How Much Wisconsin Homeowners Pay in Property Taxes Each Year

Property taxes are the lifeblood of local governments and municipalities across the United States, accounting for over 70% of all local tax revenue. Property taxes - such as taxes levied on homeowners and landowners - go to fund schools, parks, roads, and other public works and services. While states typically impose a minimum property tax, property taxes are mostly determined at the local level - and are often a percentage of a property or home's overall value. Depending on where you choose to buy a home, property taxes can range from negligible amounts to nearly matching a mortgage payment. Across Wisconsin, the effective annual property tax rate stands at 1.53%, the eighth highest among states. For context, homeowners in the U.S. pay an average of 1.03% of their housing value in property taxes a year. The effective property tax rate is calculated by taking the total amount of taxes paid on owner-occupied homes in a given area as a share of the total value of those homes. While an effective property tax rate is useful for comparing taxes at the state level, it is important to note that property tax rates can still vary considerably within a given state. Because property taxes are typically levied as a share of a given home's value, Americans living in places with higher home values often pay more in property taxes in dollar terms, even if the effective property tax rate is relatively low. In Wisconsin, the typical home is worth $197,200, lower than the national median home value of $240,500. All data in this story is from the Tax Foundation, a tax policy research organization, and the U.S. Census Bureau's 2019 American Community Survey.

Rank	State	Effective property tax rate (% of home value)	Median home value ($)	Median household income ($)
1	New Jersey	2.13	348,800	85,751
2	Illinois	1.97	209,100	69,187
3	New Hampshire	1.89	281,400	77,933
4	Vermont	1.76	233,200	63,001
5	Connecticut	1.73	280,700	78,833
6	Texas	1.60	200,400	64,034
7	Nebraska	1.54	172,700	63,229
8	Wisconsin	1.53	197,200	64,168
9	Ohio	1.52	157,200	58,642
10	Iowa	1.43	158,900	61,691
11	Pennsylvania	1.43	192,600	63,463
12	Rhode Island	1.37	283,000	71,169
13	Michigan	1.31	169,600	59,584
14	New York	1.30	338,700	72,108
15	Kansas	1.28	163,200	62,087
16	Maine	1.20	200,500	58,924
17	South Dakota	1.14	185,000	59,533
18	Massachusetts	1.08	418,600	85,843
19	Minnesota	1.05	246,700	74,593
20	Maryland	1.01	332,500	86,738
21	Alaska	0.98	281,200	75,463
22	Missouri	0.96	168,000	57,409
23	Oregon	0.91	354,600	67,058
24	North Dakota	0.88	205,400	64,577
25	Georgia	0.87	202,500	61,980
26	Florida	0.86	245,100	59,227
27	Washington	0.84	387,600	78,687
28	Virginia	0.84	288,800	76,456
29	Oklahoma	0.83	147,000	54,449
30	Indiana	0.81	156,000	57,603
31	Kentucky	0.78	151,700	52,295
32	North Carolina	0.78	193,200	57,341
33	Montana	0.74	253,600	57,153
34	California	0.70	568,500	80,440
35	Idaho	0.65	255,200	60,999
36	Tennessee	0.63	191,900	56,071
37	Mississippi	0.63	128,200	45,792
38	Arkansas	0.61	136,200	48,952
39	Arizona	0.60	255,900	62,055
40	New Mexico	0.59	180,900	51,945
41	Delaware	0.59	261,700	70,176
42	Nevada	0.56	317,800	63,276
43	Utah	0.56	330,300	75,780
44	South Carolina	0.53	179,800	56,227
45	West Virginia	0.53	124,600	48,850
46	Colorado	0.52	394,600	77,127
47	Wyoming	0.51	235,200	65,003
48	Louisiana	0.51	172,100	51,073
49	Alabama	0.37	154,000	51,734
50	Hawaii	0.31	669,200	83,102