State capitals · 2026

Property tax in every state capital county

For state employees, political-class relocators, capitol-area journalists, and anyone who just wants to compare the seats of US government. All 50 state capital counties, ranked low to high by effective property tax rate.

#	Capital city	State	County	Effective rate	Median bill
1	Honolulu	HI Hawaii	Honolulu	0.30%	$2,490
2	Dover	DE Delaware	Kent	0.42%	$1,176
3	Montgomery	AL Alabama	Montgomery	0.45%	$833
4	Charleston	WV West Virginia	Kanawha	0.51%	$663
5	Denver	CO Colorado	Denver	0.55%	$3,190
6	Santa Fe	NM New Mexico	Santa Fe	0.55%	$2,420
7	Phoenix	AZ Arizona	Maricopa	0.58%	$2,520
8	Columbia	SC South Carolina	Richland	0.60%	$1,410
9	Salt Lake City	UT Utah	Salt Lake	0.60%	$3,360
10	Baton Rouge	LA Louisiana	East Baton Rouge	0.61%	$1,495
11	Little Rock	AR Arkansas	Pulaski	0.65%	$1,268
12	Cheyenne	WY Wyoming	Laramie	0.66%	$1,848
13	Boise	ID Idaho	Ada	0.71%	$3,763
14	Sacramento	CA California	Sacramento	0.73%	$4,052
15	Nashville	TN Tennessee	Davidson	0.74%	$3,220
16	Helena	MT Montana	Lewis and Clark	0.78%	$3,471
17	Jackson	MS Mississippi	Hinds	0.81%	$1,175
18	Frankfort	KY Kentucky	Franklin	0.84%	$1,638
19	Annapolis	MD Maryland	Anne Arundel	0.85%	$3,783
20	Indianapolis	IN Indiana	Marion	0.91%	$1,747
21	Raleigh	NC North Carolina	Wake	0.91%	$4,100
22	Jefferson City	MO Missouri	Cole	0.94%	$1,833
23	Juneau	AK Alaska	Juneau	0.95%	$4,038
24	Tallahassee	FL Florida	Leon	1.00%	$2,650
25	Olympia	WA Washington	Thurston	1.04%	$4,697
26	Bismarck	ND North Dakota	Burleigh	1.05%	$2,993
27	Atlanta	GA Georgia	Fulton	1.10%	$4,310
28	Salem	OR Oregon	Marion	1.13%	$4,012
29	Richmond	VA Virginia	Richmond	1.20%	$3,442
30	St. Paul	MN Minnesota	Ramsey	1.27%	$3,493
31	Augusta	ME Maine	Kennebec	1.30%	$3,705
32	Pierre	SD South Dakota	Hughes	1.30%	$2,795
33	Lansing	MI Michigan	Ingham	1.55%	$3,333
34	Topeka	KS Kansas	Shawnee	1.55%	$2,635
35	Harrisburg	PA Pennsylvania	Dauphin	1.74%	$3,828
36	Madison	WI Wisconsin	Dane	1.80%	$4,149
37	Montpelier	VT Vermont	Washington	1.80%	$6,120
38	Des Moines	IA Iowa	Polk	1.85%	$3,700
39	Providence	RI Rhode Island	Providence	1.85%	$6,753
40	Columbus	OH Ohio	Franklin	1.95%	$5,495
41	Lincoln	NE Nebraska	Lancaster	1.97%	$4,827
42	Austin	TX Texas	Travis	2.10%	$10,815
43	Springfield	IL Illinois	Sangamon	2.10%	$3,675
44	Hartford	CT Connecticut	Hartford	2.20%	$6,710
45	Albany	NY New York	Albany	2.45%	$6,615
46	Concord	NH New Hampshire	Merrimack	2.45%	$9,433
47	Trenton	NJ New Jersey	Mercer	2.79%	$8,510

The capital-county pattern

State capitals share a few structural quirks. Most have large state-government employment bases, which keeps the local economy stable but doesn’t add to the tax base — state buildings, university campuses, and capitol grounds are tax-exempt. The substantial nonprofit and government sector pushes more of the tax burden onto residential homeowners.

Capital cities also tend to have older housing stock than booming non-capital counties. That keeps median home values moderate, which keeps absolute bills lower than the rate alone might suggest. Honolulu, an outlier, has a 0.27% rate but $700K+ home values, so the median bill is still substantial.

For more comparison: 50 largest US counties, states ranked by rate, or compare any two counties directly.