Where are property taxes highest and lowest? Analysis of cities and states
FILE - Aerial view of homes in the south suburban Chicago. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Tax bills have been rising for homeowners, who are seeing amounts go up as their home value increases and local tax rates change.
Homeowners are responsible for tax bills regardless of if they have a mortgage or own the property outright.
Here’s a look at which states and cities pay the most and least when it comes to property taxes from a Census Bureau data analysis done by Construction Coverage:
States with highest property taxes
Big picture view:
The Midwest and Northeast states carry the highest tax rates, led by Illinois and New Jersey.
By the numbers:
Here are the five states with the highest property tax rate:
- Illinois: 1.793%
- New Jersey: 1.675%
- Vermont: 1.399%
- Nebraska: 1.379%
- Connecticut: 1.355%
RELATED: Average NJ property tax bill tops $10K; thousands of homeowners challenge billions in assessed value
States with lowest property taxes
Big picture view:
The South and Mountain West regions generally have the lowest effective rates.
By the numbers:
The five states with the lowest property tax rates are:
- Hawaii: 0.308%
- Alabama: 0.372%
- Arizona: 0.426%
- Idaho: 0.433%
- South Carolina: 0.438%
READ MORE: Homeowners in these states may soon stop paying property taxes
Cities with highest property taxes
To note:
Data from 651 cities were included in the analysis. You can see the full list and results here.
Big picture view:
In line with the states with the highest property taxes, cities in New Jersey and Illinois top the list where homeowners pay the highest property taxes. Every city in the top 20 is located in New Jersey, Illinois, Connecticut, or New York state.
Cities with lowest property taxes
Big picture view:
Four of the bottom five cities are found in Arizona, while Mount Pleasant, South Carolina boasts the lowest effective rate at 0.248%.
Meanwhile:
Lawmakers in several states are considering slashing or eliminating property taxes as rising home values push bills higher and state budget surpluses grow.
The Source: Information in this article was taken from an analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data by Construction Coverage, an online publisher of construction industry research reports. This story was reported from Detroit.