Choose which platform to sign into.

Average Annual Property Tax was $3,296, an Effective Tax Rate of 1.15 Percent;
Highest Effective Tax Rates in New Jersey, Illinois, Texas, New Hampshire, Vermont;
Owner-Occupied Properties Register Higher Effective Tax Rates Than Investment Properties

IRVINE, Calif. – April 6, 2017 — ATTOM Data Solutions, curator of the nation’s largest fused property database, today released a 2016 property tax analysis for more than 84 million U.S. single family homes, which shows that property taxes levied on single family homes in 2016 totaled $277.7 billion, an average of $3,296 per home and an effective tax rate of 1.15 percent.

The report analyzed property tax data collected from county tax assessor offices nationwide at the state, metro and county level along with estimated market values of single family homes calculated using an automated valuation model (AVM). The effective tax rate was the average annual property tax expressed as a percentage of the average estimated market value of homes in each geographic area.

New Jersey, Illinois, Texas post highest property tax rates

States with the highest effective property tax rates were New Jersey (2.31 percent), Illinois (2.13 percent); Texas (2.06 percent); New Hampshire (2.03 percent); and Vermont (2.02 percent).

Other states in the top 10 for highest effective property tax rates were Connecticut (2.00 percent), Pennsylvania (1.89 percent), New York (1.88 percent), Ohio (1.68 percent), and Rhode Island (1.64 percent).

“Ohio in recent history has among the highest average property taxes in the nation, even though housing is among the most affordable,” said Matthew Watercutter, senior regional vice president and broker of record for HER Realtors, covering the Dayton, Columbus and Cincinnati markets in Ohio. “Typically the more populated, urban and suburban counties have a higher effective tax rate than their more rural counterparts. This issue affects the affordability of housing, as property taxes do affect the ratios for potential buyers. By continually raising property taxes to support schools, as well as other infrastructure in lieu of other funding sources such as sales tax — which generates revenues from property owners as well as non-property owners — property taxes limit a buyer’s ability to purchase as well as the property’s ability to appreciate in value.”

Among 217 metropolitan statistical areas with a population of at least 200,000, those with the highest effective property tax rates were Binghamton, New York (3.10 percent); Rochester, New York (2.99 percent); Rockford, Illinois (2.96 percent); Atlantic City, New Jersey (2.77 percent); and Syracuse, New York (2.67 percent).

Hawaii, Alabama, Colorado post lowest property tax rates

States with the lowest effective property tax rates were Hawaii (0.32 percent); Alabama (0.48 percent); Colorado (0.52 percent); Tennessee (0.54 percent); and Delaware (0.56 percent).

Other states in the top 10 for lowest effective property tax rates were West Virginia (0.57 percent); South Carolina (0.63 percent); Nevada (0.64 percent); Utah (0.65 percent); and Arkansas (0.67 percent).

Among the 217 metro areas analyzed for the report, those with the lowest effective property tax rates were Honolulu (0.32 percent); Montgomery, Alabama (0.35 percent); Tuscaloosa, Alabama (0.36 percent); Florence, South Carolina (0.44 percent); and Colorado Springs, Colorado (0.44 percent).

“I’m sure many Seattle-area homeowners will be surprised to hear that property taxes in our region are relatively low compared to the rest of the U.S., especially when you consider how aggressively our home prices have risen in recent years. But rising home prices are more a function of our thriving economy rather than relatively low property tax levels,” said Matthew Gardner, chief economist at Windermere Real Estate, covering the Seattle market, where the metro property tax rate ranked No. 133 out of the 217 metros analyzed and where King County ranked 410 out of 586 counties analyzed in the report. “Within King County, there are great variations in what homeowners pay in property taxes due in part to the popularity and demand for housing in certain areas, but this doesn’t appear to be a major factor for buyers when deciding where to live.”

9 counties with average annual property taxes of more than $10,000

Among 586 counties with a population of at least 100,000 and at least 10,000 single family homes, nine posted average annual property taxes of more than $10,000: Westchester, Rockland, and Nassau counties in New York; Essex, Bergen, Union and Morris counties in New Jersey; Marin County, California; and Fairfield County, Connecticut.

There were a total of 32 counties with average annual property taxes of $7,000 or more, including counties in Illinois, Texas, Virginia and Massachusetts.

Owner-occupied properties register higher effective tax rate than investment properties

The average annual property tax for owner-occupied single family homes nationwide was $3,658, an effective tax rate of 1.21 percent. That was higher than the average annual property tax of $2,437 and effective tax rate of 1.03 percent on non-owner occupied (investment) homes.

The effective tax rate for investment homes was lower than the effective tax rate for owner-occupied homes in 34 states, including California, Texas, Ohio, Illinois and New York.

States where the effective tax rate for investment homes was higher than the effective tax rate for owner-occupied homes included Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Indiana and Arizona.

Investment property homeowners owed $51.4 billion in property taxes in 2016, accounting for 19 percent of the total property taxes owed nationwide, while the number of investment properties accounted for 26 percent of all single family homes.

 

About ATTOM Data Solutions
ATTOM Data Solutions is the curator of the ATTOM Data Warehouse, a multi-sourced national property database that blends property tax, deed, mortgage, foreclosure, environmental risk, natural hazard, health hazards, neighborhood characteristics and other property characteristic data for more than 150 million U.S. residential and commercial properties. The ATTOM Data Warehouse delivers actionable data to businesses, consumers, government agencies, universities, policymakers and the media in multiple ways, including bulk file licenses, APIs and customized reports.

ATTOM Data Solutions also powers consumer websites designed to promote real estate transparency: RealtyTrac.com is a property search and research portal for foreclosures and other off-market properties; Homefacts.com is a neighborhood research portal providing hyperlocal risks and amenities information; HomeDisclosure.com produces detailed property pre-diligence reports.

ATTOM Data and its associated brands are cited by thousands of media outlets each month, including frequent mentions on CBS Evening News, The Today Show, CNBC, CNN, FOX News, PBS NewsHour and in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and USA TODAY.

Media Contact:
pr@attomdata.com
949.502.8300, ext. 105

Data Licensing and Custom Report Orders
Investors, businesses and government institutions can contact ATTOM Data Solutions to purchase the full dataset behind the Environmental Hazards Housing Risk Index, including data at the state, metro, county and zip code level. The data is also available via bulk license or in customized reports. For more information contact our Data Solutions Department at 800.462.5125 or datasales@attomdata.com

Interested in purchasing the data cited in our articles?

Or learn more about how businesses are leveraging ATTOM’s property and real estate data? Please complete the form below to connect with a data expert.