According to the U.S. Census Bureau [1], the average American household spends $2,197 on property taxes for their homes each year. That’s no small chunk of change for many households, so property taxes are inevitably a factor when homebuyers are trying to decide where to buy, or where to move. WalletHub recently examined all 50 states and the District of Columbia to determine which states were best and worst when it comes to property taxes.
The good news is, you’ll get plenty of sun and beaches along with the money you save in Hawaii, which ranks as the state with the lowest effective tax rate at 0.27 percent. However, the state’s median home value of $538,400 might offset that a bit, even for potential homebuyers keen to leave the mainland. For a median-priced home in Hawaii, the annual taxes would amount to $1,459.
Next on the list is Alabama, with a median home price of $128,500 and an effective property tax rate of 0.43 percent, meaning the owner of a median-priced Alabama home would pay $550 in taxes. Rounding out the five states with lowest property tax rates are Louisiana (0.51 percent effective property tax), Delaware (0.55 percent), and, surprisingly, the District of Columbia. Like Hawaii, D.C. has a high median home value at $506,100, but a low effective property tax rate at only 0.56 percent.
What about the other end of the scale? New Jersey takes home the trophy for highest effective property tax rate at 2.40 percent. Jersey homeowners with a median-priced home worth $316,400 would be paying $7,601 in annual property taxes. Coming in second is Illinois, with a 2.32 percent effective property tax rate, which works out to $4,058 in taxes on a median-priced home worth $174,800. The rest of the five states with highest effective property tax rates are New Hampshire (2.19 percent), Connecticut (2.02 percent), and Wisconsin (1.95 percent).
You can read WalletHub’s full breakdown of state property tax rates by clicking here [2].