New Jersey continues to lead the nation with the highest annual real estate taxes in the country. The state’s residents pay an average of $8,374 a year, which is about $7,000 more than Alabama residents—who pay the lowest property taxes in the country. The findings from the
2016 American Community Survey were detailed on the National Association of Home Builders’ Eye on Housing blog.
Northeastern states tend to have the highest property taxes, while the South—with the exception of Texas—has the lowest. Property taxes, on average, account for 40 percent of state and local tax receipts. Some state and local governments rely more heavily on property taxes as a source of revenue than others. Property values and taxes vary widely from state to state.
New Jersey also had the highest effective property tax rate at 2.14 percent, or $21.40 per $1,000 of home value, according to NAHB’s analysis of the data. Meanwhile, Hawaii had the lowest effective rate in the country at 0.29 percent, or $2.94 per $1,000 of value. However, Hawaii still ranks 28th in real estate taxes paid per homeowner because the average home value is the highest in the country—at $676,571.
The following are the 12 states that paid the highest average annual real estate taxes in 2016:
- New Jersey: $8,374
- Connecticut: $6,222
- New York: $5,881
- New Hampshire: $5,511
- Rhode Island: $4,529
- Vermont: $4,527
- Massachusetts: $4,993
- Illinois: $4,845
- California: $4,422
- Maryland: $3,688
- Texas: $3,550
- Wisconsin: $3,523
The states that paid some of the lowest average annual property taxes in 2016 are:
- Alabama: $667
- West Virginia: $792
- Arkansas: $992
- Louisiana: $976
- Mississippi: $938
Source: “Property Taxes by State – 2016,” National Association of Home Builders’ Eye on Housing blog (Oct. 2, 2017)
