Once again, property tax survey puts New Hampshire near the top
State’s median effective rate of 2.2% is third highest in nation
New Hampshire’s lack of a general sales or income tax may make the state a tax haven in the eyes of many – but when it comes to property taxes, that’s another story, since Granite Staters pay the third-highest property tax bill in the nation.
This was true back in 2015 and has been true every year since, according to a report released Tuesday by WalletHub.
According to the latest census data, New Hampshire homeowners pay a median property tax bill of nearly $4,500 on a $205,000 home (the median-priced home in the United States). That’s a 2.2% effective tax rate. It has been rising steadily since 2015, when the effective rate was 2.1%, but taxes have been going up in other states too, since New Hampshire’s rank hasn’t changed since then.
This year, only New Jersey (2.5%) and Illinois (2.3%) have a higher effective rate. Those in Hawaii pay only 0.3%, followed by Alabama with 0.4%. Connecticut – with a 2.1% rate – is almost as high as New Hampshire. Property tax rates the other New England states were: Vermont, 1.9%; Rhode Island, 1.7%; Maine, 1.4% and Massachusetts, 1.2%.
New Hampshire is also third highest when the state median home value is considered.
New Hampshire’s median home value of $252,800 is the 12th highest in the country, and the property taxes on that are a median of about $5,550. New Jersey also ranks first again, with a $8,104 tax bill on a home priced at $327,900. Connecticut is second, with a $5,746 average tax bill on a home worth $272,700.
The WalletHub data doesn’t come from state property tax information, but from census data, which only accounts for a portion of the population. And it is a median and masks the wide range of tax rates imposed by local governments. The figure also does not include commercial and industrial property. In New Hampshire, they are taxed at the same rate, but in some states, like Massachusetts, the commercial rates could be a lot higher.
We also don’t do too well compared to other states when it comes to the property tax we pay on cars when we register them.
As for the car property tax, New Hampshire has the 10th highest rate on a $25,000 Toyota Camry LE four-door sedan (the bestselling car of 2019), according to WalletHub. That would cost a car owner $449, a 1.8% property tax rate. A buyer in Virginia has the highest rate of a little more than 4%. Residents in Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maine and Massachusetts have higher taxes than New Hampshire, with Massachusetts residents paying 2.25%. Fourteen states, including Vermont, don’t charge a property tax on vehicles, but almost all of them have a sales tax, which the buyer pays once at the purchase. But it is usually at a much higher rate – Vermont’s, for instance is 6%.
