States with the highest property taxes in 2026

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Updated  February 17, 2026 2:30pm EST
FOX Local

FILE-An aerial view of homes in a housing development on September 08, 2023 in Santa Clarita, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

The Brief 

    • Hawaii is the top state for the highest property taxes this year, according to a new WalletHub report.
    • The personal finance website ranked states with the highest and lowest real estate property taxes and vehicle property taxes using Census Bureau figures and auto sales data.
    • New Jersey ranked number one among states with the highest vehicle property taxes.

Nationwide property taxes are putting a strain on the finances of many Americans. 

And whether it's taxes on a home or vehicle, those costs add up quickly and can be overwhelming. But residents in some states are affected more by high property taxes for their homes and cars. 

RELATED: Where are property taxes highest and lowest? Analysis of cities and states

To see which states have the highest and lowest property taxes for homes and cars, WalletHub released a new report analyzing real estate and vehicle property taxes across all 50 states and  Washington, D.C. using U.S. Census Bureau data to determine real estate property tax rates and applying assumptions based on national car sales data to determine vehicle property tax rates.

States with the highest real estate property taxes in 2026

WalletHub ranked the states with the highest property taxes using two methods. For real estate property tax rates, the team divided the "median real-estate tax payment" by the "median home price" in each state. 

The personal finance website then used the resulting rates to calculate the dollar amount paid as real estate tax on a home worth $332,700, the median value for a home in the U.S. as of 2024, according to the Census Bureau.

Local perspective:

Here are the states with the highest real estate property tax rates this year. 

  • Hawaii
  • Alabama
  • Nevada
  • Arizona
  • Colorado
  • South Carolina
  • Idaho
  • Delaware
  • Tennessee
  • Utah
  • West Virginia
  • Louisiana
  • Arkansas
  • Wyoming
  • Washington, D.C.
  • North Carolina
  • New Mexico
  • California
  • Montana
  • Mississippi
  • Virginia

To see the full rankings, click here. 

States with the highest vehicle property tax rates in 2026

Dig deeper:

To calculate vehicle property tax rates by state, WalletHub, assessed data for cities and counties accounting for roughly 50% of a given state’s population and concluded this to the state level using averages based on population size. 

 Here are the top five states with the highest vehicle property tax rates

  • New Jersey
  • Illinois
  • Vermont
  • New York
  • Texas

To see the complete list, click here.

The Source: Information for this story was provided by a WalletHub report that examined the highest and lowest real-estate property tax rates and vehicle property tax rates nationwide. The report uses some Census Bureau data for its rankings. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.


 

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