According to the Tax Foundation in Washington D.C., when it comes to the property tax burden that homeowners pay, Utah now ranks 7th best in the nation. That is good news for Utah taxpayers and shows the benefits of our nationwide gold standard property tax law – Truth in Taxation.
Your Taxpayers Association spearheaded the efforts in the 80s to pass on Truth-in-Taxation, and has worked for decades strengthening it and defending it against a near-constant onslaught of poor changes brought by some government entities.
When one looks at the property taxes paid as a percentage of owner occupied housing value, Utah ranks #43 (50th being the best/lowest) out of the 50 states with a ratio of 0.56%.
That is not far from the lowest in the country, which is Hawaii, that comes in at 0.31%. The three worst states in the country with the highest property tax burden on homeowners are New Hampshire at 1.89%, Illinois at 1.97% and New Jersey at the top at 2.13%.
To put that into perspective, if a home is valued at $400,000, the Utah rate of 0.56% produces a tax burden of $2,240.
Contrast that with the worst state in the ranking, New Jersey with a rate of 2.13%, and your tax burden is a whopping $8,520. That is $6,280 and 280% more per year than Utah.
It is no wonder that high tax states like New Jersey and Illinois continue to see residents and businesses flee their states for taxpayer friendly states like Utah.