Calculate your estimated property tax bill based on your home's assessed value and the local tax (mill) rate. Includes options for homestead exemptions and other deductions to get a more accurate estimate.
Property tax is a local tax levied by counties, municipalities, and school districts on the value of real estate you own. It is the single largest source of revenue for most local governments, funding schools, police, fire, roads, and public services. Unlike federal income tax, property tax rates and rules vary enormously — from under 0.3% of market value in Hawaii to over 2% in New Jersey and Illinois — and the mechanics differ from one jurisdiction to the next.
Most U.S. property tax bills are computed in two steps. First, the local assessor sets an assessed value — sometimes equal to market value, sometimes a fixed percentage of it (the "assessment ratio"). Second, the jurisdiction applies a mill rate — the tax rate per $1,000 of taxable value. A mill rate of 20 on a $300,000 assessed value produces a $6,000 annual tax bill (2% effective rate). Homestead exemptions and other deductions reduce the taxable value before the mill rate is applied.
This calculator estimates your bill given four inputs: assessed value, mill rate, homestead exemption, and assessment ratio. The result is a planning estimate. Your actual bill may include additional special-district levies, school district adders, fire and water taxes, and one-time bond assessments that don't appear in a simple mill rate. For an exact figure, the county tax collector or assessor publishes the breakdown.
$400,000 market value, 100% assessment ratio, no exemption, 18 mill rate (combined county + school) Assessed value = $400,000 Taxable = $400,000 (no exemption) Tax = 400,000 × 18 / 1,000 = $7,200/year Effective rate: 1.80% of market value. Monthly escrow: $600. This is a typical middle-tax state range — Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania suburbs are often in this neighborhood.
$500,000 market value, 100% assessment ratio, no homestead exemption, 25 mill rate Tax = 500,000 × 25 / 1,000 = $12,500/year Effective rate: 2.50% of market value. Monthly escrow: $1,041. NJ, IL, NH, CT, and parts of NY routinely exceed 2.0% effective rates. On a $500K house, that's an extra $5,000–$8,000/year compared to a moderate-tax state — meaningful for monthly mortgage budgets.
$350,000 market value, 100% assessment ratio, $50,000 homestead exemption (FL standard), 16 mill rate Taxable = 350,000 − 50,000 = $300,000 Tax = 300,000 × 16 / 1,000 = $4,800/year Effective rate against market: 4,800 / 350,000 = 1.37%. Without the exemption: $5,600 (1.60%). The homestead exemption matters most as the assessed value rises, because Florida also caps annual assessment increases at 3% for homesteaded properties — the dollar savings compound over time.
Use this calculator when shopping for a home (to compare the carrying cost across neighborhoods or counties), planning a property tax escrow for a new mortgage, evaluating whether to appeal an assessment, or estimating tax on an investment property.
The output is most useful for cross-jurisdiction comparison. A $400,000 house with a 0.7% effective rate (Hawaii, Colorado, Wyoming) is dramatically cheaper to own than a $400,000 house with a 2.2% effective rate (NJ, IL, TX) — $5,000+ per year difference, every year, indefinitely. That difference often shifts which city or state is the most affordable.
For rental property analysis, pair this calculator with the cap-rate and rental-property calculators. Property tax is a major line item in net operating income — getting it wrong skews the cap rate calculation in ways that mislead bidding.
It is not a substitute for the actual tax bill. Special-purpose districts (water, fire, mosquito control), bond assessments for school construction or infrastructure, and millage increases between assessment cycles all appear on the real bill but not in the simple mill-rate input. For an exact number, pull the prior year's bill from the county tax collector's website.
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Also called tax rate per $1,000 of assessed value
Exemption amount subtracted from assessed value
Percentage of market value used for assessment (100% in most areas)
Annual Tax
$6000.00
Monthly Tax
$500.00
Effective Rate
2.000%
Taxable Value
$300,000
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Assessed Value | $300,000 |
| Assessment Ratio | 100% |
| Adjusted Value | $300,000 |
| Homestead Exemption | $0 |
| Taxable Value | $300,000 |
| Mill Rate | 20 per $1,000 |
| Annual Property Tax | $6,000.00 |
| Monthly Property Tax | $500.00 |
| Effective Tax Rate | 2.000% |