What is the property tax rate in Missouri?
The property tax rate in Missouri averages 0.89% of market value for owner-occupied homes (Tax Foundation 2026, using the 2024 American Community Survey). On the same Tax Foundation measure, Missouri is below Illinois (1.88%), Iowa (1.33%) and Kansas (1.21%) and above Arkansas (0.56%) and Tennessee (0.52%).
Missouri bills are built from three pieces: market value set by the county assessor, an assessment ratio set by state law, and a total levy per $100 of assessed value set by each school district, city, county and special district that covers your parcel. Because those levies stack differently in every location, two apartment buildings with the same value can pay quite different taxes.
How Missouri sets assessed value for apartments
Missouri assesses residential real property at 19% of its true value in money, under Section 137.115 of the Missouri statutes. Commercial and other property is assessed at 32%, and agricultural land in active use at 12% of its productive value.
Apartment buildings fall in the residential class. The State Tax Commission’s assessor manual says apartments and condominiums are classified as residential, and Section 137.016 defines residential property as structures used or intended for residential living, while excluding transient housing such as hotel rooms subject to sales tax. That classification matters a great deal: a $2,000,000 building is assessed at $380,000 as residential, compared with $640,000 if it were taxed as commercial.
| Property subclass | Assessment ratio | Example: $2M market value |
|---|---|---|
| Residential, including apartments | 19% | $380,000 |
| Commercial, industrial and other | 32% | $640,000 |
| Agricultural land in active use | 12% of productive value | Not applicable |
Missouri tax rates per $100 of assessed value
Missouri levies are quoted in dollars per $100 of assessed value, and your bill is market value times 19% times the total levy divided by 100. The State Auditor’s 2025 review covered 4,867 separate property tax rates from 2,811 taxing authorities, which shows how many layers can sit on a single parcel.
A useful way to connect the two numbers: at the statewide effective rate of 0.89% and the 19% ratio, a residential property pays about $4.68 per $100 of assessed value. Your local total may be higher or lower. The county collector’s tax statement lists each levy on your parcel, and the county clerk publishes the rates each year.
Neither the State Tax Commission nor the State Auditor publishes a single ranking of total county rates, so we do not list highest and lowest counties here. Ask the collector for the combined rate in your exact tax district rather than relying on a county average.
Does a sale trigger reassessment in Missouri?
No. A sale does not by itself change a building’s assessed value in Missouri. Instead, assessors set new values county-wide as of January 1 of each odd-numbered year, and those values carry through the following even year, under Section 137.115.
The sale still matters. A recorded price is strong evidence of market value at the next reassessment, so a buyer who pays well above the assessor’s figure in 2026 should expect the value to move up in 2027. A building bought in an odd year may see the new value on the next cycle two years later.
Limits on assessment increases in Missouri
Missouri has no statewide percentage cap on how fast a building’s assessed value can rise. What it has is a process rule and a levy rule.
The process rule is in Section 137.115. Before an assessor raises a residential parcel by more than 15% since the last assessment, excluding new construction and improvements, the assessor must physically inspect the property and give the owner written notice of the right to request an interior inspection. The owner has at least 30 days to ask. A drive-by look does not count.
The levy rule works on rates rather than values. When reassessment raises the tax base, taxing districts are expected to adjust their rates toward revenue neutrality, and the State Auditor reviews those adjustments every year. For 2025, the Auditor reported that, for the eleventh year in a row, no taxing authority levied above its certified rate.
How to appeal your property assessment in Missouri
You appeal first to your county board of equalization, on or before the second Monday in July in most counties, according to the State Tax Commission. Boards generally start meeting the third Monday in July, and in reassessment years they may start after July 1.
If the board rules against you, you can appeal to the State Tax Commission by September 30 of the assessment year or within 30 days of the board’s decision, whichever is later. For apartments, the strongest appeals use the building’s own rent roll and operating statements, recent sales of similar buildings, and any physical problems the assessor did not see. Odd-numbered years, when new values come out, are when appeals matter most.
- Odd-numbered years: new values as of January 1; assessment notices go out.
- Second Monday in July: usual deadline to appeal to the county board of equalization.
- September 30, or 30 days after the board decision if later: deadline to appeal to the State Tax Commission.
Property tax abatement for Missouri apartments
Missouri has no general exemption for apartment buildings, but cities can grant abatement through redevelopment programs. The best known is Chapter 353, which covers urban redevelopment corporations.
Under Section 353.110, a qualifying property can pay tax only on the assessed value of the land, as it stood the year before the corporation bought it, for up to 10 years. For up to 15 more years, it can be assessed at no more than 50% of true value, for a total of no more than 25 years. The city must first notify other taxing districts, hold a public hearing and pass an ordinance, and it can require payments in lieu of taxes.
If you are selling a building with abatement, find out exactly when it ends and whether it passes to the buyer. The year the abatement stops is the year the tax line jumps, and buyers price that in.
Personal property tax on apartment furnishings
Missouri also taxes business personal property, and an apartment owner’s appliances, furniture in common areas and maintenance equipment count. Most personal property is assessed at 33 1/3% of value, a higher ratio than the 19% applied to the building itself.
Owners file a personal property list with the county assessor each year. The State Tax Commission’s manual says lists are generally due between January 1 and March 1, and late lists can draw penalties if they are not returned by May 1. The amounts are usually small next to the real estate bill, but buyers will ask whether the filings are current, and a missed list can show up as a penalty at closing.
Worked example: property tax on a $2M Missouri apartment building
Take a 24-unit building in Missouri with a market value of $2,000,000. At the 19% residential ratio, its assessed value is $380,000. At the implied statewide rate of about $4.68 per $100, the yearly tax is about $17,800, which is 0.89% of value. In a district with a total levy of $6.00 per $100, the same building would owe $22,800, and at $8.00 it would owe $30,400.
Now the sale. Say the assessor currently values the building at $1,600,000, for an assessed value of $304,000 and a tax of about $14,240 at $4.68. A buyer pays $2,000,000 in 2026. Nothing changes that year. When values reset as of January 1, 2027, the assessor moves the market value to $2,000,000, a 25% increase, which requires a physical inspection first. The tax rises to about $17,800, or $3,560 more a year, before any levy rollback.
At an illustrative 6% cap rate, $3,560 of lost net operating income takes about $59,333 off what a buyer can pay. A buyer who underwrites from your current bill without planning for the 2027 reset will overpay, and a careful buyer will adjust the offer. If your building has not been revalued in years and trades well above the assessor’s figure, expect that gap to come up in negotiations.
| Scenario | Assessed value | Yearly tax |
|---|---|---|
| Current value $1.6M, levy about $4.68 (0.89%) | $304,000 | $14,240 |
| After 2027 reset to $2M, levy about $4.68 (0.89%) | $380,000 | $17,800 |
| $2M value, levy $6.00 (illustrative) | $380,000 | $22,800 |
| $2M value, levy $8.00 (illustrative) | $380,000 | $30,400 |
What to check on your Missouri tax records before you sell
Most of what a buyer will ask about is on your assessment notice and collector’s statement.
- The assessor’s market value and the date it was set, and whether 2027 is a reassessment year for the buyer.
- Confirmation the parcel is in the residential subclass at 19%, not commercial at 32%.
- The total levy for your tax district and the list of taxing authorities behind it.
- Any abatement ordinance, its end date and any payments in lieu of taxes.
- Results of past board of equalization or State Tax Commission appeals.
Selling an apartment building in Missouri
Skyline buys apartment buildings with five or more units in Missouri, in St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, Columbia and smaller markets. We buy directly, close on your timeline, and can work inside 1031 deadlines. We underwrite from your actual tax bills and the next reassessment, so you see how property tax affects our number.
For the income tax on the sale itself, see Missouri capital gains tax on real estate. For tenant rules a buyer inherits, see Missouri landlord-tenant law for apartment owners.
