TheBalance.com published a report by The Tax Foundation, a non-profit research organization, showing how states fare in term of property taxes. The top 10 best and worst states are listed below. TheBalance.com notes that, while property taxes can be a significant expense, there are other factors in play, such other state taxes (i.e. state income taxes), value of the assessed property and the ability to contest property taxes in some states.
Therefore, if you buy a home in San Francisco, CA you probably pay 1.25% property taxes, while in Dallas, TX you would probably pay 1.9%. However, the average home price in San Francisco is much higher than Dallas. Also, there are no state income taxes in Texas, while California has an average 10% income tax rate. Therefore, you would almost certainly have a higher tax burden in San Francisco than Dallas, despite the higher property tax rate in Texas.
Highest Property Tax Rates
- New Jersey: 2.38%
- Illinois: 2.32%
- New Hampshire: 2.15%
- Connecticut: 1.98%
- Wisconsin: 1.96%
- Texas: 1.90%
- Nebraska: 1.84%
- Michigan: 1.78%
- Vermont: 1.71%
- Rhode Island: 1.67%
Lowest Property Taxes
- Hawaii: 0.28%
- Alabama: 0.43%
- Louisiana: 0.51%
- Delaware: 0.55%
- District of Columbia: 0.57%
- South Carolina: 0.57%
- West Virginia: 0.59%
- Wyoming: 0.61%
- Colorado: 0.61%
- Arkansas: 0.62%