The lowest property tax counties in America

No county charges nothing, and the cheapest charges 0.081%

There is no county in the United States with no property tax. Not one of the 3,143, and it is not close: the lowest effective rate in the country is 0.081% in Copper River Census Area, Alaska.

The reason is the same one that means no state has abolished it. Property tax is levied by counties, municipalities and school districts against their own budgets, and it is the main thing paying for schools. A county with no property tax would be a county with no school district, which is not a thing that exists.

So the answerable question is where it is lowest, and that is what this page ranks — all 3,132 counties with a published effective rate, rather than a state average that hides the counties inside it.

The twenty lowest property tax counties in the United States

Effective rate — tax actually paid over median home value — lowest first:

1. Copper River Census Area, Alaska — 0.081%, $323 a year on a $400,000 home.

2. Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska — 0.122%, $490 a year on a $400,000 home.

3. East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana — 0.153%, $614 a year on a $400,000 home.

4. Maui County, Hawaii — 0.168%, $672 a year on a $400,000 home.

5. Choctaw County, Alabama — 0.178%, $712 a year on a $400,000 home.

6. Allen Parish, Louisiana — 0.180%, $718 a year on a $400,000 home.

7. Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana — 0.203%, $812 a year on a $400,000 home.

8. West Carroll Parish, Louisiana — 0.204%, $816 a year on a $400,000 home.

9. Bibb County, Alabama — 0.204%, $818 a year on a $400,000 home.

10. Jackson County, Colorado — 0.205%, $821 a year on a $400,000 home.

11. Nantucket County, Massachusetts — 0.215%, $861 a year on a $400,000 home.

12. Lamar County, Alabama — 0.217%, $870 a year on a $400,000 home.

13. Randolph County, Alabama — 0.224%, $896 a year on a $400,000 home.

14. Kauai County, Hawaii — 0.225%, $900 a year on a $400,000 home.

15. Clay County, Alabama — 0.225%, $901 a year on a $400,000 home.

16. Madison Parish, Louisiana — 0.230%, $918 a year on a $400,000 home.

17. Gilpin County, Colorado — 0.230%, $918 a year on a $400,000 home.

18. Washington County, Alabama — 0.234%, $934 a year on a $400,000 home.

19. Dolores County, Colorado — 0.241%, $962 a year on a $400,000 home.

20. Las Animas County, Colorado — 0.244%, $977 a year on a $400,000 home.

Against a national median of 0.84%, the cheapest county charges 10 times less. The same $400,000 house costs $323 a year there and $3,348 at the median.

The hundred cheapest counties sit in 14 states, and three of them hold most

Take the hundred lowest rates in the country and they do not spread evenly. They fall in 14 states:

Alabama — 37 of the hundred.

Louisiana — 22 of the hundred.

Colorado — 19 of the hundred.

Hawaii — 4 of the hundred.

West Virginia — 4 of the hundred.

Alaska — 3 of the hundred.

Idaho — 3 of the hundred.

Tennessee — 2 of the hundred.

Alabama, Louisiana, Colorado between them account for 78 of the hundred. A cheap county is not scattered randomly: it is a county in a state that funds its schools some other way, or one where assessed values are low enough that a small rate raises what the district needs.

Which is the caution that belongs with every entry above. A low rate is usually a symptom of a low tax base, not of generosity, and a low tax base tends to come with fewer of the services the tax pays for. Nobody chose 0.2%; it is what fell out of dividing a small budget by the value of everything in the district.

The cheapest rate and the cheapest bill are different counties

The ranking above is by rate, because rate is the only thing comparable across the country. What you actually pay is the rate times the house, and that reorders everything.

Both of these are in the twenty lowest rates in the country. Nantucket County, Massachusetts charges 0.215% on a median home of $1,387,000, which comes to $2,985 a year. Madison Parish, Louisiana charges 0.230% on a median home of $90,600, which comes to $208.

Nearly the same rate, 14 times the money. The rate says what the district charges; the house says what you pay. A very low rate in an expensive county is a perfectly ordinary bill.

It runs the other way at the top too. The highest rate in the country is 3.636% in Menominee County, Wisconsin, where the median bill is $3,527 — while Santa Clara County, California charges 0.706% and its median bill is $9,766.

So "where is property tax lowest" has two answers, and which one you want depends on whether you are choosing a county or already own a house in one.

Why seven counties report exactly $199 and sixteen report exactly $10,001

Read the median bill column anywhere on this site and a few numbers repeat suspiciously. Seven counties report a median property tax bill of exactly $199 and sixteen report exactly $10,001. Those are not bills. They are the floor and the ceiling of the survey.

The American Community Survey bottom-codes median real estate taxes at $199 and top-codes it at $10,001: anything below the first is published as the first, anything above the second as the second. A county at the ceiling might have a median bill of $12,000 or $30,000 and the survey will not say which.

It matters for what you can conclude. Ranking counties by median bill puts sixteen of them in a tie at the top that is an artefact rather than a finding, and seven in a tie at the bottom. That is why the ranking on this page is by effective rate, which is a quotient of two published medians and is not capped at either end.

The counties at the ceiling are named on their own pages rather than silently ranked: Nassau County, New York, Monmouth County, New Jersey, New York County, New York, Suffolk County, New York, Westchester County, New York, Bergen County, New Jersey, and 10 more. Their rates are real; only their bills are cut off.

And the ten highest, for the other end of the scale

The same measure, highest first:

1. Menominee County, Wisconsin — 3.636%, $14,544 a year on a $400,000 home.

2. Camden County, New Jersey — 3.075%, $12,300 a year on a $400,000 home.

3. Salem County, New Jersey — 3.030%, $12,120 a year on a $400,000 home.

4. Orleans County, New York — 2.996%, $11,984 a year on a $400,000 home.

5. Allegany County, New York — 2.943%, $11,771 a year on a $400,000 home.

6. Gloucester County, New Jersey — 2.809%, $11,237 a year on a $400,000 home.

7. Monroe County, New York — 2.788%, $11,152 a year on a $400,000 home.

8. Cattaraugus County, New York — 2.693%, $10,772 a year on a $400,000 home.

9. Lake County, Illinois — 2.677%, $10,708 a year on a $400,000 home.

10. Cortland County, New York — 2.646%, $10,586 a year on a $400,000 home.

The gap from top to bottom is 45×: $323 against $14,544 on the identical house, and both are ordinary American counties operating under ordinary law.

Notice how concentrated the top is by state compared with the bottom. Of the fifty highest rates in the country, 45 are in just three states — New York with 26, New Jersey with 10, Illinois with 9. Property tax is a state-shaped phenomenon at the top and a county-shaped one at the bottom.

The cheapest county in every state

A national ranking is only useful if you are prepared to move anywhere. This is the version for everyone else: the lowest effective rate available inside each state, which is the real choice most people have.

Alaska — Copper River Census Area, Alaska at 0.081%, against 1.755% in the state's dearest. All 26 ranked.

Louisiana — East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana at 0.153%, against 0.819% in the state's dearest. All 64 ranked.

Hawaii — Maui County, Hawaii at 0.168%, against 0.286% in the state's dearest. All 4 ranked.

Alabama — Choctaw County, Alabama at 0.178%, against 0.596% in the state's dearest. All 67 ranked.

Colorado — Jackson County, Colorado at 0.205%, against 0.616% in the state's dearest. All 64 ranked.

Massachusetts — Nantucket County, Massachusetts at 0.215%, against 1.568% in the state's dearest. All 14 ranked.

Utah — Rich County, Utah at 0.290%, against 0.844% in the state's dearest. All 29 ranked.

Idaho — Clark County, Idaho at 0.292%, against 0.868% in the state's dearest. All 44 ranked.

West Virginia — Summers County, West Virginia at 0.304%, against 0.683% in the state's dearest. All 55 ranked.

Tennessee — Cumberland County, Tennessee at 0.307%, against 1.034% in the state's dearest. All 95 ranked.

New Mexico — Taos County, New Mexico at 0.329%, against 1.889% in the state's dearest. All 33 ranked.

Delaware — Sussex County, Delaware at 0.331%, against 0.741% in the state's dearest. All 3 ranked.

Texas — Crockett County, Texas at 0.333%, against 2.086% in the state's dearest. All 250 ranked.

South Carolina — Horry County, South Carolina at 0.337%, against 0.880% in the state's dearest. All 46 ranked.

Mississippi — Issaquena County, Mississippi at 0.346%, against 1.240% in the state's dearest. All 82 ranked.

Georgia — Fannin County, Georgia at 0.349%, against 1.711% in the state's dearest. All 159 ranked.

Arkansas — Stone County, Arkansas at 0.353%, against 0.783% in the state's dearest. All 75 ranked.

Arizona — Greenlee County, Arizona at 0.359%, against 0.838% in the state's dearest. All 15 ranked.

North Dakota — Billings County, North Dakota at 0.369%, against 1.285% in the state's dearest. All 53 ranked.

North Carolina — Jackson County, North Carolina at 0.369%, against 1.206% in the state's dearest. All 100 ranked.

Wyoming — Niobrara County, Wyoming at 0.376%, against 0.700% in the state's dearest. All 23 ranked.

Missouri — Wright County, Missouri at 0.384%, against 1.225% in the state's dearest. All 115 ranked.

Oklahoma — McCurtain County, Oklahoma at 0.400%, against 1.027% in the state's dearest. All 77 ranked.

Nevada — Storey County, Nevada at 0.401%, against 0.703% in the state's dearest. All 16 ranked.

Virginia — Prince Edward County, Virginia at 0.403%, against 1.136% in the state's dearest. All 133 ranked.

Montana — Madison County, Montana at 0.409%, against 1.522% in the state's dearest. All 56 ranked.

Indiana — Switzerland County, Indiana at 0.412%, against 0.929% in the state's dearest. All 92 ranked.

South Dakota — Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota at 0.436%, against 2.226% in the state's dearest. All 65 ranked.

Florida — Walton County, Florida at 0.454%, against 1.050% in the state's dearest. All 67 ranked.

Kentucky — Rockcastle County, Kentucky at 0.481%, against 1.064% in the state's dearest. All 120 ranked.

Oregon — Josephine County, Oregon at 0.528%, against 1.008% in the state's dearest. All 36 ranked.

California — Trinity County, California at 0.539%, against 0.912% in the state's dearest. All 58 ranked.

Washington — San Juan County, Washington at 0.569%, against 0.940% in the state's dearest. All 39 ranked.

Minnesota — Aitkin County, Minnesota at 0.573%, against 1.236% in the state's dearest. All 87 ranked.

Maryland — Talbot County, Maryland at 0.658%, against 1.476% in the state's dearest. All 24 ranked.

New York — Kings County, New York at 0.688%, against 2.996% in the state's dearest. All 62 ranked.

Michigan — Leelanau County, Michigan at 0.702%, against 1.860% in the state's dearest. All 83 ranked.

Nebraska — Grant County, Nebraska at 0.749%, against 1.793% in the state's dearest. All 93 ranked.

Ohio — Noble County, Ohio at 0.789%, against 2.085% in the state's dearest. All 88 ranked.

Wisconsin — Vilas County, Wisconsin at 0.800%, against 3.636% in the state's dearest. All 72 ranked.

Pennsylvania — Bedford County, Pennsylvania at 0.812%, against 1.985% in the state's dearest. All 67 ranked.

Illinois — Pulaski County, Illinois at 0.825%, against 2.677% in the state's dearest. All 102 ranked.

Maine — Hancock County, Maine at 0.878%, against 1.256% in the state's dearest. All 16 ranked.

Iowa — Lyon County, Iowa at 0.920%, against 1.791% in the state's dearest. All 99 ranked.

Rhode Island — Newport County, Rhode Island at 0.955%, against 1.468% in the state's dearest. All 5 ranked.

Kansas — Nemaha County, Kansas at 0.978%, against 2.470% in the state's dearest. All 105 ranked.

New Hampshire — Carroll County, New Hampshire at 1.056%, against 2.377% in the state's dearest. All 10 ranked.

New Jersey — Cape May County, New Jersey at 1.325%, against 3.075% in the state's dearest. All 21 ranked.

Vermont — Grand Isle County, Vermont at 1.355%, against 1.975% in the state's dearest. All 14 ranked.

Connecticut — Windham County, Connecticut at 1.543%, against 2.135% in the state's dearest. All 8 ranked.

Read the second figure on each line as well as the first. The gap inside a state is the decision most people are actually making, and in several it is wider than the gap between one state's median and another's.

What to do with this if you are actually choosing

A ranking is a starting point and not an answer, because your bill is set by every authority whose boundary crosses your parcel — the county, the city if you are inside one, the school district, and often a fire or water district on top. Two houses in the same county can differ by a third.

So use this list to shortlist and then look one up. Every one of the 3,143 counties on this site has its own page with the layers shown separately, and every state has a page ranking its own counties against each other — which is the more useful comparison if you already know roughly where you are going.

And read the rate beside the house price, not on its own. On the numbers above, a 0.081% rate on a $800,000 house costs more than a 0.84% rate on a $200,000 one. The county sets the rate; the market sets the rest of it.

Where these came from

US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year 2023 — B25103 median real estate taxes paid · B25077 median home value · B19013 median household income Read 2026-08-31. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs

3,132 of the 3,143 counties have a published effective rate; the remaining 11 are too small for the survey to publish one, and they are absent from every ranking here rather than filled in with a state figure.

The effective rate is median real estate tax paid over median home value. It is used instead of a millage rate because millage is not comparable across state lines: states assess at different fractions of market value, so two counties charging identical millage can charge very different money.

Questions

Are there counties with no property tax?

No. Not one of the 3,143 counties in the United States charges no property tax, and the lowest is 0.081% in Copper River Census Area, Alaska. Property tax is what funds school districts, so a county without one would be a county without schools.

Which county has the lowest property tax in the US?

Copper River Census Area, Alaska, at an effective rate of 0.081% — $323 a year on a $400,000 home, against a national median of 0.84%. The next four are Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska; East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana; Maui County, Hawaii; Choctaw County, Alabama.

Which county has the highest property tax?

Menominee County, Wisconsin, at 3.636% — 45 times the lowest rate in the country. On a $400,000 home that is $14,544 a year against $323.

Why do some counties show a property tax bill of exactly $199?

Because that is the floor of the survey rather than the bill. The American Community Survey bottom-codes median real estate taxes at $199 and top-codes them at $10,001; seven counties sit at the floor and sixteen at the ceiling. Their real medians are below and above those figures and the survey does not say by how much, which is why the rankings here use the effective rate instead.

Does a low property tax rate mean a low bill?

Not reliably. The bill is the rate times the house, so a very low rate in an expensive county can exceed a median rate in a cheap one. And a low rate usually reflects a low tax base rather than a generous district — which tends to come with fewer of the services the tax pays for.