How Much of Your Salary Goes to Property Taxes in the 30 Biggest U.S. Cities

When we think about how far a salary can stretch, most of us focus on income tax and cost of living. But there’s another factor that quietly eats away at your paycheck: property taxes.

Key Takeaways:

• Texas is a double-edged sword: With no state income tax, Texas looks great on paper — but sky-high property tax rates make cities like Austin, Dallas, and Houston surprisingly expensive for homeowners.
• California’s “low rate, high value” problem: Rates are lower (around 0.7–0.8%), but home prices are so inflated that the actual dollar amount of property tax is among the highest in the nation.
• Midwestern squeeze: Cities like Chicago and Milwaukee have some of the highest effective rates, eating up more salary despite lower home values.
• Southern advantage: Cities like Nashville, Jacksonville, and Memphis offer relatively low property tax burdens, which helps stretch a $100K salary much further.

Property taxes are tied directly to local home values, which means the burden can vary massively depending on where you live. A $100K salary in Texas, California, or Illinois can look very different once you factor in how much of your income goes to local governments.

Why Property Taxes Matter for Salaries

• Hidden cost of living: Even in states with no income tax (like Texas), property tax rates are among the highest in the country. This offsets some of the benefit of tax-free wages.
• Homeownership affordability: In high-cost cities, even a modest property tax rate can result in thousands of dollars in annual payments.
• Regional inequality: A household making $100K in Chicago or Austin may see 7–9% of their salary eaten by property taxes, while someone in Phoenix or Nashville only pays 2–3%.

Comparing the 30 Biggest Cities

To put numbers behind this, let’s assume a household earns $100,000 per year and owns a home at the local median home value. Here’s what portion of their salary would go toward property taxes:

• High Burden Cities:  Austin, TX (8.6%), San Jose, CA (8.4%), Chicago, IL (7.4%), and San Francisco, CA (7.7%) stand out as some of the most expensive when measured against salary.
• Moderate Burden Cities: Places like New York (6.6%), Seattle (6.3%), and Dallas (6.1%) fall into the middle range — still significant, but not the worst.
• Low Burden Cities: Indianapolis (2.3%), Phoenix (2.4%), and Louisville (2.5%) show how much lighter the property tax hit can be in more affordable housing markets.