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Published: Apr 07, 2023 4 min read
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The costs of homeownership just keep rising: Property taxes in the U.S. increased more than twice as fast last year compared to 2021, according to new analysis. The average U.S. homeowner now pays nearly $4,000 a year in property taxes.

A report from the property data company ATTOM found that taxes in many areas in the South and West increased more quickly than the national average, although states in the Northeast continued to pay the highest rates in the country.

ATTOM based its analysis on property data from county tax assessors across the U.S. at the state, metro and county levels, as well as estimated market values for 87 million single-family homes.

What the data says

  • Property taxes on single-family homes jumped 3.6% overall in 2022, to $339.8 billion. That’s more than twice 2021’s 1.6% growth rate, but still lower than 2020, when the increase was 5.4%.
  • The average tax on single-family homes in the U.S. increased 3% last year to $3,901.
  • The Northeast remained the region with the highest average property taxes last year, with New Jersey leading the pack with a single-family home property tax of $9,527.
  • The areas seeing the biggest increases in average property taxes were metros in the South and West, where the averages rose 5.8% and 5.5%, respectively.

“Property taxes continued their never-ending climb last year," Rob Barber, chief executive officer at ATTOM, said in a news release. "But, on balance, the latest increase nationwide again was modest.”

States with the highest property taxes

These states, all in the Northeast, had the highest average property taxes on single-family homes in 2022:

  1. New Jersey ($9,527)
  2. Connecticut ($7,671)
  3. Massachusetts ($7,044)
  4. New Hampshire ($6,855)
  5. New York ($6,673)

States with the lowest property taxes

These states, all in the South or Southeast, had the lowest average property taxes for single-family homes in 2022:

  1. West Virginia ($928)
  2. Alabama ($1,022)
  3. Arkansas ($1,228)
  4. Louisiana ($1,296)
  5. Mississippi ($1,311)

The takeaway

Traditionally lower-cost states in the South and West have seen a surge in property taxes since people began relocating there during the pandemic — bringing a need for increased services and infrastructure with them.

“This year, local governments and school systems will face even greater challenges keeping taxes in check, given rising inflation rates and a growing number of commercial properties that could be eligible for tax reductions after suffering a surge of vacancies during the pandemic,” Barber said in the news release.

Still, property taxes in the South and West are low compared to the Northeast, which is home to seven out of 10 states with the highest property taxes.

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