New Hampshire’s property taxes among highest in country

Source: WalletHub

By C. M. Schmidlkofer | The Center Square

A new study shows New Hampshire ranks third highest in the country for high property taxes.

According to findings released by financial website WalletHub, the state has a 2.18% tax rate with consumers paying $5,701 in real estate taxes on a home with a $261,700 median value.

WalletHub determined which states had the highest and lowest property taxes by comparing all 50 states and the District of Columbia by using U.S. Census data and by applying assumptions based on national auto sales data for vehicle property taxes.

For real estate property taxes, WalletHub divided the “median real estate tax payment” by the “median home price” in each state, using those rates to get the dollar amount paid as real estate tax on a house worth $127,500 which is the median value for a home as of 2019.

Vehicle property tax rates were calculated based on data for cities and counties with at least 50 percent of a given state’s population, carried to the state level using weighted averages based on population size.

According to its website, the study also concluded Hawaii has the lowest real estate tax at $606, which is 8.9 times lower than in New Jersey, the state with the highest at $5,419.

Blue states have 31.12% higher real estate property taxes – averaging $2,722 – than red states, which average $2,076.

WalletHub Analyst Liz Gonzalez said states with very high property taxes usually don’t impose other types of taxes, such as sales taxes or income taxes.

“One such state is New Hampshire, which has the third highest real estate tax rate in the country, 2.18%, and also imposes a 1.8% vehicle tax,” she said. “Maine and New Jersey are also among the states that rely a lot on property taxes. For the communities in these states, property taxes can be a major burden. In Maine for example, residents pay over $3,000 per year on real estate and vehicle taxes, while in New Jersey real estate taxes can amount to as much as $8,000.”

She added that consumers should definitely take real estate property taxes into account when deciding where to move and live.

“While states with lower taxes can be more appealing, people should also consider the level and quality of public services they get back from paying these taxes,” she said.

Gonzalez points out that each year the average American household spends $2,471 on real estate property taxes plus another $442 for residents of the 27 states with vehicle property taxes. With such high costs, it’s no surprise that more than $14 billion in property taxes go unpaid each year, according to the National Tax Lien Association.

She recommends consumers ask for a reevaluation of their property if they believe their home value has been assessed too high, but that moving may be the only option if the tax burden is too high and there is no recourse for the homeowner.

“Legislators should broaden the base for property taxes,” where such taxes are high, she said. “This means more types of properties would be subject to taxation, which would lower the overall rate without revenue loss for governments.”

She also suggested authorities evaluate their revenue potential to see if other forms of taxation would help lower their property taxes.

Real-Estate Property Tax Rates by State

Rank
(1=Lowest)

State

Effective Real-Estate Tax Rate

Annual Taxes on $217.5K Home*

State Median Home Value

Annual Taxes on Home Priced at State Median Value

1 Hawaii 0.28% $606 $615,300 $1,715
2 Alabama 0.41% $895 $142,700 $587
3 Colorado 0.51% $1,113 $343,300 $1,756
4 Louisiana 0.55% $1,187 $163,100 $890
5 District of Columbia 0.56% $1,221 $601,500 $3,378
6 South Carolina 0.57% $1,238 $162,300 $924
6 Delaware 0.57% $1,240 $251,100 $1,431
8 West Virginia 0.58% $1,269 $119,600 $698
9 Nevada 0.60% $1,310 $267,900 $1,614
10 Wyoming 0.61% $1,319 $220,500 $1,337
11 Arkansas 0.62% $1,358 $127,800 $798
12 Utah 0.63% $1,362 $279,100 $1,748
13 Arizona 0.66% $1,446 $225,500 $1,499
14 Idaho 0.69% $1,492 $212,300 $1,456
15 Tennessee 0.71% $1,548 $167,200 $1,190
16 California 0.76% $1,644 $505,000 $3,818
17 New Mexico 0.80% $1,740 $171,400 $1,371
18 Mississippi 0.81% $1,751 $119,000 $958
19 Virginia 0.82% $1,779 $273,100 $2,234
20 Montana 0.84% $1,818 $230,600 $1,928
20 North Carolina 0.84% $1,833 $172,500 $1,454
22 Indiana 0.85% $1,853 $141,700 $1,207
23 Kentucky 0.86% $1,866 $141,000 $1,210
24 Florida 0.89% $1,934 $215,300 $1,914
25 Oklahoma 0.90% $1,952 $136,800 $1,228
26 Georgia 0.92% $2,006 $176,000 $1,623
27 Missouri 0.97% $2,111 $157,200 $1,526
27 Oregon 0.97% $2,116 $312,200 $3,037
29 North Dakota 0.98% $2,138 $193,900 $1,906
29 Washington 0.98% $2,134 $339,000 $3,326
31 Maryland 1.09% $2,370 $314,800 $3,430
32 Minnesota 1.12% $2,429 $223,900 $2,500
33 Alaska 1.19% $2,599 $270,400 $3,231
34 Massachusetts 1.23% $2,667 $381,600 $4,679
35 South Dakota 1.31% $2,857 $167,100 $2,195
36 Maine 1.36% $2,953 $190,400 $2,585
37 Kansas 1.41% $3,060 $151,900 $2,137
38 Michigan 1.54% $3,343 $154,900 $2,381
39 Ohio 1.56% $3,390 $145,700 $2,271
40 Iowa 1.57% $3,407 $147,800 $2,315
41 Pennsylvania 1.58% $3,442 $180,200 $2,852
42 Rhode Island 1.63% $3,548 $261,900 $4,272
43 New York 1.72% $3,749 $313,700 $5,407
44 Nebraska 1.73% $3,754 $155,800 $2,689
45 Texas 1.80% $3,907 $172,500 $3,099
46 Wisconsin 1.85% $4,027 $180,600 $3,344
47 Vermont 1.90% $4,135 $227,700 $4,329
48 Connecticut 2.14% $4,658 $275,400 $5,898
49 New Hampshire 2.18% $4,738 $261,700 $5,701
50 Illinois 2.27% $4,942 $194,500 $4,419
51 New Jersey 2.49% $5,419 $335,600 $8,362

*$217,500 is the median home value in the U.S. as of 2019, the year of the most recent available data.

Image courtesy of Flickr/401kcalculator.org

4 thoughts on “New Hampshire’s property taxes among highest in country

  1. These reports leave out the total tax and fee burden on people. I once did an analysis of my retirement income that I get to keep between Vt and GA. I took 10% off the top for VT because our cost of living is 10% above the national average, then subtracted all the taxes and fees we pay. For GA I added in 8% because their cost of living in 8% below the national average, then took away the taxes and fees. The difference was close to 12,000 a year. Can’t wait to leave this greedy state.

  2. When the consideration for the state property tax is counted for education in VT, that puts a different light on things.
    In N H, all of the property tax stays in the town, not so in VT…. just look at your tax bill when it comes. It may be collected by the town , but it does not stay there. The amount of money going to the state from Rutland Town has been HUGE over the years. Some years well over a million $, in addition to the amount raised to run our school.
    This report needs to be an apples and apples review, not apples and oranges.

  3. Vermont is 5th highest for same dollar amount.

    Vermont is 6th highest based upon what ever median sale price the state has.

    WAAAY higher than California on a half million dollar house. Let that sink in!

    Not sure why they are picking on NH….they don’t have much other taxation, they have better schools, better services, no sales tax……yet their high real estate taxes are only slightly higher than ours! Oh they have all sorts of job and opportunities too.

    We educate half as many kids, have half the population…so hey, where’s all the money going?

    • Thank you Neil, my question exactly. What was the point of this Vermont news organization trumping this story?
      Only $660 less house tax compared to one in NH and we do not have income tax or sales tax.

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