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Rising property taxes are a thorn in the side of many Americans in today’s housing market. Older Americans in particular are feeling the brunt of higher tax payments in key metro areas and are being forced to move, a recent report concluded.
John Burns Research & Consulting (JBREC), a leading real estate market research company, shared a chart on LinkedIn that highlights the areas where property taxes are highest for existing homeowners. The heat map uses the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau‘s American Community Survey.
John Burns data scientist Ian Kennedy created the chart. According to Kennedy, the areas in dark red represent regions where property taxes exceed 2% of a home’s value. Conversely, property taxes in the beige regions account for less than 0.5% of a home’s value.
“Property taxes are a huge expense, especially for retirees. We see a lot of retirement outmigration from the states in dark red on this map,” said John Burns, founder and CEO of JBREC.
According to the analysis, the highest property tax rates are on the East Coast — particularly in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. In these areas, median property taxes range from 1.75% to 2% of a home’s value or higher. Other eastern states fared better, with Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Vermont having tax rates of 1.25% to 1.5%.
Property taxes in the Midwest appear less onerous than on the East Coast. Illinois posted the highest median property tax rate in the region, ranging from 1.75% to 2% of home values. Other Midwest states — including Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska — also recorded elevated property tax rates.
Western and Southern states tend to have lower property taxes than other regions. States with property taxes of less than 0.5% include:
- Nevada
- Arizona
- Utah
- Colorado
- Louisiana
- Alabama
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- West Virginia
The recent trend of retirees migrating to other states is one of the largest such movements in U.S. history. In a statement given to Realtor.com, Chris Porter, JBREC’s senior vice president of research, noted that younger generations often influence retiree migration. He explained that retirees frequently follow their adult children who leave states like Illinois or New York to escape high property taxes.
“We’re talking about a small percentage of the population that actually moves and then also moves across state lines,” Porter said. “But when you think about it, we’ve got the biggest group of retirees right now that we’ve ever had in the United States.”
Florida, Texas and Arizona are top destinations for migrating retirees and homeowners. North Carolina, Pennsylvania and California also rank among the top 10 states.
Census data also shows that Southern cities experienced the most growth in the 65-plus age group between 2020 and 2023. According to Realtor.com, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, saw the largest increase with a 23.1% uptick.
