What is the property tax rate in Kansas?
The property tax rate in Kansas averages 1.21% of home value for owner-occupied homes (Tax Foundation 2026, using the 2024 American Community Survey). That puts Kansas in the upper half of states, above Oklahoma at 0.79% and Missouri at 0.89% on the same measure.
Kansas bills are built from two numbers you can check yourself: the assessed value of your property and the total mill levy where it sits. The Kansas Department of Revenue reports a statewide average levy of 127.035 mills for 2025. At the residential assessment rate of 11.5%, that average levy works out to about 1.46% of market value.
How Kansas assesses apartment buildings
Kansas assesses apartments at 11.5% of fair market value, the same rate as single-family homes. K.S.A. 79-1439 puts real property used for residential purposes, including multi-family residential real property, in the 11.5% class, while real property used for commercial and industrial purposes is assessed at 25%.
That difference is large. A $2,000,000 apartment building has $230,000 of assessed value; the same value in a retail or office building would have $500,000. An apartment owner in Kansas pays well under half the property tax of a commercial owner with an equal value, at the same levy.
| Property class | Assessment rate |
|---|---|
| Residential, including multi-family | 11.5% |
| Vacant lots | 12% |
| Commercial and industrial real property | 25% |
| Agricultural land (use value) | 30% |
How market value is set in Kansas
Kansas values every parcel at fair market value and updates those values every year. K.S.A. 79-1476 requires county appraisers to reappraise real property on an annual basis and to physically view and inspect every parcel at least once every six years.
For apartments, appraisers look at sales of similar buildings, cost and income. The Department of Revenue’s Property Valuation Division runs annual ratio studies to check how close county values are to sale prices. A separate statute, K.S.A. 79-1460, says a valuation may not rise solely because of normal repair, replacement or maintenance of existing structures.
Does a sale trigger reassessment in Kansas?
Not as a separate event. Kansas already resets every property to market value each year, so there is no special reassessment when a building sells. A sale still matters, because the price becomes one of the comparable sales the appraiser uses, and a price well above the current appraisal is likely to pull next year’s value up.
Kansas has no cap on how much an apartment’s value can rise in a year. A 2026 constitutional amendment to cap yearly growth in assessed value at 3%, SCR 1616, passed the Senate but did not advance in the House, so it is not on the November 2026 ballot. That cuts both ways for a seller. The buyer does not face a jump of the kind found in states that hold values down until a sale, but your current bill already reflects something close to market, so there is little hidden tax savings to pass on.
What a buyer will check is the gap between your current appraisal and the agreed price. If the appraisal is well below the price, the buyer will model a higher bill from the next valuation notice. If you appealed and won a lower value recently, share the decision, since it shows how the appraiser has treated the building.
Kansas mill levies and the revenue neutral rate
A mill is $1 of tax per $1,000 of assessed value. The Department of Revenue explains the math in two steps: appraised value times the assessment rate equals assessed value, and assessed value times the mill levy, divided by 1,000, equals the tax. Its own example is a $200,000 home at 11.5% and 130 mills, for a $2,990 bill.
Kansas does not cap values, but it does put a check on levies. Under the revenue neutral rate law, K.S.A. 79-2988, the county clerk calculates for each taxing body the rate that would raise the same revenue as last year on this year’s values. A city, county or school district that wants to levy more must notify the county clerk by July 20, send notices, hold a public hearing between August 20 and September 20 and vote. The law was enacted in 2021 and last amended in 2025.
Kansas property tax rates by county
County average levies in Kansas run from about 94 mills to more than 270 mills. The figures below are 2025 county average levies from the Department of Revenue’s Table IV of average levies. Rates within a county differ by city and school district, so check the levy for your own taxing unit.
The highest levies are in small western counties. Johnson County, home to Overland Park and Olathe, is among the lowest at 109.474 mills, while Sedgwick County, home to Wichita, averages 116.198. The tax column assumes a $2,000,000 apartment building, assessed at $230,000.
| County | 2025 average levy (mills) | Tax on $230,000 assessed | Group |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greeley | 270.739 | $62,270 | Highest |
| Stanton | 248.870 | $57,240 | Highest |
| Comanche | 235.108 | $54,075 | Highest |
| Morton | 203.963 | $46,911 | Highest |
| Clark | 192.334 | $44,237 | Highest |
| Johnson | 109.474 | $25,179 | Lowest |
| Miami | 105.698 | $24,311 | Lowest |
| Pottawatomie | 96.218 | $22,130 | Lowest |
| Linn | 94.059 | $21,634 | Lowest |
| Coffey | 93.873 | $21,591 | Lowest |
Levies in the main apartment markets
Most Kansas apartments sit in a handful of counties, and their 2025 average levies vary more than many owners expect.
| County (main city) | 2025 average levy (mills) | Share of market value at 11.5% |
|---|---|---|
| Johnson (Overland Park, Olathe) | 109.474 | 1.26% |
| Sedgwick (Wichita) | 116.198 | 1.34% |
| Douglas (Lawrence) | 124.764 | 1.43% |
| Riley (Manhattan) | 143.648 | 1.65% |
| Shawnee (Topeka) | 146.680 | 1.69% |
| Wyandotte (Kansas City, Kansas) | 159.147 | 1.83% |
| Statewide average | 127.035 | 1.46% |
How to appeal your property value in Kansas
You have 30 days from the date your valuation notice was mailed to appeal. County appraisers must mail real property valuation notices on or before March 1 each year under K.S.A. 79-1460, and K.S.A. 79-1448 gives you 30 days after mailing to notify the appraiser that you want to appeal.
The appraiser then holds an informal meeting with you. The meeting is required before you can go on to a county or district hearing panel or the Board of Tax Appeals, no informal meeting can be scheduled after May 15, and the appraiser must issue a final determination by May 20. For leased commercial and industrial property, the owner must provide income and expense records within 30 calendar days after the meeting.
If you miss the spring window, you can still appeal by paying your taxes under protest when you pay them. The Department of Revenue calls the spring route an equalization appeal and the second route a payment under protest appeal.
Worked example: property tax on a $2M Kansas apartment building
Take a 28-unit building in Wichita with a market value of $2,000,000. At the 11.5% residential rate, assessed value is $230,000. At the Sedgwick County average levy of 116.198 mills, the yearly tax is about $26,726, or 1.34% of value. The same building at the statewide average of 127.035 mills would owe about $29,218, and in Wyandotte County at 159.147 mills about $36,604.
Now the sale. Suppose the county appraised the building at $1,700,000 last year, for a bill of about $22,717, and a buyer pays $2,000,000. If the appraiser moves the value to the sale price the next year, the bill rises to about $26,726, an increase of $4,009 a year at the same levy.
The buyer subtracts that $4,009 from net operating income. At an illustrative 6.5% cap rate, it is worth about $61,674 of price. If the building were taxed as commercial property at 25%, the bill at the same levy would be about $58,099, which shows how much the residential classification is worth to an apartment owner.
| Scenario | Assessed value | Yearly tax |
|---|---|---|
| Sedgwick County, appraised at $1,700,000 | $195,500 | $22,717 |
| Sedgwick County, valued at $2,000,000 sale price | $230,000 | $26,726 |
| Statewide average levy, $2,000,000 | $230,000 | $29,218 |
| Wyandotte County, $2,000,000 | $230,000 | $36,604 |
| If taxed at the 25% commercial rate (Sedgwick) | $500,000 | $58,099 |
Property tax exemptions and apartments in Kansas
A standard Kansas apartment building pays tax on its full assessed value at the 11.5% residential rate. If your building has any exemption or abatement on its tax account, get the paperwork and ask the county appraiser whether it ends or carries over when the building sells, because a buyer will price the tax they will actually pay.
Kansas property tax compared with nearby states
On the Tax Foundation’s 2026 measure, Kansas’s 1.21% is higher than Missouri, Oklahoma and Colorado and lower than Nebraska and Texas. For Kansas City owners deciding which side of the state line to buy on, the comparison is worth a look, though the effective rate is a home average and each state taxes apartments under its own rules.
| State | Effective rate (Tax Foundation 2026) |
|---|---|
| Nebraska | 1.44% |
| Texas | 1.40% |
| Kansas | 1.21% |
| Missouri | 0.89% |
| Oklahoma | 0.79% |
| Colorado | 0.50% |
What to check on your Kansas tax statement before you sell
A buyer will rebuild your tax line from your statements, so have these ready.
- The latest valuation notice and the appraised value for each parcel.
- The classification on each parcel, to confirm the building is in the 11.5% residential class and not 25% commercial for any part.
- The total mill levy for your taxing unit, and whether any body has announced a hearing to exceed its revenue neutral rate.
- Any appeal you filed and its result.
- Any exemption or abatement on the account and its end date.
Selling an apartment building in Kansas
Skyline buys apartment buildings with five or more units in Kansas, including Johnson, Sedgwick, Shawnee, Douglas and Wyandotte counties. We buy directly, close on your timeline, and can work inside 1031 deadlines. We underwrite from your actual tax statements and the levy for your taxing unit.
For the tax on the sale itself, see Kansas capital gains tax on real estate. For tenant rules a buyer inherits, see Kansas landlord-tenant law for apartment owners.
