Paying Your Fair Share of Property Taxes?

The average American household spends $2,127 on real-estate property taxes each year, and residents of the 27 states with vehicle property taxes shell out another $412. Considering these figures and the debt-fueled environment to which we have grown so accustomed, it should come as no surprise that roughly $11.8 billion in property taxes go unpaid each year, according to the National Tax Lien Association.

With that in mind, the personal finance website WalletHub today released its 2016’s Property Taxes by State report, which compares home and vehicle taxes across the nation and features insights from a panel of leading experts. A few highlights can be found below.

	States with the Highest Real-Estate Taxes			States with the Highest Vehicle Property Taxes
	41	New York		T-41	New Hampshire
	42	Rhode Island		T-41	Wyoming
	43	Vermont		43	Kansas
	44	Michigan		44	Massachusetts
	45	Nebraska		45	South Carolina
	46	Connecticut		46	Maine
	47	Texas		47	Missouri
	48	Wisconsin		48	Connecticut
	49	New Hampshire		49	Mississippi
	50	Illinois		50	Virginia
	51	New Jersey		51	Rhode Island

Key Stats:

• New Jersey has the highest real-estate taxes, $4,029, which is eight times more expensive than in Hawaii, the state with the lowest, $489.
• Twenty-seven states levy some form of vehicle property tax. Of those states, Rhode Island has the highest, $1,099, which is 13 times more expensive than in Montana, the state with the lowest, $86.
• Blue States have 39 percent higher real-estate property taxes, averaging $2,280, than Red States, averaging $1,642.