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Garden State Homeowners Face Heaviest Property-Tax Burden

HELOCsAn analysis of property taxes by Wallethub [1] found that the state of Hawaii has the lowest real-estate tax rate in the U.S. with an average of $606, a rate that is 8.9 times lower than New Jersey, which ranks as the state with the highest average property tax at a rate of $5,419.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau [2], the average American household spends $2,471 on property taxes for their homes each year. Considering this figure and the massive amount of debt in America, it’s no surprise that more than $14 billion in property taxes go unpaid each year, according to the National Tax Lien Association [3].

The study, 2021’s Property Taxes by State [4], authored by John S. Kiernan, Managing Editor of Wallethub, found that nationwide, Blue States have 31.12% higher real-estate property taxes, averaging $2,722, than Red States, which averaged $2,076.

The top five states with the highest property taxes (annual taxes on a home priced at $217,500) include New Jersey at an average of $5,419; Illinois at an average rate of $4,942; New Hampshire at an average rate of $4,738; Connecticut at an average rate of $4,658; and Vermont at an average rate of $4,135.

The top five states with the lowest property taxes (annual taxes on a home priced at $217,500) include Hawaii at an average of $606; Alabama at an average rate of $895; Colorado at an average rate of $1,113; Louisiana at an average rate of $1,187; and the District of Columbia at an average rate of $1,221.

For real-estate property tax rates, WalletHub divided the “median real-estate tax payment” by the “median home price” in each state. WalletHub then used the resulting rates to obtain the dollar amount paid as real-estate tax on a house worth $217,500, the median value for a home in the U.S. as of 2019 according to the Census Bureau.