US property tax rise slows

U.S. homeowners saw their property taxes rise more slowly last year compared with 2023, while the number of counties where the average bill tops $10,000 continued its steady increase, according to a new study. 

The average U.S. homeowner paid $4,172 in property taxes last year, according to a report by real estate data firm ATTOM. That's an increase of 2.7% from 2023 — roughly in step with headline inflation, which was 2.9% in the period, and down from the 4.1% average tax increase in 2023. 

The analysis is based on bills for 85.7 million single-family homes nationwide. Breaking them down regionally, the report shows that 19 counties had an average bill that exceeded $10,000 last year, the most on record. That suggests plenty of homeowners in those areas would need to come up with $1,000 a month or more, once insurance is included, even if their mortgage is paid off. 

New York was excluded from ATTOM's 2024 analysis due to data availability limitations. Almost half of the most expensive counties that did feature in the report are in New Jersey — where the statewide average bill topped the $10,000 threshold — including high-population areas such as Bergen, Monmouth and Middlesex. 

Other places with high average taxes include the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro area in California — where the average bill was $12,293 — along with San Mateo and San Francisco. 

By state, the highest average tax bills tended to be in the Northeast. Top-ranked New Jersey was followed by Connecticut ($8,402), New Hampshire ($7,723),  Massachusetts ($7,720) and California ($7,131).

In its 2023 analysis, which included data for New York, ATTOM's data showed that counties such as Nassau, Rockland, Suffolk and Westchester all had average property taxes that exceeded $10,000.