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Florida Property Tax Rates 2026: County Comparison + Monthly Cost Breakdown

August 5, 2026

5 minutes

If you've searched for Florida property tax rates by county, chances are you already know the state average doesn't tell you much. Property tax in Florida is set at the county level, so the real number depends on where the address sits, not on a single statewide figure - which is exactly why so many searches for florida property tax by county, florida property tax rate, and property tax rate in florida keep landing on county-level tables instead of one flat percentage.

Florida's average effective property tax rate is 0.75% of a home's value, below the national average of 0.89%, according to SmartAsset's analysis of median tax payments and median home values. On a typical Florida home, now valued around $378,000 according that works out to roughly $2,993 a year, or about $249 a month, before any exemptions - a common answer to how much is property tax in Florida and to the related how much is property tax in Florida per month.

That average is a starting point, not an answer. This guide breaks down Florida property tax rates by county, converts the annual numbers into a monthly cost you can compare against a mortgage payment, and walks through the exemptions, deadlines, and a 2026 ballot measure that could change all of it starting in 2027.

Florida Property Tax Rates in 2026, at a Glance

Florida property tax rates translate into a real dollar gap that widens as home price rises, and it's easier to see once you put a monthly number next to the annual one.


Home valueFlorida (0.75%) - annual / monthlyNational (0.89%) - annual / monthlyMonthly difference
$300,000$2,250 / $187.50$2,670 / $222.50$35.00
$400,000$3,000 / $250.00$3,560 / $296.67$46.67
$500,000$3,750 / $312.50$4,450 / $370.83$58.33

That monthly gap matters more than it looks like on paper. Property tax gets folded into most mortgage escrow accounts, so it shows up inside your monthly payment and factors into how a lender calculates your debt-to-income ratio, not just as a bill you see once a year - one reason so many buyers run a florida property tax calculator or a real estate tax calculator before making an offer.

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Why Florida Leans on Property Tax Instead of Income Tax

Florida has no state income tax, which is a big part of why property tax carries more weight here than it does in states that split the burden across income, sales, and property levies. Searches for no state income tax states and states with no income tax almost always surface Florida alongside Texas, since both fund government mainly through other levies. The state funds itself mainly through sales tax, at a 6% base rate plus local surtaxes that bring the average combined rate to around 7.02%, and through property tax, according to the Tax Foundation.

That trade-off is worth naming directly: no state income tax doesn't mean no property tax. Every U.S. state levies some form of property tax, including Florida. Hawaii currently has the lowest average effective rate in the country, near 0.27%, and New Jersey has the highest, above 2.2% - a data point behind most searches for property tax rates by state, highest property tax states, states with lowest property tax, new jersey property tax, and new jersey tax rate. So "no income tax" states like Florida and Texas still land somewhere in the middle to upper range on property tax rate specifically, not at the bottom, even though they show up constantly in state income tax, state income tax by state, and state income tax rates comparisons for the opposite reason.

It's also worth separating property tax from estate tax, since the two get confused in searches about what happens to a home after an owner dies. Florida has no state estate tax or inheritance tax - the answer behind estate tax florida, inheritance tax florida, and death tax queries. What does change at death is the property's Save Our Homes protection, covered later in this guide, which is a property tax mechanic, not an estate tax exemption question tied to federal estate tax exemption 2026 figures.

Florida Property Tax Rates by County (2026)

This is the section most people are really looking for: Florida property tax rates by county, using SmartAsset's analysis of median home values and median tax payments in each. It's also the table that answers property tax rates by county in florida, florida property tax rate by county, and - for anyone picturing this data plotted geographically - florida property tax rates by county map.

CountyMedian home valueAnnual taxMonthly costEffective rate
Miami-Dade$547,200$4,141$345.080.76%
Broward$471,900$4,423$368.580.94%
Palm Beach$513,700$4,240$353.330.83%
Hillsborough$420,000$3,453$287.750.82%
Orange$432,500$3,227$268.920.75%
Duval$333,700$2,566$213.830.77%
Lee$396,500$3,087$257.250.78%
Polk$305,400$2,245$187.080.74%
Pinellas$398,400$2,655$221.250.67%
Brevard$372,900$2,597$216.420.70%

These effective rates are the fairest way to answer the average property tax in Florida question, since they're built from actual median tax payments rather than a single published millage number. If you're specifically searching hillsborough county property tax rate 2026, palm beach county property tax rate 2026, orange county florida property tax rate 2026, property tax rate broward county florida 2026, or the county's neighbors in pasco county florida property tax rate 2026, marion county florida property tax rate 2026, and sarasota county property tax rate 2026, the table above covers the counties SmartAsset publishes medians for; for a county not listed here, your county property appraiser's real property search or a florida property tax calculator by zip code will get you the same effective-rate answer for that specific address.

A note on how these Florida property tax rates get set: county commissions, school boards, and any special taxing districts each set their own millage rate every September, and your bill is the sum of all of them applied to your taxable value. That's why Palm Beach and Hillsborough carry higher effective rates than their home values alone would suggest. It usually points to heavier local school and special-district levies rather than anything about the homes themselves.

If you're comparing Florida property tax rates by city rather than by county, it helps to know that Florida doesn't generally set property tax at the municipal level the way some states do. A handful of cities layer on their own small local tax levies, but the county - plus the school district and any special districts that serve that address - does most of the work. When you search a specific city's rate, you're really looking for the county underneath it: Orlando sits in Orange County, Tampa in Hillsborough, and Miami in Miami-Dade.

Two counties worth flagging by name: the Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser's office and the Orange County Property Appraiser's office both publish free online lookup tools - the same kind of tool people mean when they search property appraiser orange county, property appraiser dade county, miami dade county appraiser, property appraiser tampa, or property appraiser orlando - where you can search a property by address, owner name, or parcel number and see its current assessed value and exemptions on file. Other counties run the same kind of real property search: property appraiser st lucie county, st johns county fl property search, and brevard county property appraiser search all point to the equivalent office for those addresses.

If you're weighing counties partly on affordability, Florida's most affordable places to live and Florida's safest cities are useful companion reads, since tax rate is only one input into total monthly cost.

The highest and lowest Florida property tax rates by county

At the low end, Monroe County's effective rate runs about 0.52%, with Walton County close behind at 0.53% - the two counties that usually answer which florida county has the lowest property taxes, florida counties with lowest property taxes, cheapest property taxes in florida, and lowest property taxes in florida. At the high end, St. Lucie County sits near 1.00%, with Broward and Alachua close behind at 0.94% and 0.92%.

Chasing the lowest percentage on the map can backfire. Monroe County's low rate sits on a median home value near $877,200, so the actual dollar bill there, around $4,600 a year or roughly $383 a month, still lands above most of the state. Rate and home price move together, and the county with the lowest percentage isn't always the county with the lowest bill.

How Florida Calculates Your Property Tax Bill

Florida property tax rates apply to a specific formula everywhere in the state, even though the rate itself changes by county: assessed value, minus exemptions, multiplied by the millage rate. That formula is the basis for how to calculate property tax in Florida and for what any florida property tax calculator is doing behind the scenes.

Your county property appraiser sets the assessed value every January 1. If you just closed on the home, the assessed value typically resets close to your purchase price for that first tax year. Once the home qualifies as your homestead, Florida Statute 193.155 caps future increases in assessed value at 3% a year or the change in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower, starting the year after you file, not your first year of ownership. That 3% cap is also the direct answer to how much can property taxes go up in a year for a homesteaded property, and it's the mechanism behind why is my property tax going up questions when a non-homesteaded property resets closer to full market value instead.

The millage rate is the tax per $1,000 of taxable value, set separately by the county, school board, city, and any special districts that serve the property. A combined rate of 18 mills means $18 in tax for every $1,000 of taxable value after exemptions are subtracted.

Run the math on a $400,000 home in an 18-mill county with a full homestead exemption applied: taxable value drops from $400,000 to roughly $348,589, and the bill comes to about $6,275 gross, or a little over $522 a month, before the effective-rate adjustments that show up on an actual TRIM notice. The effective rates in the county table above already account for those adjustments, which is why they're the more reliable number for comparing Florida property tax rates across counties than the raw millage rate alone, and why a florida property tax calculator by zip code will usually land closer to the effective-rate figure than to the raw millage math.

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The Homestead Exemption and Save Our Homes Cap in 2026

The homestead exemption is the single biggest lever most Florida homeowners have over their own bill, and it only applies to a primary residence. It's also the mechanism behind most searches for florida homestead exemption, how to get homestead exemption in florida, florida homestead exemption requirements, and how much is homestead exemption in florida.

The exemption has two tiers. The first $25,000 of assessed value is exempt from every property tax, including school district levies. A second tier applies to assessed value between $50,000 and $75,000, exempting that amount from all levies except school taxes.

That second tier used to be fixed at $25,000. Since voters approved Constitutional Amendment 5 in 2024, it now adjusts each year for inflation. For the 2026 tax year, the total homestead exemption is $51,411, up from $50,722 in 2025, according to the St. Johns County Property Appraiser's office. The adjustment is small year to year, but it compounds, and it can only move up, never below the original $50,000 floor - a detail worth knowing before running a homestead exemption florida calculator on your own numbers.

Filing for homestead also unlocks the Save Our Homes cap described above (the "save our homes florida" and florida save my home protection), which is often worth more over time than the exemption itself. In a fast-appreciating market, a homesteaded owner's taxable value can end up well below market value after a few years, while a non-homesteaded property resets closer to full market value every year - a large part of why did property taxes go up in Florida and general property tax increase florida questions trace back to homestead status rather than the millage rate itself.

Other exemptions worth checking

A homestead tax exemption is not the only relief available, and several categories go unclaimed simply because homeowners don't know to file a tax exemption application.

Homeowners 65 and older may qualify for an additional senior exemption in many counties - the basis for senior property tax relief in Florida searches - subject to local income limits. A separate Long-Term Resident Senior Exemption is available to owners 65 or older who have lived in the same home for at least 25 years, with a 2026 household income limit around $38,686 and a home value cap near $250,000, according to mortgage-industry guidance published this year.

Veterans with a 100% permanent and total disability rating may qualify for a full exemption from ad valorem tax on their primary residence. Surviving spouses who haven't remarried can claim a $5,000 exemption under Florida Statute 196.202. Land used for legitimate agricultural purposes, including working farmland on the edge of growing metro areas, can be assessed at its agricultural use value instead of market value under Florida's greenbelt law - a land tax provision that meaningfully lowers the bill on qualifying parcels.

How to Look Up, Estimate, or Search Your Florida Property Tax Bill

If you want to check a specific address rather than a county average, three tools cover most of what you'll need - and they're the tools behind nearly every property records, property search, and look up property owner query tied to this topic.

Every county property appraiser's office runs a free real property search - the tool people mean when they search real property search, property owner search, look up property owner by address, property value search by address, property check, or property address owner search - where you can look up a parcel by owner name, street address, or parcel number and see the current assessed value, exemptions on file, and tax history. Miami-focused versions of this same search show up in miami dade county property search, miami dade property taxes, miami dade property tax search, and miami dade property appraiser search, and Orange County's version answers orange county property search and orange county property tax. This is the same property tax search a title company or real estate appraiser would run before closing, and it's worth doing before you make an offer, not after.

Third-party sites like SmartAsset publish a florida property tax calculator and estimator that lets you enter a home value and county to get a quick estimate - the answer to florida property tax calculator by zip code, tax calculator florida, and property tax calculator searches - which is useful for comparing Florida property tax rates across a shortlist of counties before you narrow down a search by zip code. These tools are estimates built from median data, not a substitute for your county's actual TRIM notice once you own the home, and they're distinct from an income tax calculator florida search, since Florida has no personal income tax to calculate in the first place.

For a property tax breakdown specific to a purchase you're already under contract on, your closing disclosure and your county appraiser's site together will give you the real number, prorated for the exact day you close. Once you own the home, the same county sites typically support paying your property tax payment or property tax bill online, so you don't need a separate pay my property tax online search once you know which county site to use.

Are Florida Property Taxes Paid in Arrears or in Advance

Florida assesses your home's value on January 1 and mails Florida property tax bill notices for that same year starting around November 1, with payment due by March 31 of the following year. Because the bill isn't paid in full until near the end of, or after, the tax year it covers, Florida's system is generally described as paying in arrears rather than in advance.

At closing, this shows up as a proration: the seller typically credits the buyer for their share of taxes covering the period they owned the home, and the buyer becomes responsible for the full year's bill when it comes due. It also matters if you buy mid-year: your first bill is based on the seller's old assessed value, but your own assessment resets to your purchase price the following January 1, which often means a noticeably different bill in year two.

Deadlines, Discounts, and What Happens If You Miss One

Florida rewards early payment and penalizes late payment on a fixed schedule that doesn't vary by county - the schedule behind when are property taxes due in Florida, florida property tax due dates, and when are property taxes due questions each year.


ActionDateWhat happens
Assessed value setJanuary 1Becomes the base for that year's bill
Homestead filing deadlineMarch 1Miss it and you lose the exemption for the entire year
TRIM notice issuedAugustYour window to appeal an inflated assessment
Tax bills mailedOn or before November 1Early-payment discount period opens
Final payment dueMarch 31 (following year)After this date, the account is delinquent

Paying early comes with a built-in discount: 4% in November, 3% in December, 2% in January, and 1% in February, with no discount in March. Miss the March 31 deadline and the account becomes delinquent on April 1, triggering a 3% penalty and, if it goes unresolved, a tax certificate sale and eventually a tax deed sale that can transfer the property to a new owner.

If you inherit a home rather than buy one, two things change quickly. The Save Our Homes cap ends unless a surviving spouse remains in the home, and the property resets toward full market value. Heirs who want to keep the exemption need to make the home their primary residence and file their own homestead application by January 1 of the following year, or they lose the benefit entirely.

Could Florida Eliminate Property Taxes? Where the 2026 Ballot Measure Stands

This one is genuinely in motion, and it's worth understanding before you assume today's Florida property tax rates and exemption numbers will still apply in 2028.

On June 2, 2026, the Florida Legislature passed HJR 1F, titled "Save Our Homes from Excessive Property Taxes," in a special session called by Governor Ron DeSantis. The House voted 75-26 and the Senate 30-9. The measure does not become law on its own. It goes to voters on the November 3, 2026 general election ballot, where it needs at least 60% approval under the state constitution.

As passed, the measure would raise the homestead exemption to $150,000 in 2027 and to $250,000 in 2028, but only for non-school levies. The school portion of a typical tax bill, which runs close to 40% of the total, would still apply. A House staff analysis estimated the change would cut annual revenue to non-school local governments by roughly $4.6 billion initially, growing toward $8.4 billion a year, according to reporting from CBS News Miami - one of the bigger 2026 tax changes on the horizon for anyone tracking 2026 tax rates statewide.

If voters approve it, most provisions take effect January 1, 2027. If they don't, Florida's current homestead structure, including the $51,411 exemption and the Save Our Homes cap described above, continues unchanged. Either way, nothing about your 2026 tax bill changes based on this vote. The earliest any homeowner would see a different number is the 2027 tax year.

What a Property Tax Bill Looks Like on a Higher-Value Home

The percentages above compress a lot of range once you move into seven-figure home prices, where county choice affects the bill by hundreds of dollars a month rather than tens.

On a $1,000,000 home, a Monroe County effective rate near 0.52% works out to about $5,200 a year, or roughly $433 a month. The same home in St. Lucie County, at close to 1.00%, works out to roughly $10,000 a year, or about $833 a month. That's a $400 monthly gap for an identical purchase price, driven entirely by county line - a good illustration of why property tax rates by state comparisons (Florida real estate taxes versus Texas property taxes, for instance) matter less than the county-level number once you're actually under contract.

Buyers at this price point are also the ones most likely to see a real dollar figure from bundling services. Purchasing through reAlpha Realty and financing through reAlpha Mortgage can put up to 1.5% cash back at closing toward your costs, which on a $1,000,000 purchase comes to as much as $15,000. On a more typical Florida home in the $350,000 to $450,000 range, the same 1.5% works out to a smaller flat number, so it's more useful to think of it as a percentage of your purchase price than a fixed dollar figure until you're closer to making an offer.

Buying in Florida? What This Means for Your Move

Property tax is one line item in a larger affordability picture that includes insurance, HOA dues, and the mortgage payment itself. If you're still deciding whether renting or buying makes more sense given where you are in your search, our rent-versus-buy breakdown walks through that decision separately from the tax question.

For buyers weighing Florida against other states, our state-by-state property tax comparison and our breakdown of how property tax affects affordability and loan approval go into the mechanics in more detail. And if you want to understand where your prequalification number comes from before you factor in taxes and insurance, prequalification versus preapproval is worth a read before you start touring homes.

reAlpha is a mortgage brokerage with access to a network of lenders, working alongside reAlpha Realty for the real estate side and Hyperfast Title, which coordinates directly with your reAlpha agent and reAlpha Mortgage loan officer, for closing. Buyers who use both reAlpha Realty and reAlpha Mortgage on the same purchase can receive up to 1.5% cash back at closing; buyers using reAlpha Realty alone can receive up to 1% cash back. Across 2025, reAlpha homebuyers saved an average of $10,000 through this structure.

FAQs

What are Florida property tax rates in 2026?

Florida's statewide effective rate averages 0.75%, according to SmartAsset, compared with a 0.89% national average. By county, rates range from about 0.52% in Monroe County to close to 1.00% in St. Lucie County, so the county matters more than the state figure - which is why Florida property tax rates by county, rather than a single florida property tax rate 2026 headline number, are the more useful search.

How much is property tax in Florida?

On a typical $378,000 Florida home, expect around $2,993 a year, or about $249 a month, before exemptions. The homestead exemption and Save Our Homes cap both reduce that number for a primary residence over time.

What is the average property tax in Florida?

The statewide average effective rate is 0.75% of home value, translating to a median annual bill near $2,993, though the actual figure swings by several hundred dollars a month depending on county and whether the homestead exemption is filed.

How do I qualify for the homestead exemption in Florida?

You need to own the home and use it as your primary residence as of January 1 of the tax year. You'll typically need a Florida driver's license, voter registration or a Declaration of Domicile tied to the property address, and proof of residency such as a utility bill. File Form DR-501 with your county property appraiser by March 1.

Are Florida property taxes paid in arrears or in advance?

In arrears. Florida assesses value on January 1, bills starting around November 1 of that same year, and gives you until March 31 of the following year to pay in full, which means the payment lands near the end of, or after, the year it covers.

What happens if I don't pay my Florida property taxes?

Accounts become delinquent on April 1 with a 3% penalty. If it stays unpaid, the county can sell a tax certificate on the debt and, eventually, initiate a tax deed sale that can result in the property being sold to satisfy the debt.

What happens to property taxes when a homeowner dies?

The Save Our Homes cap ends unless a surviving spouse continues to live in the home, and the assessed value can reset toward market value. Heirs who want to keep the homestead exemption need to move in and file their own DR-501 by January 1 of the year following the owner's death. Florida has no separate state estate tax that applies on top of this.

What is the lowest-tax county in Florida, and does any state have no property tax?

Monroe County has the lowest effective rate in Florida, near 0.52%, though its high median home value means the actual dollar bill there is still above the state median. No U.S. state charges zero property tax; Hawaii has the lowest average rate in the country, near 0.27%.

Will Florida eliminate property taxes?

Not yet, and not for the 2026 tax year regardless of the outcome. The Legislature passed HJR 1F in June 2026, sending a homestead exemption expansion, to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028 for non-school levies, to the November 3, 2026 ballot. It needs 60% voter approval and would not take effect until January 1, 2027 at the earliest.

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Article by

DA
Daniel Ares

As a great communicator with excellent negotiation skills, I focus more on establishing unbreakable ties between my clients, as opposed to just helping them achieve their real estate dreams. As a representative of both buyers and sellers, I understand how to lead a transaction process to ensure that the needs of both are met. My track record speaks for itself. Since I ventured into the industry in 2013 as a realtor, I have not only helped many buyers land perfect homes, but I have also assisted tons of owners and investors build wealth.