What is the property tax rate in Louisiana?
Louisiana property tax averages 0.55% of market value for owner-occupied homes (Tax Foundation 2026, using the 2024 American Community Survey). That is among the lower rates in the country, well under Texas or Illinois.
Two features keep the homeowner number low. Louisiana assesses property at a fraction of market value, and the homestead exemption takes the first $7,500 of assessed value, which equals $75,000 of market value, off an owner-occupied home. An apartment building gets the fractional assessment but not the homestead exemption, so its tax as a share of value is usually higher than 0.55%.
How Louisiana sets assessed value
Assessed value in Louisiana is a set percentage of fair market value, fixed by Article VII, Section 18 of the state constitution. Land is assessed at 10% of fair market value, residential improvements at 10% and other property at 15%. The parish assessor sets the value, and in Orleans Parish the work is done by the city assessor.
For an apartment owner, the key question is which percentage applies to the building. Land is 10% in every case. The improvements are 10% if the assessor treats them as residential and 15% if treated as other property, and we did not find a state rule that settles how every multifamily property is classed. Ask your assessor which level your building carries; at 15%, the tax on the improvements is half again what it would be at 10%.
The Louisiana Tax Commission writes the valuation rules assessors follow. For affordable rental housing, R.S. 47:2323(E) tells assessors not to count Section 42 housing tax credits, or below-market financing tied to restricted rents, when they set fair market value, and a Tax Commission emergency rule effective January 1, 2026 (LAC 61:V.213.G) repeats that instruction.
| Property type | Assessment level | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Land | 10% of fair market value | La. Const. art. VII, sec. 18 |
| Residential improvements | 10% of fair market value | La. Const. art. VII, sec. 18 |
| Other property, including commercial improvements | 15% of fair market value | La. Const. art. VII, sec. 18 |
How millage works in Louisiana
Louisiana tax rates are stated in mills, and one mill is a tenth of a cent per dollar of assessed value, or $1 per $1,000. Your bill is assessed value multiplied by the total millage of every body that taxes your property: the parish, the school board, the sheriff, levee and drainage districts and, inside a city, the city itself.
Put another way, tax equals fair market value times the assessment level times total mills divided by 1,000. If residential property is assessed at 10% and the statewide effective rate is 0.55%, the implied average total is about 55 mills, but actual totals vary widely by parish and by taxing district within a parish. Your assessor’s notice or the parish tax collector’s bill lists each millage on your parcel.
The Louisiana Tax Commission publishes parishwide millage each year in its annual report. We could not retrieve a full parish table from an official source for this page, so we have not listed parish rankings here; use the millage on your own tax bill.
Does a sale trigger reassessment in Louisiana?
A sale does not, by itself, reset the assessment on an apartment building in Louisiana. The constitution requires all property to be reappraised at intervals of not more than four years, and values change at those reappraisals or when there is new construction.
The rule is different for homes. When a homestead with a special assessment level or a four-year phase-in is sold, those protections end and the home is revalued at fair market value. That is a homeowner rule, but it explains why buyers sometimes expect a reset. For an investment property, the price you get still matters: it is market evidence the assessor can use at the next reappraisal.
Caps and millage rollbacks
Louisiana has no annual cap on assessment increases for non-homestead property. A building’s value can rise as much as the market supports at reappraisal.
What softens a reappraisal is the millage rollback. According to the House Fiscal Division’s guide to Louisiana property tax, millages are adjusted after a reappraisal so that total collections do not rise or fall because of the value change alone. A taxing body can then roll the millage forward, up to the prior rate, by a super-majority vote at an advertised public hearing, without an election.
The rollback works on total collections, not on each parcel. If your building’s value rises faster than the parish average, your bill still goes up after the rollback; if it rises more slowly, your bill can fall.
How to appeal your assessment in Louisiana
You start by reviewing your value during the public inspection period and then filing a complaint with the parish board of review. Under R.S. 47:1992, outside Orleans Parish, assessment lists are open for 15 days between August 15 and September 15, and complaints must reach the board at least seven days before its public hearing.
Orleans Parish runs on a separate schedule: lists are open for 32 calendar days from July 15 to August 15, and written complaints are due no later than three business days after the last day of inspection. After the board of review, an assessment can be appealed to the Louisiana Tax Commission and then to the courts, under Article VII, Section 18(E).
- Watch for the assessor’s newspaper notice announcing your parish’s 15-day window.
- Bring a rent roll, operating statements and recent sales of similar buildings.
- File before the board of review deadline, at least seven days before its hearing.
- If you lose, ask the Tax Commission for its current appeal deadline and forms.
Property tax exemptions for Louisiana apartments
Louisiana has no general property tax exemption for apartment buildings. The homestead exemption of $7,500 of assessed value covers only an owner’s primary residence, and the special assessment level for seniors, disabled owners and certain veterans is also tied to a homestead.
Affordable housing gets a valuation rule rather than an exemption. Under R.S. 47:2323(E), an assessor valuing affordable rental housing may not count Section 42 tax credits or restricted below-market financing in fair market value. If your building has a regulatory agreement, make sure the assessor knows. Ask the assessor whether any special valuation or agreement applies to your parcel, and whether it carries over to a buyer.
Effective rate or your own bill: which one to use
Use your own assessed value and millage for your building, and the 0.55% effective rate only to compare Louisiana with other states. The Tax Foundation figure divides median taxes paid by median home value for owner-occupied homes, after the homestead exemption, so it understates what an apartment building pays.
Two Louisiana buildings worth the same can carry very different bills. One may sit in a parish with high school and drainage millage, or be assessed at 15% rather than 10%, while the other was last reappraised when values were lower. A buyer will underwrite from the actual bill and the next reappraisal, not from the state average, and so should you when you set a price.
Worked example: property tax on a $2M Louisiana apartment building
These figures illustrate the method. The millage rates are examples, not the rate for any parish.
Take a 24-unit building with a fair market value of $2,000,000, of which $300,000 is land and $1,700,000 is improvements. Land at 10% is $30,000 of assessed value. If the improvements are treated as residential at 10%, they add $170,000, for a total assessed value of $200,000. If they are treated as other property at 15%, they add $255,000, for $285,000.
At 55 mills, the implied statewide average, the yearly tax is $11,000 with residential treatment and $15,675 at 15%. In a district with 120 mills, those become $24,000 and $34,200. The classification question is worth as much as a change of parish.
Now the sale. Say the assessor carries the building at $1,600,000 today, so assessed value at 10% is $160,000 and the tax at 55 mills is $8,800. The buyer pays $2,000,000. Nothing changes at closing. If the next reappraisal moves the value to $2,000,000, the bill rises to $11,000, or $2,200 more a year, before any millage rollback. At an illustrative 6% cap rate, that $2,200 of lost net operating income takes about $36,667 off what a buyer can pay.
| Scenario | Assessed value | Yearly tax |
|---|---|---|
| Residential 10%, 55 mills | $200,000 | $11,000 |
| Other property 15%, 55 mills | $285,000 | $15,675 |
| Residential 10%, 120 mills | $200,000 | $24,000 |
| Other property 15%, 120 mills | $285,000 | $34,200 |
| Carried at $1.6M before reappraisal, 55 mills | $160,000 | $8,800 |
What to check on your Louisiana tax records before you sell
A buyer will ask for the same few items, and having them ready shortens due diligence.
- The assessor’s fair market value for land and improvements, and the assessment level applied to each.
- The total millage on your parcel and which bodies levy it.
- When your parish’s last reappraisal took effect, so a buyer can judge how soon values will be reviewed again.
- Any affordable housing agreement or other special valuation and its end date.
- The last three tax bills and any board of review decisions.
Selling an apartment building in Louisiana
Skyline buys apartment buildings with five or more units in Louisiana, in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Shreveport and the smaller markets between them. We buy directly, close on your timeline, and can work inside 1031 deadlines. We underwrite from your actual tax bills and ask the assessor’s classification up front, so the number we offer reflects the tax a buyer will really pay.
For the tax on the sale itself, see Louisiana capital gains tax on real estate. For the lease and eviction rules a buyer will inherit, see Louisiana landlord-tenant law for apartment owners.
