Property Tax Calculator
Every property tax estimate eventually runs into the same wall: statutory millage rates apply to assessed values, and assessed values are a fraction of market value that varies by state — a 1.5% millage rate on a 30% assessment ratio is 0.45% of what your house would sell for. Calculators that start from millage rates without that ratio produce confident nonsense. This calculator starts one step later, with the effective rate: taxes actually paid divided by market value, as ranked by the Tax Foundation. Pick a state to load its rate, override it with your own county's figure — last year's bill divided by your home's value is the most honest rate there is — add any homestead exemption, and get the annual bill plus the monthly escrow that feeds your mortgage payment. The state spread is the story: the same $350,000 house costs $7,805 a year in New Jersey and $945 in Hawaii.
The short answer
Property tax is best estimated with the effective rate — taxes actually paid divided by home value. The U.S. average is about 0.91%, so a $350,000 home pays roughly $3,185 a year ($265 a month into escrow). The spread is enormous: New Jersey's 2.23% is eight times Hawaii's 0.27% on the same house.
Market value — what it would sell for, not your purchase price from years ago.
Loaded from the selection — override with your county's actual rate (last year's bill ÷ value).
Homestead and similar exemptions remove part of the value from taxation — many states offer 20-50% to owner-occupants.
Annual property tax
$3,185.00
0.91% effective rate on $350,000.00 taxable value.
- Monthly escrow
- $265.42
- Effective vs statutory
- why this rate
What the lender collects each month to pay this bill — this is the 'T' in your PITI payment.
Effective = taxes actually paid ÷ home value. It absorbs assessment ratios and millage math, so comparing states needs no re-derivation.
How to use Property Tax Calculator
- 1
Enter the home's market value
What it would sell for today — not what you paid. Reassessments and appreciation are why the same house's bill drifts over time.
- 2
Pick a state or enter your county's effective rate
The state average loads automatically. Your county's actual rate — last year's property tax bill divided by your home's value — beats any state average, because rates vary as much within states as between them.
- 3
Add exemptions and read the escrow figure
Many states exempt a share of value for owner-occupants (homestead exemptions run 20-50% where offered). The monthly figure is what your lender collects for the tax escrow account.
Why use this tool
- Effective-rate model: taxes paid ÷ market value, no assessment-ratio traps
- State rates loaded from the Tax Foundation ranking, overridable with your county's
- Monthly escrow figure — the 'T' in the PITI payment your lender collects
- Homestead exemption support: value removed before the rate applies
- State-spread table that shows why location moves the bill more than the house does
- Private — your home's value never leaves the browser
Frequently asked questions
- How much is property tax on a $350,000 house?
- At the U.S. average effective rate of about 0.91%, roughly $3,185 a year — $265 a month. But the range is the real answer: the same house pays about $7,805 in New Jersey (2.23%), $7,245 in Illinois (2.07%), and $945 in Hawaii (0.27%). Location moves this bill more than the house does.
- What is an effective property tax rate?
- Total property taxes actually paid divided by the home's market value. It is the only rate that compares cleanly across states, because it absorbs the two things statutory rates hide: the assessment ratio (assessed value as a share of market value) and local millage add-ons. The Tax Foundation ranks states by this figure, and it is what this calculator uses.
- Why did my property tax go up even though the rate didn't?
- Because the rate applies to value, and value moved — either your home appreciated or the assessment was revised. A 10% reassessment on an unchanged rate is a 10% higher bill. Some states cap assessment growth until you sell (California's Prop 13 is the extreme); others reassess annually.
- What is a homestead exemption?
- A state-level break that removes a share of your home's value from taxation — $25,000 of value in Florida, 50% in some states — for owner-occupied primary residences. It reduces the taxable value before the rate applies, which is why this calculator subtracts it from value rather than from the tax.
- How does property tax work into my mortgage payment?
- Lenders collect one-twelfth of the expected annual tax each month into an escrow account and pay the bill from it when due — the 'T' in PITI. That is why your monthly payment can rise mid-mortgage even with a fixed rate: the escrowed tax did. This calculator's monthly figure is what that escrow line looks like.
- Is property tax deductible?
- For itemizers, state and local taxes — property plus income or sales — are deductible up to the $10,000 SALT cap, which high-tax-state owners often hit with property tax alone. Whether itemizing beats the standard deduction is a return-specific question; this tool estimates the bill, not the deduction.
- Where do these state rates come from?
- The Tax Foundation's ranking of effective property tax rates on owner-occupied housing — total real-estate taxes paid divided by home value, county-level data rolled up to state averages. Your county inside that state can sit far from its average, which is why the calculator lets you override the figure with your own bill ÷ value.
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