ATTOM Data Solutions’ property tax analysis of around 87 million single-family homes around the country showed that $323 billion in property taxes were levied on single-family homes in 2020, up 5.4 percent from $306.4 billion in 2019.
The average property tax of $3,719 for a single-family home in 2020 rose 4.4 percent from $3,561 in 2019, while the effective property tax rate of 1.1 percent dipped from 1.14 percent in 2019.
“Homeowners across the United States in 2020 got hit with the largest average property tax hike in the last four years, a sign that the cost of running local governments and public school systems rose well past the rate of inflation. The increase was twice what it was in 2019,” ATTOM Data Solutions Chief Product Officer Todd Teta said in a release. “Fortunately for recent homebuyers, they have mortgages with super-low interest rates that somewhat contain the cost of homeownership. But the latest tax numbers speak loud and clear about the continuing pressure on both recent and longtime homeowners to support the rising cost of public services.”
The states with the highest effective property tax rates in 2020 remained New Jersey (2.2 percent), Illinois (2.18 percent), Texas (2.15 percent), Vermont (1.97 percent), Connecticut (1.92 percent), New Hampshire (1.86 percent), New York (1.68 percent), Pennsylvania (1.64 percent), Ohio (1.62 percent) and Nebraska (1.53 percent).
The lowest effective tax rates in 2020 were in Hawaii (0.37 percent), Alabama (0.44 percent), West Virginia (0.51 percent), Colorado (0.54 percent), Utah (0.54 percent), Tennessee (0.59 percent), Nevada (0.6 percent), Idaho (0.61 percent), Arizona (0.62 percent) and Wyoming (0.63 percent).
New Jersey had the highest average property tax on single-family homes at $9,196. Others states in the top five were Connecticut ($7,395), New York ($6,628), New Hampshire ($6,596) and Massachusetts ($6,514).
The states with the lowest average property tax were Alabama ($841), West Virginia ($849), Arkansas ($1,147), Tennessee ($1,202), Mississippi ($1,241).