Americans paid a total of $293.4 billion in property taxes on single-family homes in 2017, up six percent from $277.7 billion in 2016,
according to new statistics reported by ATTOM Data Solutions. This represents an average of $3,399 per home and an effective tax rate of 1.17 percent, up three percent from 2016’s average property tax of $3,296 and effective property tax rate of 1.15 percent.
The states with the highest effective property tax rates during 2017 were New Jersey (2.28 percent), Illinois (2.22 percent), Vermont (2.19 percent), Texas (2.15 percent) and New Hampshire (2.06 percent). The states with the lowest effective property tax rates were Hawaii (0.34 percent), Alabama (0.49 percent), Colorado (0.51 percent), Tennessee (0.56 percent) and West Virginia (0.57 percent).
The major metro markets with the highest effective property tax rates were Scranton, Pa. (3.93 percent), Binghamton, N.Y. (3.14 percent), Rockford, Ill. (3.03 percent), Rochester, N.Y. (2.93 percent) and El Paso, Texas (2.63 percent). The major metro markets with the lowest effective property tax rates were Honolulu (0.33 percent), Montgomery, Ala. (0.36 percent), Tuscaloosa, Ala. (0.41 percent), Colorado Springs, Colo. (0.42 percent) and Greeley, Colo. (0.45 percent).
And, yes, there is a political aspect to this story. Among the 1,414 U.S. counties analyzed by ATTOM for this study report, the average property tax on single family homes in the 327 “blue” counties won by Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election was $4,528, nearly twice the average property tax on single family homes of $2,462 in the 1,087 “red” counties won by Donald Trump.
