National ranking · ACS 2024

Counties with the Highest Property Taxes

The priciest property tax bills in the country cluster in high-cost suburbs of New York, New Jersey, and the Bay Area. 17 of these counties hit the Census top code of $10,000+, so they're ranked by home value within that group.

Compiled by PlainPropertyTax, Property Tax Editorial Process · August 26, 2026

$10,001
Top bill (capped): $1,993
U.S. average: 17
counties at the $10k+ cap

17 U.S. counties report the largest median property tax bill the Census survey publishes, $10,001 a year. That figure is the survey's top-code, so their real medians are higher and unranked.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (2024), 17 of the counties on this list sit at that $10,001 top-code, so this ranking cannot separate them and no county can be called the highest-taxed in the country from these figures. The list ranks dollars paid, not the tax-to-value rate.

Lowest Tax Highest Tax Lowest Rate Highest Rate

Census ACS reports the highest median property taxes at a top code of $10,000 or more (stored as $10,001), so the 17 counties at the top of this list are effectively tied on the dollar figure. We break the tie by median home value, and the effective-rate rankings tell a sharper story.

Across the 3,137 counties with 2024 data in the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey, the average county's median property-tax bill is $1,993 a year, or $3,691 once counties are weighted by the number of homes each one holds. The county medians are the Bureau's; the averaging is ours. This ranking is drawn from that same county-level dataset. See our methodology.

The bar to make this list

It takes $7,114 a year to reach this list, 3.6× the national median bill, though the top of it cannot be ordered at all: 17 counties report the ACS top code of $10,001 and the survey does not separate them.

$7,114
the bar to make this list: 3.6×
that bar vs the U.S. median bill: 17
tied at the $10,001 top code: 131
of 3,137 counties pay $5,000+

Median annual real-estate tax paid by owner-occupied households. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates (2024).

CA

$1,507,300
CA

$1,490,600
NY

$1,090,500
VA

$1,055,600
NY

$684,700
NY

$663,200
NJ

$623,000
NJ

$606,100
NY

$596,900
NJ

$582,500
NY

$578,400
NJ

$552,100

What this shows The highest dollar tax bills track the most expensive housing markets, high home values, not unusually high rates, drive these counties past the $10,000 ceiling.

Where the cut line sits among all U.S. counties

The 50th county on this list pays $7,114. Bars cover every county with a published bill, ACS 2024

$7,114 Top 2% higher than 98% of 3,137 U.S. counties

Show national distribution

Each bar is a $0.5K-wide band; taller bars hold more U.S. counties. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates (B25103) · 2024

The ACS caps reported median real-estate tax at $10,001, so the final bar counts every county at or above $10,000 rather than a $500 band like the rest. That cap is why the top of this list cannot be ranked, but the cut line above sits well below it and is unaffected.

#	County	Median tax	Eff. rate	Home value
1	Marin CountyCalifornia	$10,001+	0.66%	$1,507,300
2	Santa Clara CountyCalifornia	$10,001+	0.67%	$1,490,600
3	New York CountyNew York	$10,001+	0.92%	$1,090,500
4	Falls Church cityVirginia	$10,001+	0.95%	$1,055,600
5	Nassau CountyNew York	$10,001+	1.46%	$684,700
6	Westchester CountyNew York	$10,001+	1.51%	$663,200
7	Bergen CountyNew Jersey	$10,001+	1.61%	$623,000
8	Monmouth CountyNew Jersey	$10,001+	1.65%	$606,100
9	Rockland CountyNew York	$10,001+	1.68%	$596,900
10	Morris CountyNew Jersey	$10,001+	1.72%	$582,500
11	Suffolk CountyNew York	$10,001+	1.73%	$578,400
12	Somerset CountyNew Jersey	$10,001+	1.81%	$552,100
13	Union CountyNew Jersey	$10,001+	1.89%	$529,200
14	Essex CountyNew Jersey	$10,001+	1.91%	$524,100
15	Hunterdon CountyNew Jersey	$10,001+	1.93%	$517,200
16	Putnam CountyNew York	$10,001+	2.12%	$471,300
17	Passaic CountyNew Jersey	$10,001+	2.18%	$459,500
18	San Francisco CountyCalifornia	$9,862	0.71%	$1,394,500
19	Middlesex CountyNew Jersey	$9,712	2.10%	$462,900
20	Hudson CountyNew Jersey	$9,555	1.77%	$539,700
21	San Mateo CountyCalifornia	$9,519	0.61%	$1,559,600
22	Western Connecticut Planning RegionConnecticut	$9,295	1.42%	$652,900
23	Lake CountyIllinois	$8,923	2.58%	$345,700
24	Mercer CountyNew Jersey	$8,909	2.36%	$377,700
25	Greater Bridgeport Planning RegionConnecticut	$8,670	2.02%	$428,800
26	Sussex CountyNew Jersey	$8,568	2.32%	$369,400
27	Orange CountyNew York	$8,494	2.19%	$387,900
28	Alameda CountyCalifornia	$8,474	0.78%	$1,090,100
29	Arlington CountyVirginia	$8,153	0.91%	$895,000
30	Camden CountyNew Jersey	$8,134	2.83%	$287,100
31	Warren CountyNew Jersey	$8,119	2.34%	$346,500
32	Gloucester CountyNew Jersey	$8,055	2.60%	$310,400
33	DuPage CountyIllinois	$8,007	2.05%	$391,400
34	Burlington CountyNew Jersey	$7,983	2.26%	$354,000
35	Rockingham CountyNew Hampshire	$7,839	1.58%	$497,500
36	Travis CountyTexas	$7,727	1.48%	$523,000
37	Kendall CountyIllinois	$7,651	2.37%	$322,400
38	Dutchess CountyNew York	$7,562	1.89%	$400,600
39	Collin CountyTexas	$7,521	1.58%	$475,600
40	Middlesex CountyMassachusetts	$7,501	1.03%	$727,800
41	Kane CountyIllinois	$7,382	2.26%	$327,000
42	Fairfax CountyVirginia	$7,368	1.01%	$732,800
43	McHenry CountyIllinois	$7,274	2.36%	$308,100
44	Teton CountyWyoming	$7,267	0.44%	$1,633,900
45	Norfolk CountyMassachusetts	$7,261	1.06%	$683,900
46	Williamson CountyTexas	$7,205	1.61%	$447,000
47	Will CountyIllinois	$7,173	2.24%	$319,600
48	Contra Costa CountyCalifornia	$7,156	0.83%	$866,800
49	Delaware CountyOhio	$7,132	1.60%	$445,500
50	King CountyWashington	$7,114	0.83%	$859,900

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are so many of the highest-tax counties listed at the same dollar figure?

The Census ACS caps reported median property tax at $10,000 or more (stored as $10,001), so 17 counties in this ranking are effectively tied on the dollar figure. We break the tie by median home value, since a $10,001+ bill on a $2M home reflects a very different burden than the same bill on a $600K home.

Does a high tax bill mean a high tax rate?

Not necessarily. Many counties on this list have high bills mainly because home values are extremely high, not because the effective rate (tax divided by home value) is unusually high. Check the effective-rate rankings for counties where the RATE, not just the dollar amount, is out of line with the rest of the country.

How does my county compare to the national average?

The average county's median property tax bill is $1,993 a year. Every county in this list pays several times that amount. Look up your own county to see exactly where you stand.

PlainPropertyTax is rendered directly from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, no number is typed in by an editor. This ranking is a mechanical sort by reported figure, not a recommendation; median tax is top-coded at $10,001 ($10,000+). See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-26.