April 27--Just when you were breathing a sigh of relief at the close of another tax season, a new study comes out showing the hit that Illinoisans take on property taxes compared with residents in other states.
Illinois has the highest median property tax rate in the nation, with various agencies and entities taking a combined 2.67 percent bite, according to a CoreLogic analysis of real estate property taxes nationwide.
Nationally, the median property tax rate is 1.31 percent, said the Irvine, Calif.-based data provider to financial services and real estate companies. That means that a home valued at $200,000 will, on average, pay annual total property taxes of $2,620.
In Illinois, that homeowner would pay $5,340.
Hawaii has the lowest median property tax rate at 0.31 percent. The median means half of the tax rates are higher and half are lower.
Unlike federal income taxes, property tax rates vary by state, and the total amount can include property taxes paid to multiple agencies, such as to a county, a village and a school district. CoreLogic said its calculations include all taxing entities.
Here's how the states stack up:
After Illinois, the states with the highest median property tax rates are: New York, 2.53 percent; New Hampshire, 2.4 percent; and New Jersey, 2.37 percent.
After Hawaii, the states with the lowest median property tax rates are: South Dakota, 0.38 percent; Alabama, 0.54 percent; and Wyoming, 0.65 percent.
The property tax burdens of some of Illinois' neighbors were lower in comparison.
Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri and Indiana had median property taxes of 1.95 percent, 1.69 percent, 1.26 percent and 0.88 percent, respectively.
CoreLogic's finding about Illinois' high real estate tax burden is consistent with other analyses.
Recent studies by both WalletHub, a personal finance website, and the nonprofit Tax Foundation, both based in Washington, D.C., found that Illinois had the second-highest property taxes in the nation, after New Jersey.
byerak@tribpub.com
