Property Tax by State on a $430K Home at a 6.95% Mortgage Rate: How a $7,525 Tax Gap Costs You $94,700 in Buying Power
Mortgage rates just hit 6.95%, the highest of the year according to Realtor.com News' piece "Mortgage Calculator: Here's How Much You Need To Buy a $430K Home at a 6.95% Rate." Your budget was already tight. Now the number you can actually control is the one most buyers ignore: the property tax bill.
Two homes can carry the same $430,000 price tag and the same 6.95% loan, yet one owner pays about $799/month in property tax and the other pays about $172/month. That $627 monthly difference is the same size as a $94,700 swing in how much house you can borrow for.
This post does the math state by state, explains why a "1.92% rate" can really be a 0.48% burden, and shows a worked appeal example you can copy, including the deadlines for six states.
What 6.95% does to a $430K home
Assume 20% down ($86,000), a $344,000 loan, and a 30-year fixed at 6.95%. The principal and interest payment comes to about $2,277/month. That is my own arithmetic, not a figure taken from the Realtor.com article. Every $1,000 you borrow costs about $6.62/month at this rate, and that ratio is what lets us convert tax dollars into buying power.
Property tax is the piece that changes with your zip code. It rides on top of that $2,277 every month for as long as you own the home. Insurance, HOA fees, and maintenance come on top of that.
Property tax on a $430K home, by state
The effective rates below are approximate figures from the Tax Foundation's state property tax table, one of eight sources in Tavirex's data layer (13,144 rows in total, including Census ACS county tax and housing tables, Lincoln Institute assessment ratio data, IAAO ratio study standards, NCSL exemption data, and NTUF appeal statistics). The dollar figures are my calculations. Your county's actual rate will differ, so treat this as a map and not a bill.
| State | Approx. effective rate | Annual tax on $430K | Monthly tax | Extra monthly vs. Tennessee | Borrowing power consumed vs. Tennessee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Jersey | 2.23% | $9,589 | $799 | +$627 | $94,700 |
| Illinois | 2.07% | $8,901 | $742 | +$570 | $86,100 |
| Texas | 1.60% | $6,880 | $573 | +$401 | $60,600 |
| Florida | 0.80% | $3,440 | $287 | +$115 | $17,300 |
| California | 0.68% | $2,924 | $244 | +$72 | $10,800 |
| Tennessee | 0.48% | $2,064 | $172 | baseline | baseline |
| Hawaii | 0.27% | $1,161 | $97 | −$75 | −$11,300 |
The full monthly cost, principal, interest, and property tax only, looks like this:
- New Jersey: $2,277 + $799 = $3,076/month
- Tennessee: $2,277 + $172 = $2,449/month
The $7,525/year gap (9,589 − 2,064) is about $75,000 over ten years. It's also why two households with identical incomes can qualify for very different homes.
A caveat on California: 0.68% is a statewide average that blends long-time owners on old Prop 13 values with recent buyers. A buyer who just paid $430K would typically pay closer to 1.1–1.25% once local bonds and direct assessments are added, so the table understates a new California buyer's bill.
For a deeper dive on the same price point, see our earlier 430K home comparison of New Jersey and Tennessee with car-payment math. This is the kind of comparison Tavirex runs with your actual price and rate, so you don't have to build the spreadsheet yourself.
Effective rate vs. nominal rate: why 1.92% can really be 0.48%
"Am I paying more than my neighbors?" starts with knowing which rate you're looking at.
- Nominal rate: the tax rate applied to your assessed value.
- Effective rate: your actual tax divided by your home's market value.
Tennessee is the classic example. Residential property there is assessed at 25% of market value. On a $430,000 home:
- Assessed value: $430,000 × 25% = $107,500
- Tax bill (from the table): $2,064
- Nominal rate: 2,064 ÷ 107,500 = 1.92% of assessed value
- Effective rate: 2,064 ÷ 430,000 = 0.48% of market value
A Tennessee tax rate of $1.92 per $100 looks steeper than New Jersey's rate on paper. It isn't, because the base it multiplies has already been cut by 75%. Comparing millage rates across states without checking the assessment ratio is one of the most common mistakes homeowners make. The Lincoln Institute's significant features data documents these ratio differences state by state.
To find your own county's effective rate, use the Census ACS 5-year county tables: median real estate taxes paid divided by median home value. It's a quick sanity check on whether your bill looks normal for your area.
Where a $9,589 New Jersey bill goes
Millage rates blend several taxing bodies into one number. A typical New Jersey split on a $9,589 bill looks roughly like this. The proportions are illustrative and vary a lot by town.
| Component | Approx. share | Approx. dollars | What it pays for |
|---|---|---|---|
| School district | ~50% | ~$4,800 | Teachers, buildings, transportation |
| Municipal | ~25% | ~$2,400 | Police, roads, town services |
| County | ~18% | ~$1,700 | Courts, county roads, parks |
| Fire, library, open space, other | ~7% | ~$690 | Special-purpose districts |
Check your own bill to see the real split. Our New Jersey millage breakdown walks through it line by line.
What the odd listings teach about property tax
The other stories in this week's Realtor.com News feed have little to do with taxes on the surface. Each one points to a real property tax lesson, though.
The $17 million Malibu Cactus House: what a reassessment does
Realtor.com News' profile "Inside 'The Cactus House'" describes a restored midcentury Malibu estate with 58 feet of waterfront access. Whatever the buyer pays, California's Prop 13 will reset the assessed value to the purchase price. Base tax is 1%, plus voter-approved bonds and special assessments. At a combined 1.1–1.25%, a $17 million purchase runs roughly $187,000–$212,000/year.
The same price at New Jersey's approximate 2.23% would be about $379,100. At Tennessee's approximate 0.48% it would be about $81,600. Those are illustrative figures that ignore caps, exemptions, and local rate differences. The point is that in Prop 13 states, the timing of your purchase can matter more than the statewide average. Our Los Angeles County millage breakdown shows how the bond layers stack.
The 386-acre Washington ranch: land isn't always taxed at market value
Realtor.com News' "A Homesteader's Dream" covers a Washington sporting retreat with grain-silo living quarters, priced around $895K per the article's URL. Rural land like this is where classification rules matter. Washington's open space, farm and agricultural, and timber programs (RCW 84.34) can assess qualifying land at current-use value instead of market value. The tradeoff is rollback taxes and interest if you withdraw the land or change its use. If you're buying acreage, ask the assessor whether the parcel is enrolled and what leaving the program would cost.
The San Francisco Sea Cliff squatter case: check your own record
Realtor.com News' "Squatters Take Over $4.4 Million San Francisco Mansion" reports that the city is suing two people accused of fraudulently attempting to take ownership of a Sea Cliff mansion. I'm only working from the article's summary, but the lesson for owners is practical. Pull up your parcel record at the assessor's office once a year and confirm the owner name, mailing address, and exemptions are correct. Many county recorders also offer free property fraud alerts that notify you when a document is filed against your parcel.
The appliance article: repairs aren't reassessments
Realtor.com News' "Keeping The Appliances Working for 20+ Years" makes a good case for repairing over replacing. For tax purposes, like-for-like replacement generally doesn't trigger a reassessment, but a permitted kitchen remodel often does. Keep receipts and permit records so you can show what actually changed. Your tax bill is the biggest recurring cost you can legally contest, so it's worth the same attention as your appliances.
Worked example: a $40,000 over-assessment on a $430K home
Say your $430,000 home is assessed at $470,000 in a hypothetical New Jersey town with a nominal general rate of 2.05 per $100.
| As assessed | If corrected | |
|---|---|---|
| Assessed value | $470,000 | $430,000 |
| Tax at 2.05% | $9,635 | $8,815 |
| Effective rate on $430K market value | 2.24% | 2.05% |
| Assessment ratio | 109% | 100% |
Annual savings: $820. Over 10 years that's $8,200 undiscounted. If you plan to stay 8 more years and discount at 5%, the present value is:
$820 × [1 − 1.05⁻⁸] ÷ 0.05 = $820 × 6.463 ≈ $5,300
That assumes the correction holds until the next revaluation. Compare that number with a filing fee and a few evenings of work.
One honesty check: a 109% ratio isn't automatically an error. IAAO's ratio study standards treat a jurisdiction-wide median assessment level between 90% and 110% as acceptable. Your appeal case rests on your ratio compared with your neighbors' and your town's average. A New Jersey board will also look at your town's average ratio under Chapter 123 rules. Check that first, and treat this as general education, not legal advice.
Appeal deadlines by state
Deadlines change and vary by county, so confirm with your assessor. As of this writing (late September 2026), several are already closed.
| State | Typical appeal window | Where to file |
|---|---|---|
| New Jersey | April 1 (May 1 in reval/reassessment years) | County Board of Taxation |
| Illinois | Varies by county and township, often 30 days after notice publication | Board of Review |
| Texas | May 15 or 30 days after notice | Appraisal Review Board |
| Florida | 25 days after TRIM notice | Value Adjustment Board |
| California | July 2–Sept 15 or Nov 30, depending on county | Assessment Appeals Board |
| Washington | 60 days after notice in many counties (King County), otherwise July 1 | County Board of Equalization |
If you're in New Jersey, the next April 1 deadline is months away, which is the perfect time to gather comparables. Los Angeles County's regular filing window runs through November 30, while San Francisco's closed September 15.
Build your comparable sales case in four steps
- Pull 3–5 sales within the last 6–12 months, in your neighborhood, with similar size, age, condition, and lot.
- Adjust honestly for real differences such as a finished basement or a renovated kitchen. Assessors ignore comps that hide flaws.
- Compute your ratio: your assessed value divided by your implied market value from those comps.
- Quantify the stakes before filing: (assessment reduction) × (nominal rate) = annual savings.
Also check exemptions while you're at it. NCSL's homestead exemption data covers 204 rows of state-level exemption rules, and unclaimed senior, veteran, and disability exemptions are often worth more than an appeal. If you bought recently, our guide on the new homebuyer property tax penalty explains why assessment caps can leave you paying more than your neighbors.
The bottom line
At 6.95%, you can't control the mortgage rate. You can control whether your assessment is accurate and whether you're claiming every exemption you qualify for. On a $430K home, the state you live in swings your buying power by up to $94,700. Inside any given state, a $40,000 assessment error can be worth another $5,300 in present value.
Want your own numbers? Run your price, rate, county, and assessment through Tavirex's comparison tool to see your effective rate, your gap versus other states, and what an appeal could save you before you file.
Data behind this post
The figures above are computed from the product's own reference tables, last refreshed 2026-09-13:
- 6,281 rows from census_acs_county_taxes
- 6,287 rows from census_acs_housing
- 9 rows from config_defaults
- 51 rows from iaao_reassessment
- 51 rows from lincoln_institute_ratios
- 204 rows from ncsl_exemptions
- 6 rows from ntuf_appeal_stats
- 255 rows from tax_foundation_rates
Related tools
- Elovane: solar payback on the same roof, with the tax side priced in
- Vorilanex: the natural-disaster coverage gap on the same property
- RiskBeforeBuy: what a purchase price carries before you sign
Sources
- Squatters Take Over $4.4 Million San Francisco Mansion With Bizarre Ownership History — Realtor.com News
- Mortgage Calculator: Here’s How Much You Need To Buy a $430K Home at a 6.95% Rate, the Highest of the Year — Realtor.com News
- Inside ‘The Cactus House’: A $17 Million Restored Malibu Sanctuary on a Secret Beach — Realtor.com News
- Keeping The Appliances Working for 20+ Years Is Like Winning the Homeowner Jackpot — Realtor.com News
- A Homesteader’s Dream: This 386-Acre Sporting Retreat Uses Transformed Grain Silos as Living Quarters — Realtor.com News