Here are the U.S. states with the highest and lowest property taxes

Property taxes are far heavier in some places than others. WalletHub ranked all 50 states and D.C. by their rate to find the extremes

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Property taxes are one of the most variable costs in homeownership, and the gap between the cheapest and most expensive states is wide enough to change whether a home is affordable at all. The average U.S. household pays $3,119 per year in property taxes on their home, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, but that figure obscures a range running from just a few hundred dollars in some states to nearly $10,000 in others. In 26 states, residents also pay vehicle property taxes that add an average of $499 to the annual burden. Where a homeowner lands on that spectrum depends almost entirely on the state the home sits in.

The rate a state charges is only part of the equation. Home values amplify or dampen the effect of any given rate, so a low-rate state with expensive real estate can still produce a hefty annual bill. The reverse holds too: a state with a relatively high rate applied to modest home values may leave homeowners paying less than the national average. Understanding that interaction is what separates a useful comparison from a misleading one. Renters are not insulated from the burden, either. Landlords who face high property tax bills tend to pass those costs through to tenants, spreading the obligation across households that do not own property themselves.

WalletHub analyzed real-estate property taxes across all 50 states and the District of Columbia, dividing the median real-estate tax payment by the median home price in each state to produce an effective rate. The study applied that rate to the U.S. median home value of $332,700 — the 2024 Census Bureau figure — to generate comparable annual tax estimates across jurisdictions. The six states below represent the extremes of that distribution: the three jurisdictions where property taxes are highest and the three where they are lowest.

Worst: New Jersey's property taxes are the highest in the country

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New Jersey carries the country's heaviest property tax burden — the highest effective rate of all 51 jurisdictions at 2.11% — and homeowners on a median-priced $454,400 home pay $9,590 per year. No other state pairs a rate that high with home values that large.

That $9,590 figure reflects two converging pressures: a rate that tops every state in the country and home values that run well above the national median. New Jersey's median home price is $121,700 higher than the U.S. median, so even a slightly lower rate would still produce one of the country's largest average bills. Both factors pushing in the same direction means homeowners face a property tax burden that is difficult to absorb on middle incomes.

Property taxes in New Jersey fund local governments and school districts at a level that reflects the state's approach to public services. Local governments rely heavily on property tax revenue, and that dependence is built into the rate structure. Homeowners pay not just for their own municipality's services but for a funding model that has resisted structural change for decades.

The practical effect on housing affordability is substantial. A homeowner paying $9,590 per year in........

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