Book / How Do State and Local Property Taxes Work? Retrieved on December 2, 2024 from https://taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/how-do-state-and-local-property-taxes-work. Washington, Katelynn. Kiplinger. (2024, September 30). Property Tax Cap: Does Your State Have One? Retrieved on December 2, 2024 from https://www.kiplinger.com/taxes/property-tax-cap-by-state. U.S. Census Bureau. (2024). American Community Survey [Data set]. Retrieved on December 2, 2024 from https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs.