Property Tax Rates Price History
1960–2025 · U.S. Census Bureau / Tax Foundation
The average annual property tax bill on a single-family home in the United States from 1960 to 2025. If you own a home, you know this one stings — it's the bill that never stops growing, even after you've paid off the mortgage. Back in 1960, homeowners shelled out about $292 a year. Today it's north of $4,100, a 14x increase that's outpaced both wages and general inflation. Rising home valuations and expanding local government budgets have kept the pressure on, and the post-pandemic reassessment wave pushed bills to record highs in most counties.
Price in 1960
$292.00
Price in 2025
$4,120.00
Total Change
+1311.0%
Years Tracked
65
Property Tax Rates Over Time
Compare to inflation: The chart above shows nominal (not inflation-adjusted) prices. Use the toggle to switch to inflation-adjusted values when available, or try the inflation calculator to convert any amount between years.
Key Insights
- Property taxes rose from $292 in 1960 to $4,120 in 2025 — a 14x increase that's quietly eaten into homeownership savings for millions of families.
- The sharpest run-up came during the mid-2000s housing boom, when bills jumped from $1,925 in 2000 to $2,880 in 2008 as assessed values skyrocketed alongside home prices.
- Even during the 2008-2011 crash, property taxes barely dipped — falling just $80 from peak to trough — because local governments were desperate for revenue and slow to reassess.
- Since 2020, average bills have climbed more than $600, driven by pandemic-era home price surges that triggered reassessments across the country.
Year-by-Year Data
| Year | Price (USD per year) | YoY Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | $292.00 | — |
| 1965 | $381.00 | +30.5% |
| 1970 | $508.00 | +33.3% |
| 1975 | $653.00 | +28.5% |
| 1980 | $806.00 | +23.4% |
| 1985 | $1,017.00 | +26.2% |
| 1990 | $1,357.00 | +33.4% |
| 1991 | $1,441.00 | +6.2% |
| 1992 | $1,489.00 | +3.3% |
| 1993 | $1,537.00 | +3.2% |
| 1994 | $1,579.00 | +2.7% |
| 1995 | $1,625.00 | +2.9% |
| 1996 | $1,672.00 | +2.9% |
| 1997 | $1,728.00 | +3.3% |
| 1998 | $1,790.00 | +3.6% |
| 1999 | $1,855.00 | +3.6% |
| 2000 | $1,925.00 | +3.8% |
| 2001 | $2,005.00 | +4.2% |
| 2002 | $2,090.00 | +4.2% |
| 2003 | $2,192.00 | +4.9% |
| 2004 | $2,315.00 | +5.6% |
| 2005 | $2,450.00 | +5.8% |
| 2006 | $2,607.00 | +6.4% |
| 2007 | $2,760.00 | +5.9% |
| 2008 | $2,880.00 | +4.3% |
| 2009 | $2,860.00 | -0.7% |
| 2010 | $2,830.00 | -1.0% |
| 2011 | $2,800.00 | -1.1% |
| 2012 | $2,810.00 | +0.4% |
| 2013 | $2,850.00 | +1.4% |
| 2014 | $2,910.00 | +2.1% |
| 2015 | $2,980.00 | +2.4% |
| 2016 | $3,070.00 | +3.0% |
| 2017 | $3,180.00 | +3.6% |
| 2018 | $3,310.00 | +4.1% |
| 2019 | $3,430.00 | +3.6% |
| 2020 | $3,500.00 | +2.0% |
| 2021 | $3,600.00 | +2.9% |
| 2022 | $3,785.00 | +5.1% |
| 2023 | $3,901.00 | +3.1% |
| 2024 | $4,020.00 | +3.1% |
| 2025 | $4,120.00 | +2.5% |
Sources & Methodology
Figures represent the mean annual property tax paid on owner-occupied single-family homes nationwide. Data is sourced from the Census Bureau's Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances and supplemented with Tax Foundation analyses. Early decades use decennial census benchmarks with intercensal interpolation.
Primary source: U.S. Census Bureau / Tax Foundation
For a full explanation of how we collect and adjust data, see our methodology page.