15 Cities With the Highest Property Taxes

Editor's Note: This story originally appeared on Construction Coverage.

Higher property taxes can be daunting for homeowners, but they are a boon for state and local governments that rely heavily on property tax revenue.

Property taxes totaled nearly $670 billion in 2021, representing more than one-third of all U.S. state and local tax collections.

Rising property values should continue to grow that figure in future years.

However, taxpayers’ burdens can vary substantially depending on geography. Overlapping state and local policies create a complicated mosaic of property tax regimes across the U.S.

To determine the locations with the highest property taxes, researchers at Construction Coverage calculated the effective property tax rate for owner-occupied homes by dividing the aggregate real estate taxes paid by the aggregate value of housing units in 2021.

In the event of a tie, the location with the greater median property taxes paid for owner-occupied homes was ranked higher. The data used in this analysis is from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Here are the U.S. metropolitan areas with the highest property taxes.

15. Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI

• Effective property tax rate for owner-occupied homes: 1.3%
• Median property taxes paid for owner-occupied homes: $3,086
• Median owner-occupied home value: $220,900
• Median owner-occupied household income: $67,153

14. Pittsburgh, PA

• Effective property tax rate for owner-occupied homes: 1.4%
• Median property taxes paid for owner-occupied homes: $2,671
• Median owner-occupied home value: $190,000
• Median owner-occupied household income: $66,609

13. Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX

• Effective property tax rate for owner-occupied homes: 1.4%
• Median property taxes paid for owner-occupied homes: $6,397
• Median owner-occupied home value: $397,100
• Median owner-occupied household income: $86,530

12. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA

• Effective property tax rate for owner-occupied homes: 1.4%
• Median property taxes paid for owner-occupied homes: $9,091
• Median owner-occupied home value: $533,700
• Median owner-occupied household income: $84,409

11. Columbus, OH

• Effective property tax rate for owner-occupied homes: 1.5%
• Median property taxes paid for owner-occupied homes: $3,568
• Median owner-occupied home value: $254,700
• Median owner-occupied household income: $71,839

10. San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX

• Effective property tax rate for owner-occupied homes: 1.5%
• Median property taxes paid for owner-occupied homes: $3,941
• Median owner-occupied home value: $233,500
• Median owner-occupied household income: $66,775

9. Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI

• Effective property tax rate for owner-occupied homes: 1.5%
• Median property taxes paid for owner-occupied homes: $4,033
• Median owner-occupied home value: $266,200
• Median owner-occupied household income: $68,449

8. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD

• Effective property tax rate for owner-occupied homes: 1.5%
• Median property taxes paid for owner-occupied homes: $4,635
• Median owner-occupied home value: $300,300
• Median owner-occupied household income: $80,007

7. Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX

• Effective property tax rate for owner-occupied homes: 1.6%
• Median property taxes paid for owner-occupied homes: $4,381
• Median owner-occupied home value: $252,300
• Median owner-occupied household income: $70,893

6. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX

• Effective property tax rate for owner-occupied homes: 1.6%
• Median property taxes paid for owner-occupied homes: $5,106
• Median owner-occupied home value: $294,900
• Median owner-occupied household income: $75,975

5. Cleveland-Elyria, OH

• Effective property tax rate for owner-occupied homes: 1.7%
• Median property taxes paid for owner-occupied homes: $3,264
• Median owner-occupied home value: $184,500
• Median owner-occupied household income: $62,315

4. Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY

• Effective property tax rate for owner-occupied homes: 1.8%
• Median property taxes paid for owner-occupied homes: $4,145
• Median owner-occupied home value: $192,000
• Median owner-occupied household income: $62,794

3. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI

• Effective property tax rate for owner-occupied homes: 1.9%
• Median property taxes paid for owner-occupied homes: $5,776
• Median owner-occupied home value: $281,100
• Median owner-occupied household income: $78,166

2. Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown, CT

• Effective property tax rate for owner-occupied homes: 1.9%
• Median property taxes paid for owner-occupied homes: $5,843
• Median owner-occupied home value: $278,500
• Median owner-occupied household income: $82,258

1. Rochester, NY

• Effective property tax rate for owner-occupied homes: 2.4%
• Median property taxes paid for owner-occupied homes: $4,586
• Median owner-occupied home value: $171,000
• Median owner-occupied household income: $66,516

Methodology

The data used in this analysis is from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2021 American Community Survey.

To determine the locations with the highest property taxes, researchers at Construction Coverage calculated the effective property tax rate for owner-occupied homes by dividing the aggregate real estate taxes paid by the aggregate value of housing units.

In the event of a tie, the location with the greater median property taxes paid for owner-occupied homes was ranked higher. To improve relevance, only metropolitan areas with at least 100,000 residents were included.