The Minnesota Center for Fiscal Excellence and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy recently released their “50-State Property Tax Comparison Study.” The in-depth look at taxes paid last year offers a wide range of information about both residential property taxes and commercial property taxes across the nation.
The study includes a look at commercial property tax rates in the largest city in each state, plus Washington DC. For purposes of comparison, it examines effective tax rates for $1 million-valued property (plus $200k in fixtures).
Top ten
The city with the highest rate: Detroit, at 3.77 percent, followed by Providence, Rhode Island at 3.61 percent. Minneapolis has the tenth highest commercial property tax rate: 2.77 percent.
The lowest in the nation last year can be found in Cheyenne, Wyoming, with a rate of just .069 percent.
The study’s authors also examined how effective tax rates vary on commercial properties based on their value, looking at rates for properties valued at $100,000, $1 million and $25 million. The assumption with all three values is the properties include fixtures worth 20 percent of the real property value.
Calling out Minneapolis
Minneapolis is cited as a city with an especially wide tax rate range, placing 27th highest in the nation for $100k properties and 7th highest for those valued at $25 million.
The study also examined commercial property tax rates in a rural community in each of the 50 states and then compared them to the rates in the largest cities in the respective states. The authors noted that, on average, commercial property tax rates in rural communities are more than 8 percent lower than the rates in the big cities in each state.
We will have more from this fascinating profile of American property taxes in an upcoming post. Please check back.