What States Have No Property Tax?

If you’re asking what states have no property tax, the direct answer is none. Every state levies one. It funds local schools, roads, and emergency services, and the closest real answer is Hawaii, whose effective rate of about 0.29% is the lowest in the country. If you actually meant states with no income tax instead, that’s a shorter, different list, covered further down.

No state has zero property tax, but Hawaii’s effective rate is the lowest

Every state, plus Washington D.C., collects property tax at the state, county, or municipal level. None of them charge zero. What separates them is the effective rate: how much of a home’s value that tax actually takes each year. Here is the current bottom of that list, based on the Tax Foundation’s most recent analysis of owner-occupied housing:

• Hawaii: 0.29%

• Alabama: 0.37%

• Arizona: 0.48%

• Utah: 0.48%

• South Carolina: 0.49%

For comparison, the average American homeowner pays an effective rate of about 0.86%, according to ATTOM’s 2024 property tax analysis, roughly triple Hawaii’s rate. New Jersey sits at the opposite end at 1.88%, the highest in the country. Rates shift a little each year as home values and local budgets change, so treat this as a snapshot rather than a permanent ranking.

The states with no income tax are what most people are really asking about

Nine states charge no personal income tax, and this is usually the list people actually mean when they search for “no tax states”:

• Alaska

• Florida

• Nevada

• New Hampshire

• South Dakota

• Tennessee

• Texas

• Washington

• Wyoming

Two of those come with an asterisk worth knowing before you rely on it. New Hampshire only fully earned its spot in 2025. Its old tax on interest and dividend income phased down every year until it hit zero on January 1, 2025, according to the state’s Department of Revenue Administration. Washington’s 7% tax on large capital gains isn’t a general income tax either, and the state’s Supreme Court settled that question directly in 2023, ruling it’s an excise tax on the sale of an asset, not a tax on income. That said, Washington’s tax-free reputation got more complicated this year. In March 2026, Governor Bob Ferguson signed a narrow 9.9% tax on income above $1 million a year, starting in 2028 and affecting fewer than 1 in 200 residents. It’s already facing a legal challenge, so if you’re a high earner weighing a move to Washington, that’s worth tracking before you sign anything.

Property tax relief can cut your bill even in a higher-rate state

Most states offer at least one program that lowers your taxable value before the rate ever gets applied, and chasing that relief usually matters more than chasing a lower state on the rankings. Three types show up again and again:

• Homestead exemptions shave a flat dollar amount or percentage off your primary residence’s assessed value. Florida’s currently shields up to $50,000, per the Florida Department of Revenue, though a ballot measure this November could push that higher.

• Senior freezes and assessment caps lock in your assessed value once you hit a state’s age threshold, commonly 65, so rising home prices around you stop inflating your bill.

• Veteran and disability exemptions waive property tax entirely for veterans with a total disability rating in many states, and reduce it substantially in others.

None of these apply automatically. You file the paperwork with your county assessor, usually by a set annual deadline, or you lose the exemption for that tax year. And if you rent the property out instead of living in it, the homestead break generally doesn’t apply to you, but the tax itself becomes a deductible business expense. Our guide to rental property tax deductions covers what qualifies.

A low property tax rate does not mean a low total tax bill

States that keep property tax low almost always make it up somewhere else. Washington and Tennessee, both on the no-income-tax list above, also carry two of the three highest combined state and local sales tax rates in the country, at 9.57% and 9.61%, according to the Tax Foundation. Buy furniture or a car in either state and you hand back a real slice of what you saved on income tax. The same trade-off runs through the low property tax states: Nevada and Colorado skip a big chunk of the property tax bill, but you’ll often find higher vehicle registration fees, tourism taxes, or utility surcharges filling the gap instead. Schools, roads, and emergency response get funded from somewhere, and a state that isn’t collecting through your property tax bill is collecting through your grocery run, your paycheck, or your license plate renewal.

State and local tax rates are only part of the picture. Look at what the specific property or neighborhood adds on its own. HOA dues, community development district fees, and special assessments for things like new sewer lines or storm repairs can run into the thousands of dollars a year, and none of it shows up in any property tax ranking. Ask for the HOA’s last two years of dues and assessment history before you buy. The current monthly number by itself won’t tell you much.

For a rental, run the effective rate against the actual purchase price

The effective rate matters less than what it produces once you multiply it by a real price. A $900,000 home at Hawaii’s 0.29% rate costs about $2,610 a year in property tax. A $300,000 home at Nevada’s 0.50% rate, nearly double Hawaii’s, costs $1,500. The lower rate did not produce the lower bill. A low-rate state with expensive homes can easily out-cost a higher-rate state where prices are modest. That’s the number that matters when you’re underwriting a rental. A state’s spot on a top-ten list won’t tell you anything about it.

Run the county’s actual effective rate against the price you’re paying for that specific property. A state or county average won’t tell you what you’ll actually owe. Assessed value resets when most properties sell, so a home’s tax bill often jumps in year one to reflect the new sale price rather than what the previous owner paid. Tax-friendly markets also tend to run hotter on buyer competition, since other investors are chasing the same advantage you are. Don’t let a low property tax line item talk you into a purchase price the market’s actual rents don’t support. For the rest of what belongs in that math, see our breakdown of rental property expenses and our complete guide to rental income taxes.

Property tax is one line in a rental’s full tax picture. Our rental property tax deductions guide covers how that bill becomes deductible on a rental, and the complete guide to rental income taxes covers everything else the IRS expects.

FAQ

Do any states completely eliminate property tax?

No. Every state collects some property tax, at the state, county, or municipal level, because it funds local schools, roads, and emergency services. Some owners pay very little through generous exemptions, but zero isn’t on the table anywhere in the country.

Which states have the lowest property tax?

Hawaii, Alabama, Arizona, Utah, and South Carolina currently carry the lowest effective property tax rates in the country, all under 0.5% of a home’s value, per the Tax Foundation. The national average sits at roughly 0.86%, so even the higher end of that group pays close to half what a typical American homeowner pays.

Which states have no income tax?

Nine states charge no personal income tax: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. Washington is the one worth watching. It taxes large capital gains today, and starting in 2028 it will tax a narrow slice of income above $1 million a year.

How is property tax calculated?

Your local assessor multiplies your property’s assessed value by the local tax rate, often called the millage rate, then subtracts any exemptions you qualify for. A $300,000 home in a county with a 1% rate and no exemptions owes $3,000 a year, but a homestead exemption that shields $50,000 of that value drops the taxable amount to $250,000, which brings the bill down to $2,500.

Can you own a home without paying any property tax?

In nearly every case, no. The one real exception sits in parts of Alaska’s unorganized borough, where no local government exists to levy the tax at all, per the state’s Department of Commerce, though most Alaskans still live in a borough or city that does collect it.

This article is general information, not tax advice. Laws change, and every situation is different. For guidance on a specific situation, talk to a licensed tax professional in your state.