Property taxes fund local schools, roads, and emergency services, and they are one of the biggest ongoing costs of owning a home — one that never goes away, even after your mortgage is paid off. This calculator estimates your annual and monthly property tax from your home's assessed value and your local tax rate so you can plan your true cost of ownership.
How property tax is calculated
The basic formula is assessed value × tax rate. The tax rate is often expressed as a percentage or as a mill rate (dollars of tax per $1,000 of value). Your assessed value is set by the local assessor and may differ from the price you paid or the current market value.
Assessed value vs. market value
Many jurisdictions assess homes at a fraction of market value or cap how fast the assessment can rise each year. That is why two identical homes on the same street can have different tax bills — one may have been assessed more recently or lost an exemption the other still holds.
A worked example
A home assessed at $350,000 in an area with a 1.2% effective tax rate owes $4,200 a year, or $350 a month. If your lender collects taxes through escrow, that $350 is added to your monthly mortgage payment and paid on your behalf when the bill comes due.
How to potentially lower your bill
- Check whether you qualify for exemptions — homestead, senior, veteran, or disability exemptions can cut your assessed value.
- Review your assessment for errors in square footage, bedroom count, or lot size.
- Appeal your assessment if comparable homes are assessed lower than yours.
- Budget for annual increases — rates and assessments tend to rise over time, so do not assume today's bill is permanent.