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Interactive Map: U.S. Property Taxes by State

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Mapped: U.S. Property Taxes by State

Almost $600 billion in revenue was generated from U.S. state and local property tax revenue in 2020, a figure that has gradually risen over the last several decades.

Yet these taxes, and how much people feel their effects, vary meaningfully across states based on factors like median incomes, effective property tax rates, and home values.

The above interactive graphic from USAFacts shows the states with the highest and lowest property tax burdens as a percentage of personal income in 2020.

Which U.S. States Have the Highest Property Tax Burdens?

Overall, Maine collects the most burdensome property taxes, at 5.21% of personal income. That means that, for every $100,000 in annual salary earned by a Maine resident, $5,210 would go towards property taxes on average.

Below, we show how much people pay in property tax as a portion of their personal income, based on data from the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis as of 2020:

RankStateProperty Tax
(% Personal Income)
1Maine5.21%
2Vermont4.82%
3New Jersey4.80%
4New Hampshire4.79%
5District of Columbia4.73%
6New York4.36%
7Connecticut4.20%
8Rhode Island4.09%
9Texas3.99%
10Illinois3.65%
11Nebraska3.64%
12Alaska3.63%
13Iowa3.39%
14Massachusetts3.37%
15Montana3.34%
16Wyoming3.29%
17Wisconsin3.07%
18Kansas3.06%
19Oregon3.04%
20 (tie)Colorado2.99%
20 (tie)Michigan2.99%
22Virginia2.94%
23Minnesota2.85%
24California2.77%
25Mississippi2.73%
26 (tie)Ohio2.72%
26 (tie)Hawaii2.72%
28Pennsylvania2.71%
29Florida2.69%
30South Carolina2.68%
31 (tie)South Dakota2.66%
31 (tie)Maryland2.66%
33Georgia2.57%
34 (tie)North Dakota2.53%
34 (tie)Washington2.53%
36Utah2.32%
37Arizona2.31%
38Idaho2.28%
39West Virginia2.22%
40Indiana2.19%
41Missouri2.14%
42 (tie)North Carolina2.08%
42 (tie)Nevada2.08%
44New Mexico1.92%
45Kentucky1.91%
46Delaware1.86%
47Louisiana1.80%
48Oklahoma1.75%
49Arkansas1.69%
50Tennessee1.61%
51Alabama1.37%

At third, people living in New Jersey pay 4.8% of their income on property tax. The state not only has high property tax rates but some of the most expensive housing in the country, causing property taxes to feel elevated.

Falling in the middle of the pack is Hawaii, with 2.7% of personal income paid to property taxes. While the state has the lowest effective property tax rate at 0.3%, soaring home prices have led the actual tax costs to increase.

The lowest tax costs were seen in Alabama, making up 1.4% of a person’s income.

The Highest Property Taxes per Person

Breaking down the property tax revenues of different states by person, instead of by income, reveals a slightly different ranking:

On a per-capita basis, many populous Northeastern states rank higher. At the top, New Jersey had the highest per capita property tax revenues at $3,580 in 2020, followed by New Hampshire and Connecticut at $3,300.

Once again falling at the end of the pack are Southern states with smaller populations. Alabama saw $647 paid per person in property taxes—or less than a fifth of New Jersey’s tax costs.

Role in Education Funding

Today, the vast majority of public education funding comes from local property tax revenue.

It’s no surprise that higher local tax revenues have been tied with improved levels of public education including better access to advanced curriculum, higher quality buildings, stronger student achievement, and a decrease in disciplinary problems.

Meanwhile, residents in lower-income neighborhoods have been shown to pay higher effective property tax rates than residents in affluent ones. For instance, Silicon Valley's Palo Alto had the lowest effective property tax rate in California in 2015 thanks to soaring property values, since houses in California are taxed on assessed values from when homes are sold.

Overall, we can see that wide disparities in property taxes exist by each state. This is seen not only in their percent of personal income, but on total tax collected, and local tax rates.

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Economy

Charted: U.S. National Debt, as a Percent of GDP (1900-2035P)

We show U.S. national debt projections, highlighting how debt as a share of GDP is set to soar to 118.5% by 2035.

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Line chart showing U.S. national debt projections as a share of GDP through to 2035.

Charted: The U.S. National Debt (1900-2035P)

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

This year, U.S. national debt is set to approach 100% of GDP, up from 36% in 2005.

By 2035, the tab is projected to reach 118.5% of GDP as higher debt costs steepen the deficit, fueling further government borrowing. Today, the deficit stands at $1.9 trillion with net interest and mandatory spending outpacing revenues.

This graphic shows U.S. federal debt projections to 2035, based on data from the Congressional Budget Office.

Swimming in Debt

Below, we show how national debt held by the public is set to mushroom over the next decade:

YearU.S. Federal Debt as a % of GDP
2035P118.5
2034P117.1
2033P115.3
2032P113.0
2031P111.1
2030P109.2
2029P107.2
2028P105.4
2027P103.4
2026P101.7
2025P99.9
202497.8
202396.0
202295.0
202196.9
202098.6
201978.9
201877.1
201775.7
201676.0
201572.2
201473.3
201371.8
201270.0
201165.5
201060.6
200952.2
200839.2
200735.2
200635.4
200535.8
200435.7
200334.7
200232.7
200131.5
200033.7
199938.3
199841.7
199744.6
199647.0
199547.7
199447.8
199347.9
199246.8
199144.1
199040.9
198939.4
198839.9
198739.6
198638.5
198535.3
198433.1
198332.2
198227.9
198125.2
198025.5
197925.0
197826.7
197727.1
197626.7
197524.6
197423.2
197325.2
197226.5
197127.1
197027.1
196928.4
196832.3
196731.9
196633.8
196536.8
196438.8
196341.1
196242.3
196143.6
196044.3
195946.5
195847.8
195747.3
195650.7
195555.8
195458.0
195357.2
195260.1
195165.5
195078.6
194977.4
194882.4
194793.9
1946106.1
1945103.9
194486.4
194369.2
194245.9
194141.5
194043.6
193942.4
193842.2
193739.6
193642.5
193542.4
193443.5
193338.6
193234.0
193122.0
193016.3
192914.8
192817.0
192718.0
192619.0
192521.6
192423.5
192325.2
192231.1
192131.6
192027.3
191933.4
191830.2
191713.3
19162.7
19153.3
19143.5
19133.2
19123.4
19113.6
19103.7
19093.8
19084.3
19074.0
19064.0
19054.3
19044.7
19035
19025.4
19015.7
19006.6

By 2029, federal debt is forecast to exceed the post-WWII record based on an outlook that doesn’t factor in recessions.

This comes amid a widening deficit during a period of low unemployment and a growing U.S. economy. In many ways, this counters the theory of shrinking the deficit during economic expansion and increasing the deficit during downturns.

Looking ahead, net interest on the federal debt is expected to nearly double from 2024 levels, reaching $1.8 trillion by 2035. To put it in perspective, interest costs will be 1.7 times higher than defense spending that year.

While Modern Monetary Theory suggests that countries that have control over their currencies will never face default since they can print more money, evidence from history suggests a different outcome.

From the British Empire and Habsburg Spain to the Ottoman Empire, historian Niall Ferguson finds that superpowers that have spent more on debt servicing costs than defense have not held onto power for very long.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

To learn more about this topic amid swelling debt, check out this graphic on the top holders of U.S. debt.

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