See how low property taxes in Oklahoma 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.

Oklahoma by the numbers

- Effective real estate tax rate: 0.90%
- Annual taxes on $217.5k home: $1,952
- Oklahoma's median home value: $136,800
- Annual taxes on Oklahoma's median home: $1,228

The state of Oklahoma offers home buyers affordable housing prices overall, and it also offers surprisingly low property taxes, too. The low real estate taxes in this state has helped to attract a slew of new buyers and transplants from areas with much higher tax rates, making Oklahoma a hot commodity for people who want to cut down on what they’re shelling out in real estate taxes.

Part of the reason property taxes are low in this state is that while real estate taxes are typically the main source of revenue for many local governments across the nation, that’s not necessarily true in Oklahoma. In this state, local governments may use property taxes only to pay the debt on bonds approved by voters; under the Oklahoma Constitution, property tax hikes are limited for each government and purpose. Plus, most rate increases require voter approval, which means that the control is primarily in the hands of the general public—not the local governments.

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