In some parts of the United States, the typical homeowner pays over $10,000 per year in property taxes — but there are just as many places where the median tax bill is under $300 annually.
Property taxes are charged at the local and state level, but local property taxes tend to be higher as they fund schools, police departments and other agencies. Therefore, the places in the U.S. with the lowest median property tax bills tend to be counties with a combination of low local tax rates and lower home values.
Lower property taxes levied by a state government can also help minimize a resident’s property tax bill, but there are some counties that rank in the top 20 for lowest property taxes despite being in states with above-average state-level taxes.
For example, residents of several counties in Alaska pay less than $200 in property taxes per year even though the state had the 16th highest effective property tax rate (1.07%) in 2022, according to a new report from the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan tax policy nonprofit.