December 15, 2008
TaxFoundation.org 

In Tax Foundation Fiscal Fact No. 157, "New Census Data on Property Taxes on Homeowners," Tax Foundation Senior Economist Gerald Prante and Analyst Mark Robyn use newly updated Census data from the 2007 American Community Survey (ACS) to rank counties across the country according to various property tax measures.

"The ACS will still be providing annual estimates of hundreds of variables for those places with populations greater than 65,000," Prante and Robyn explain. "However, it is also publishing estimates for places whose population exceeds 20,000, albeit on a three-year average basis."

For a chart of real restate taxes paid on owner-occupied housing for each of the more than 1,800 countries with populations greater than 20,000 for the years 2005, 2006 and 2006, see the following Tax Foundation web sites: http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxdata/show/24052.html for the complete table of rankings of median real estate taxes paid by dollar amount, and http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxdata/show/24051.html for rankings by median real estate taxes as a percentage of the median home value and as a percentage of the median income for household-owning units.

Fiscal Fact No. 157 can be found at: http://www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/24053.html.

The first two lists show the top 20 counties ranked by two difference measures: by actual dollar value and as a percentage of median home value:

Top 20 Counties in Median Real Estate Taxes Paid: 2005-2007 Average (Population of 20,000 or More)

• Westchester County, NY: $7908
• Nassau County, NY: $7726
• Hunterdon County, NJ: $7708
• Bergen County, NJ: $7370
• Somerset County, NJ: $7201
• Essex County, NJ: $7149
• Rockland County, NY: $7066
• Morris County, NJ: $6977
• Union County, NJ: $6727
• Passaic County, NJ: $6673
• Putnam County, NY: $6553
• Suffolk County, NY: $6502
• Monmouth County, NJ: $6360
• Hudson County, NJ: $5865
• Lake County, IL: $5790
• Fairfield County, CT: $5694
• Sussex County, NJ: $5677
• Middlesex County, NJ: $5575
• Mercer County, NJ: $5457
• Warren County, NJ: $5228

Top 20 Counties in Median Real Estate Taxes as a Percentage of Median Home Value: 2005-2007 Average (Population of 20,000 or More)

• Orleans County, NY: 3.05%
• Niagara County, NY: 2.90%
• Allegany County, NY: 2.87%
• Montgomery County, NY: 2.86%
• Monroe County, NY: 2.84%
• Wayne County, NY: 2.74%
• Cortland County, NY: 2.69%
• Genesee County, NY: 2.69%
• Chautauqua County, NY: 2.67%
• Livingston County, NY: 2.61%
• Fort Bend County, TX: 2.57%
• Erie County, NY: 2.56%
• Onondaga County, NY: 2.56%
• Seneca County, NY: 2.52%
• Oswego County, NY: 2.50%
• Wyoming County, NY: 2.49%
• Fulton County, NY: 2.47%
• Cayuga County, NY: 2.46%
• Chemung County, NY: 2.44%
• Schenectady County, NY: 2.43%

The second two lists show the bottom 10 counties ranked by the same measures:

Bottom 10 Counties in Median Real Estate Taxes Paid: 2005-2007 Average (Population of 20,000 or More)

• Vernon Parish, LA: $115
• Allen Parish, LA: $116
• Franklin Parish, LA: $117
• Richland Parish, LA: $118
• Assumption Parish, LA: $123
• Avoyelles Parish, LA: $123
• Sabine Parish, LA: $123
• Evangeline Parish, LA: $124
• Webster Parish, LA: $127
• Jefferson Davis Parish, LA: $129

Bottom 10 Counties in Median Real Estate Taxes Paid as a Percentage of Median Home Value: 2005-2007 Average (Population of 20,000 or More)

• St. John the Baptist Parish, LA: 0.122%
• Ascension Parish, LA: 0.134%
• Tangipahoa Parish, LA: 0.139%
• West Baton Rouge Parish, LA: 0.145%
• St. James Parish, LA: 0.145%
• Vernon Parish, LA: 0.150%
• Assumption Parish, LA: 0.152%
• Lafourche Parish, LA: 0.152%
• Hawaii County, HI: 0.153%
• Livingston Parish, LA: 0.154%

The Tax Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that has monitored fiscal policy at the federal, state and local levels since 1937.

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