The property tax map shows the most expensive states

With mortgage rates still hovering around 7 percent and home prices remaining relatively high amid a historic shortage of U.S. inventory, property taxes are an important expense for homeowners to consider when facing the rising cost of living. housing.

Read more: How to calculate how much house you can afford

Property tax rates, which are calculated based on the state or municipal tax rate and the value of the homeowner’s property, vary dramatically between states, as they do in all counties.

All 50 states and the District of Columbia impose this type of tax, although some do so through local taxes levied by municipalities, townships, school districts and others—such as Texas, which does not have a state property tax but leaves it up to the local unit. of taxes to generate tax revenue to pay for local services such as schools, roads and police and fire protection.

Read more: Find the lowest rates from leading mortgage lenders

In addition to this internal variation in the US, property taxes change regularly in a state or county over a relatively short period of time: rates may be reassessed annually or every few years, according to local regulation.

In general, this means that aspiring US homebuyers should pay attention to several factors that can inflate their annual bills when buying a property – not only mortgage rates and prices, but also property taxes.

The situation is not rosy for them at the moment. As of June 20, according to Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage — the most popular among U.S. borrowers — was 6.87 percent. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage, on the same date, was 6.13 percent.

Despite remaining well above the lows of 2020 and 2021, mortgage rates continued to fall for a third straight week last week, giving observers hope that the Federal Reserve may soon decide to cut its rate basis of interest and consequently lower mortgage rates.

Meanwhile, housing prices nationally are on the rise again. As of May, according to the latest Redfin data, the median home sale price in the U.S. was $439,716, up 5.1 percent from a year earlier.

The location of your home can make a big difference. Here’s a map of the most expensive and cheapest property tax rates in the country, by state.

The states with the highest property tax rates last year were Illinois (1.88 percent), New Jersey (1.64 percent), Connecticut (1.54 percent), New York (1.46 percent) and Nebraska (1.46 percent). Those with the lowest property tax rates were Hawaii (0.31 percent), Arizona (0.41 percent), Alabama (0.42 percent), Delaware (0.43 percent) and Tennessee (0.44 percent).

In general, the lowest rates were found in the South and West, while the highest were concentrated in the Northwest and Midwest. Newsweek contacted ATTOM for comment by email.

These are the effective property tax rates for each state, in alphabetical order, for the 2023 tax year, according to ATTOM Data Solutions and cited by Bankrate:

Alabama: 0.42 percent
Alaska: 0.95 percent
Arizona: 0.41 percent
Arkansas: 0.54 percent
California: 0.70 percent
Colorado: 0.48 percent
Connecticut: 1.54 percent
Delaware: 0.43 percent
District of Columbia: 0.69 percent
Florida: 0.76 percent
Georgia: 0.82 percent
Hawaii: 0.31 percent
Idaho: 0.44 percent
Illinois: 1.88 percent
Indiana: 0.86 percent
Iowa: 1.25 percent
Kansas: 1.26 percent
Kentucky: 0.76 percent
Louisiana: 0.62 percent
Maine: 0.82 percent
Maryland: 0.81 percent
Massachusetts: 0.98 percent
Michigan: 1.04 percent
Minnesota: 0.98 percent
Mississippi: 0.62 percent
Missouri: 0.85 percent
Montana: 0.85 percent
Nebraska: 1.46 percent
Nevada: 0.48 percent
New Hampshire: 1.25 percent
New Jersey: 1.64 percent
New Mexico: 0.62 percent
New York: 1.46 percent
North Carolina: 0.60 percent
North Dakota: 0.99 percent
Ohio: 1.37 percent
Oklahoma: 0.90 percent
Oregon: 0.83 percent
Pennsylvania: 1.33 percent
Rhode Island: 1.01 percent
South Carolina: 0.50 percent
South Dakota: 1.01 percent
Tennessee: 0.44 percent
Texas: 1.20 percent
Utah: 0.45 percent
Vermont 1.29 percent
Virginia 0.76 percent
Washington 0.80 percent
West Virginia 0.49 percent
Wisconsin 1.12 percent
Wyoming 0.53 percent