Been looking into where to buy a home lately and just realized how crazy different property taxes are depending on where you move. Like, if you're in New Jersey you're paying 2.26% which is absolutely brutal, but Hawaii residents only pay 0.27%? That's wild. The national average sits around 0.99%, so there's a huge range depending on your state.

I started digging into which states actually have the lowest property tax burden and found some interesting patterns. Hawaii tops the list with that 0.27% rate, though homes there are pricey at around $722k median value. If you want something more affordable, Alabama is your state with the lowest property tax combined with reasonable home prices - just 0.39% rate and median homes around $173k. You'd only pay like $674 a year in taxes there.

Nevada and Colorado are tied at 0.48%, both pretty solid options if you want lower taxes. Idaho comes in at 0.49%, Arizona at 0.51%, and then Utah and South Carolina are both at 0.52%. Delaware's at 0.53% and Wyoming rounds out the bottom ten at 0.55%. The thing is, some of these states with the lowest property tax rates have higher home values, so your actual dollar amount might still be significant even with a lower percentage rate.

What's crazy is comparing the actual money you'd pay yearly. In New Jersey, homeowners are shelling out $8,796 annually on property taxes, which is over three times the national median of $2,795. Meanwhile in Alabama you're looking at just $674. That's a difference of over $8,000 a year just based on location.

If you're seriously considering a move and property taxes are part of your decision, definitely factor in both the tax rate and what homes actually cost in that state. A state with the lowest property tax rate might still end up costing you more if home prices are sky-high there. Worth running the actual numbers for wherever you're thinking about buying.