US Property Tax Estimator

Estimate your annual property tax from your home value and state, using each state's average effective property-tax rate.

This estimator is aimed at home buyers, current owners, and anyone budgeting around a property purchase who needs a realistic annual property-tax figure quickly. Buyers use it to fold taxes into an affordability calculation before they fall in love with a house; owners use it to sanity-check an escrow estimate or to compare the tax burden of moving between states. It is also useful for landlords pricing a rental and for people relocating who are stunned by how differently two states treat the same home value. Because it works from a single statewide average rate, it is a planning tool rather than a substitute for your county assessor's exact bill.

Property tax in the United States is broadly a percentage of your home's value applied each year by local governments to fund schools, roads, and services. That percentage, the effective rate, is what this calculator uses. You enter your home's market value and state, and it multiplies the value by the state's average effective property-tax rate to produce an annual figure, then divides by twelve for the monthly amount lenders typically collect in escrow. Effective rates vary widely — from well under 1% in low-tax states to over 2% in the highest — which is why the same $350,000 home can carry a tax bill that differs by thousands of dollars depending only on where it sits.

Suppose you are buying a $300,000 home in Texas, where the average effective rate is around 1.68%. Multiplying $300,000 by 1.68% gives roughly $5,040 a year, or about $420 a month set aside in escrow. The identical home in California, with an effective rate near 0.71%, would run closer to $2,130 a year. Neither figure is your exact bill — your specific county, city, and school-district rates, plus any exemptions, move it — but the comparison shows how location, not just price, drives what you pay.

Property tax is the most local of the major taxes, so variation is the whole story. Rates differ not only between states but between counties, cities, and special districts within a state, and some places reassess every year while others, like California under Proposition 13, cap how fast assessed value can rise. Newer developments may carry extra assessments for infrastructure. The statewide average used here smooths over all of that; for an exact number, look up your parcel on your county assessor's site, where the precise millage rate and assessed value are published.

• Using the purchase price as the taxable value everywhere. Many areas tax an assessed value that differs from market price, sometimes by a fixed ratio.
• Forgetting exemptions. Homestead, senior, veteran, and disability exemptions can cut the taxable value significantly — check the homestead calculator too.
• Assuming the rate never changes. Local governments adjust millage rates, and reassessments can raise your bill even if the rate holds.
• Overlooking special assessments. Some neighborhoods add levies for schools, water, or infrastructure on top of the base rate.
• Treating the statewide average as your exact bill. Your county and city rates can be well above or below the state average.

Property-tax due dates are set locally and vary widely — some counties bill annually, others semi-annually or quarterly, often in installments due in winter and spring. Missing a payment usually triggers interest and penalties and, eventually, a tax lien. If you pay through a mortgage escrow, the lender handles the deadlines for you. Appeal windows after a new assessment are typically short, often 30 to 60 days, so act quickly if your valuation looks too high.

• Property taxes by state - Tax Foundation (retrieved 2026-06-09)