14 Worst U.S. Cities for Real Estate Taxes

Real estate taxes are an ongoing cost for everyone from first-time homebuyers to retirees. The money covers municipal costs, local infrastructure and other amenities. Although homestead exemptions and local tax abatements may help homeowners with some of the cost, the amount adds up significantly over time. At the same time, the tax burden differs considerably in cities across the U.S., according to new research from SmartAsset. SmartAsset examined real estate taxes paid by homeowners across 330 U.S. cities with populations over 100,000. Researchers ranked by the median real estate taxes paid (by homeowners with a mortgage) as a proportion of the median home value, from highest to lowest, using data from the U.S. Census Bureau's 1-Year American Community Survey for 2021. As SmartAsset points out, there are other ways to measure the "worst" places for real estate taxes. In pure dollar terms, homeowners in San Francisco, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale, California, have it worst, paying upward of $10,000 annually. Yet average home values are also high, ranging from $1.4 million to $1.6 million in these cities. Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin rank in the top 10 most expensive states for real estate taxes when compared to monthly and annual mortgage payments. Taxes make up about 30% of house payments in several Illinois cities, SmartAsset finds. Some cities have low real estate taxes relative to median home value: around 0.04% in Colorado Springs; Cambridge, Massachusetts; Scottsdale and San Tan Valley, Arizona; and Montgomery, Alabama. See the gallery for the 14 U.S. cities with the highest real estate taxes as a percentage of median home value, according to SmartAsset.