See how low property taxes in Idaho are

Ask any homeowner about expenses and they’ll tell you: If you’re a first-time buyer, you need to carefully calculate the total cost of owning a home before taking the plunge into homeownership.

Owning a home comes with dozens of additional costs, from mortgage payments and interest to upkeep, renovations, and household utility bills. It doesn’t take long before expenses add up—especially when they come on top of potential property tax costs.

To determine which states offer the lowest in property taxes, Roofstock analyzed 2021 data from Wallethub and the U.S. Census Bureau. Costs were then determined for real estate property tax rates, median real estate tax payments, and median home prices for every state and Washington D.C. These amounts were then contextualized with what first-time homebuyers need to know about property taxes.

Idaho by the numbers

- Effective real estate tax rate: 0.69%
- Annual taxes on $217.5k home: $1,492
- Idaho's median home value: $212,300
- Annual taxes on Idaho's median home: $1,456

Real estate taxes in Idaho are determined annually at the county level based on the full market value of the property which should, in theory, translate to a high property tax rate in this state. It doesn’t, though, thanks to a huge state homeowners exemption that exempts half the value of owner-occupied primary residences from property taxes, up to a limit of $100,000. What that exemption means for homeowners is that a house with a full market value of $200,000, that is owner-occupied, would be reduced to a value of $100,000, cutting the taxes in half for the owner. This massive exemption helps to greatly reduce the effective real estate tax rate in Idaho, making it one of the states with the lowest real estate tax rates in the country.

In some states, the high cost of property taxes can cause a home with an otherwise affordable price tag to be well out of someone’s price range. In others, the low cost of property taxes could give you a little more wiggle room in your budget—which is never a bad thing.

If the idea of weighing the estimated costs of property taxes seems overwhelming to you, start by looking at the states with the lowest property taxes listed below. The national list is reverse-ordered by effective real estate tax rate, with Hawaii as the state with the lowest property taxes, though the results would look different if it was ordered by the taxes on the state's median home. Whether you're looking for a dream home or next big investment, owning a home comes with several additional costs, property taxes being one of them.

States with the lowest property taxes

#1. Hawaii: 0.28% effective real estate tax rate
#2. Alabama: 0.41% effective real estate tax rate
#3. Colorado: 0.51% effective real estate tax rate
#4. Louisiana: 0.55% effective real estate tax rate
#5. Washington, D.C.: 0.56% effective real estate tax rate