This article was written with the assistance of A.I. technology, and has been edited and fact-checked by Melly Alazraki.

Homeownership rates in the United States have increased since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the National Association of Realtors. With more people buying homes, property taxes are a significant source of revenue for local governments

Property taxes vary widely by state and depend largely on state and local property tax rates and home values. On a per capita basis, New Jersey has the highest property taxes in the country, at $3,431, according to data from the report Facts & Figures 2023: How Does Your State Compare from the Tax Foundation, an independent, non-profit, tax policy research organization. The average property tax rate in the Garden State as a share of home value is 2.23%, also the highest in the country.

Higher property tax rates do not necessarily mean a higher tax dollar amount as what residents pay in property taxes is based on a percentage of their property value. In New Jersey, the median home value is $389,800, the eighth highest in the country, contributing to the high tax amount.

Generally nationwide, property taxes make up a large share of all state and local taxes levied. In New Jersey, property taxes make up 45.3% of state and local tax revenue, the fourth highest percentage among states.

One way to measure the property tax burden is property taxes as a share of household income. While in New Jersey the median household income of $89,296 is third highest of all states, property taxes as a share of income still rank fifth highest.

New Jersey is not the only state with a high property tax burden. Other states in the Northeast, such as New Hampshire and Vermont, also have high property tax burdens.

Click here to see property tax rates in each state.

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