Homeowners may notice an increase in their property tax bills. Municipalities levied about $323 billion in property taxes on single-family homes in 2020, a 5.4% increase compared to 2019, according to ATTOM Data Solutions’ newest property tax analysis for nearly 87 million single-family homes in the U.S.
The average tax on single-family homes nationwide in 2020 was $3,719—reflecting an effective tax rate of about 1.1%. But many areas of the country faced much higher rates.
“Homeowners across the United States in 2020 got hit with the largest average property tax hike in the last four years, a sign that the cost of running local governments and public school systems rose well past the rate of inflation,” says Todd Teta, chief product officer for ATTOM Data Solutions. “The increase was twice what it was in 2019. Fortunately for recent home buyers, they have mortgages with super-low interest rates that somewhat contain the cost of homeownership. But the latest tax numbers speak loud and clear about the continuing pressure on both recent and longtime homeowners to support the rising cost of public services.”
The states with the highest effective property tax rates in 2020, according to ATTOM Data Solutions’ analysis, are:
- New Jersey: 2.2%
- Illinois: 2.18%
- Texas: 2.15%
- Vermont: 1.97%
- Connecticut: 1.92%
- New Hampshire: 1.86%
- New York: 1.68%
- Pennsylvania: 1.64%
- Ohio: 1.62%
- Nebraska: 1.53%
On the other hand, the states with the lowest effective tax rates in 2020 were:
- Hawaii: 0.37%
- Alabama: 0.44%
- West Virginia: 0.51%
- Colorado: 0.54%
- Utah: 0.54%
- Tennessee: 0.59%
- Nevada: 0.6%
- Idaho: 0.61%
- Arizona: 0.62%
- Wyoming: 0.63%
Northeast metros tended to have the highest effective tax rates in the country, according to ATTOM Data Solution’s analysis. By metro level, the areas with the highest effective property taxes in 2020 were Syracuse, N.Y. (2.83%); Trenton, N.J. (2.69%); Binghamton, N.Y. (2.67%); El Paso, Texas (2.66%); and Rockford, Ill. (2.62%). Meanwhile, the lowest rates among metros in 2020 were in Honolulu, Hawaii (0.36%); Daphne-Fairhope, Ala. (0.37%); Montgomery, Ala. (0.38%); Tuscaloosa, Ala. (0.39%); and Colorado Springs, Colo. (0.42%).
By dollar amount at the state level, New Jersey had the highest average property tax on single-family homes at $9,196, followed by Connecticut at $7,395; New York at $6,628; New Hampshire at $6,596; and Massachusetts at $6,514.
On the other hand, the states with the lowest average property tax on single-family homes were Alabama at $841, followed by West Virginia at $849; Arkansas at $1,147; Tennessee at $1,202; and Mississippi at $1,241.
Source: ATTOM Data Solutions
