Cities With the Highest Property Taxes (2026)

Property taxes are the single largest revenue source for most U.S. cities, typically funding 30-50% of the municipal budget. But the burden varies enormously — residents in the highest-tax cities pay five to ten times more per capita than those in the lowest-tax cities. Here are the 25 cities with the heaviest property tax burden, ranked by tax revenue per capita from Census Bureau data.

Top 25 Cities by Property Tax Per Capita

Rank	City	State	Property Tax/Capita	Fiscal Grade
1	North Port	FL	$2,118	C
2	Greenville	SC	$1,988	D
3	Oshkosh	WI	$1,987	A
4	Seattle	WA	$1,831	C
5	Madera	CA	$1,746	C
6	Orange	CA	$1,719	D
7	Appleton	WI	$1,550	A
8	Bozeman	MT	$1,537	C
9	Sacramento	CA	$1,465	C
10	Bellevue	WA	$1,441	C
11	Duluth	MN	$1,363	F
12	Hillsboro	OR	$1,352	D
13	Janesville	WI	$1,174	A
14	Rochester	MN	$1,144	A
15	Pocatello	ID	$1,118	C
16	Bloomington	MN	$956	D
17	Riverside	CA	$954	C
18	Blaine	MN	$943	B
19	Corvallis	OR	$931	B
20	Santa Cruz	CA	$871	C
21	Decatur	AL	$855	D
22	Topeka	KS	$823	A
23	Eau Claire	WI	$821	A
24	Olathe	KS	$796	A
25	Billings	MT	$787	B

Why Property Taxes Vary So Much

The gap between the highest- and lowest-tax cities comes down to three factors:

Revenue mix: Cities with no local income tax or limited sales tax revenue rely more heavily on property taxes. New York City is an outlier — it has both high property taxes and a local income tax.
Service levels: Cities that provide their own school districts, utilities, or hospitals tend to have higher property taxes to fund those services.
Pension obligations: Cities with large unfunded pension liabilities often levy higher taxes to cover annual pension contributions. See our debt per capita rankings for the debt dimension.

High Taxes Do Not Always Mean Poor Fiscal Health

Our Fiscal Health Score rankings show that some high-tax cities actually score well on fiscal health because they use that revenue to maintain healthy reserves and manageable debt. The real concern is cities with high taxes and poor fiscal health — where residents are paying more but the city is still falling behind.

Search for your city to see its full fiscal profile, including property tax burden, spending breakdown, and Fiscal Health Score, on the CitySpend homepage.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which U.S. city has the highest property taxes?

Based on Census fiscal data, North Port, FL has the highest property tax burden per capita at $2,118 per resident.

Why are property taxes so high in some cities?

High property taxes typically reflect a combination of expensive municipal services, high public employee compensation, pension obligations, limited alternative revenue sources (no local income or sales tax), and high property values that generate a large tax base.

How are property taxes used by cities?

Property taxes fund core municipal services including public schools (the largest share in most cities), police and fire departments, road maintenance, parks, libraries, and debt service on municipal bonds.

Which states have the lowest city property taxes?

Cities in states that rely heavily on sales tax or oil revenue — such as Alabama, Louisiana, Hawaii, and Alaska — tend to have the lowest property tax burdens. Some states cap property tax rates constitutionally.

About This Data

Property tax data is from the U.S. Census Bureau Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances and the Lincoln Institute Fiscally Standardized Cities database. Per-capita figures use Census population estimates. See our methodology for details.