Property Tax Calculator
Enter your home value and pick your state to estimate your annual property tax bill and what it adds to your monthly payment. Rates are the average effective rate homeowners actually pay in each state — override the rate with your county's if you know it.
Your Home & Location
Use your assessed value if you know it, otherwise market value.
Sets the average effective rate for that state.
Prefilled with the Texasaverage. Counties vary widely — override this with your county's rate for an exact number.
Estimated Annual Property Tax
$5,240
$400,000 home × 1.31% = $437/month in escrow
Monthly Escrow
$437
Added to your mortgage payment
At the National Median (0.89%)
$3,560
Same home, typical U.S. rate
Difference
+$1,680
More than the national median
A $400,000 home in Texas, taxed at the state's average effective rate of 1.31%, owes about $5,240 in property tax a year — roughly $437a month once your lender collects it in escrow. This is an estimate from statewide medians: your actual bill depends on your county's millage rate, your assessed value (often below market value), and any exemptions you qualify for.
Average Effective Property Tax Rate by State
The effective rate is median property tax paid divided by median home value — what a typical homeowner in that state actually pays each year as a share of their home's value, after assessment ratios and exemptions. It is the only number that compares fairly across states, because a 2% millage rate on a 40% assessment ratio is not the same tax as 2% on full market value. The national median is 0.89%.
| # | State | Effective Rate | Median Tax Paid | Median Home Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Illinois | 1.92% | $5,399 | $280,700 |
| 2 | New Jersey | 1.89% | $9,358 | $496,000 |
| 3 | Connecticut | 1.66% | $6,573 | $396,900 |
| 4 | New Hampshire | 1.46% | $6,707 | $458,800 |
| 5 | New York | 1.45% | $6,542 | $449,800 |
| 6 | Nebraska | 1.42% | $3,739 | $263,100 |
| 7 | Vermont | 1.42% | $5,026 | $352,800 |
| 8 | Texas | 1.31% | $4,108 | $313,200 |
| 9 | Iowa | 1.29% | $2,937 | $227,300 |
| 10 | Kansas | 1.25% | $2,983 | $238,700 |
| 11 | Wisconsin | 1.25% | $3,680 | $294,700 |
| 12 | Ohio | 1.22% | $2,937 | $239,800 |
| 13 | Michigan | 1.18% | $2,988 | $254,200 |
| 14 | Pennsylvania | 1.16% | $3,214 | $277,600 |
| 15 | Rhode Island | 1.07% | $4,886 | $455,700 |
| 16 | Alaska | 1.06% | $3,976 | $376,500 |
| 17 | Minnesota | 1.02% | $3,501 | $344,600 |
| 18 | South Dakota | 1.02% | $2,940 | $289,600 |
| 19 | Massachusetts | 1.00% | $6,080 | $607,400 |
| 20 | North Dakota | 0.96% | $2,550 | $266,100 |
| 21 | Maryland | 0.95% | $4,144 | $436,300 |
| 22 | Maine | 0.91% | $3,103 | $341,900 |
| 23 | Missouri | 0.79% | $2,021 | $254,400 |
| 24 | Washington | 0.79% | $4,729 | $602,200 |
| 25 | Oregon | 0.78% | $3,895 | $497,500 |
| 26 | Florida | 0.75% | $2,993 | $396,900 |
| 27 | Oklahoma | 0.75% | $1,672 | $222,100 |
| 28 | Georgia | 0.74% | $2,554 | $343,300 |
| 29 | Indiana | 0.74% | $1,798 | $243,500 |
| 30 | California | 0.71% | $5,369 | $759,500 |
| 31 | Kentucky | 0.71% | $1,611 | $226,000 |
| 32 | Virginia | 0.71% | $2,872 | $403,500 |
| 33 | Montana | 0.69% | $2,939 | $425,400 |
| 34 | Mississippi | 0.65% | $1,221 | $186,500 |
| 35 | District of Columbia | 0.63% | $4,594 | $733,400 |
| 36 | New Mexico | 0.63% | $1,776 | $279,900 |
| 37 | North Carolina | 0.61% | $2,044 | $333,000 |
| 38 | Wyoming | 0.57% | $1,947 | $339,500 |
| 39 | Louisiana | 0.53% | $1,187 | $223,200 |
| 40 | Arkansas | 0.52% | $1,113 | $215,600 |
| 41 | West Virginia | 0.52% | $881 | $170,800 |
| 42 | Colorado | 0.49% | $2,828 | $574,600 |
| 43 | Utah | 0.49% | $2,648 | $545,200 |
| 44 | Delaware | 0.47% | $1,750 | $371,600 |
| 45 | Nevada | 0.47% | $2,143 | $455,500 |
| 46 | South Carolina | 0.45% | $1,337 | $299,500 |
| 47 | Tennessee | 0.45% | $1,488 | $332,600 |
| 48 | Arizona | 0.43% | $1,828 | $426,000 |
| 49 | Idaho | 0.43% | $1,912 | $446,400 |
| 50 | Alabama | 0.38% | $890 | $233,300 |
| 51 | Hawaii | 0.27% | $2,385 | $875,900 |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 1-year estimates — median real estate taxes paid (table B25103) and median home value (table B25077) for owner-occupied housing units.
How Property Tax Is Calculated
Your bill is the product of three things your county controls and one thing you control:
- Market value.The assessor's opinion of what your home would sell for, refreshed on a reassessment cycle that runs from yearly to once every several years.
- Assessment ratio. The share of market value that is actually taxable. Some states tax the full amount; others tax a fraction, which is why a headline millage rate tells you little on its own.
- Millage rate. The levy each taxing body charges per $1,000 of taxable value. County, city, school district, and special districts stack on top of each other — the school district is usually the largest single piece.
- Exemptions. The part you control. Homestead, senior, veteran, and disability exemptions subtract from taxable value, and most require you to file.
Multiply the first three, subtract the fourth, and you have the annual bill. Because those middle two vary so much, this page and the calculator use the effective rate instead: tax paid divided by home value. It collapses the whole chain into one comparable number.
How to Lower Your Property Tax
You cannot negotiate the millage rate. Every real strategy attacks either your assessed value or your exemptions:
- File for every exemption. A homestead exemption on your primary residence is the big one and is almost never applied automatically. Check for senior, veteran, and disability exemptions too.
- Audit your property record. Assessors work from data that is frequently wrong — an inflated square footage, a bathroom you do not have, a basement listed as finished. Errors here are the easiest wins.
- Appeal with comparable sales. If similar nearby homes sold for less than your assessed value, that is your case. Protest windows are short, commonly 30 to 60 days from the assessment notice, and missing the window costs you a year.
- Understand what triggers reassessment. Pulling a permit for an addition can raise your assessed value permanently. That may still be worth it — just price the tax increase into the project.
Property tax on a primary residence is deductible if you itemize, but the deduction for combined state and local taxes is capped, and the cap has changed in recent years. Check the current limit before assuming a tax saving offsets a high-rate jurisdiction.
Where Property Tax Fits in Your Housing Budget
Property tax is the housing cost buyers most often underestimate, because unlike principal and interest it never stops rising and it never gets paid off. The gap between a low-rate and a high-rate state on the same home routinely exceeds several thousand dollars a year — enough to move which houses you can actually afford.
Three places to take this number next. Feed it into the home affordability calculator to see how a high-tax county shrinks the price range you qualify for, since lenders count taxes in your debt-to-income ratio. Check the closing costs calculator, because at closing you will prepay several months of property tax into an escrow reserve on top of the usual fees. And run an amortization schedule to see how the principal-and-interest half of your payment behaves over the same years your tax bill keeps climbing.
To see the tax folded directly into a monthly payment alongside principal, interest, and insurance, use the property tax impact calculator.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is property tax calculated?
Property tax is your home's assessed value multiplied by the local tax rate, minus any exemptions. Three numbers drive the bill. First, the assessor sets a market value for your home. Second, the jurisdiction applies an assessment ratio — some states tax 100% of market value, others tax a fraction of it. Third, every overlapping taxing body (county, city, school district, and any special districts) levies a millage rate, and those rates stack. One mill is $1 of tax per $1,000 of taxable value, so a combined 20 mills is 2%. Subtract exemptions such as a homestead exemption, and what remains is your annual bill. Because assessment ratios and exemptions vary so much, the effective rate — the tax you actually pay divided by your home's market value — is the only figure that compares cleanly across states, and it is what the calculator above uses.
How can I lower my property tax?
You cannot change the millage rate, so every practical strategy targets your assessed value or your exemptions. Claim every exemption you qualify for: most states offer a homestead exemption for your primary residence, and many add exemptions for people over 65, veterans, and homeowners with disabilities. These are rarely automatic — you have to file. Next, read your assessment notice when it arrives and check the property record for errors, such as a wrong square footage, a bedroom count that is too high, or a finished basement you do not have. If your assessed value is above what comparable nearby homes recently sold for, file an appeal within your jurisdiction's protest window, which is typically 30 to 60 days after the notice. Bring recent comparable sales as evidence. Finally, be aware that some visible improvements trigger a reassessment, so a permit for an addition may raise your bill for as long as you own the home.
How much is property tax on a $400,000 house?
It depends entirely on where the house sits. At the national median effective rate of 0.89%, a $400,000 home owes about $3,560 a year, or roughly $297 a month in escrow. In Illinois, the highest-rate state at 1.92%, the same house owes about $7,680. In Hawaii, the lowest at 0.27%, it owes about $1,080. That spread — several thousand dollars a year on an identical home — is why property tax deserves as much attention as the interest rate when you shop across state lines.
Is property tax included in my mortgage payment?
Usually, yes. Most lenders collect one-twelfth of your annual property tax bill with each monthly payment, hold it in an escrow account, and pay the tax authority directly when the bill comes due. That is the T in PITI — principal, interest, taxes, insurance. Because tax bills rise as your home is reassessed, your lender re-runs an escrow analysis each year, and your total monthly payment can increase even on a fixed-rate mortgage. If you have no escrow account, you pay the county yourself, usually in one or two installments a year.
Why is my property tax higher than the state average?
State averages hide enormous variation inside a state, because property tax is levied locally. Two homes of identical value a few miles apart can owe very different amounts if one sits in a school district with a higher levy, inside city limits rather than in an unincorporated area, or within a special assessment district funding a bond, a fire district, or infrastructure for a new subdivision. Your home may also be assessed closer to its true market value than the typical home in your state, or you may not have claimed a homestead exemption. Look up your county assessor's actual rate rather than relying on the state figure, then enter it in the calculator above.
Does property tax go up every year?
Often, though not always, and it can rise two different ways. Your assessed value climbs as your home appreciates, with reassessments happening anywhere from annually to every several years depending on the jurisdiction. Separately, local governments can vote to raise the millage rate. A handful of states cap how fast assessed value can grow for a homeowner who stays put — California's Proposition 13 is the best-known example — but caps on assessed value do not cap the rate itself, and most states have no cap at all.