What is the property tax rate in New York?
The property tax rate in New York averages 1.30% of a home’s value, which is the Tax Foundation’s 2026 effective rate based on 2024 Census data on owner-occupied homes. On a $500,000 house that works out to about $6,500 a year.
That statewide number blends New York City, where Class 1 homes are assessed at only 6% of market value, with upstate counties where the combined county, town, school and village levy can run well over 3% of market value. For an apartment building, the useful number is the full-value tax rate where the building sits, which the state publishes by county and municipality.
How New York sets assessed value
Every New York property has an assessed value set by its city or town assessor, and that value is either the full market value or a fixed fraction of it. New York has no single statewide assessment ratio. Each municipality picks its own level of assessment, and the Office of Real Property Tax Services (ORPTS) measures that level each year.
In a 100% municipality, a building worth $2,000,000 is assessed at $2,000,000. In a fractional municipality, the assessment is market value times the local level. Where the level is 27%, the same building would carry an assessment of $540,000. ORPTS publishes equalization rates so school and county levies can be split fairly between towns that assess at different levels.
New York City works differently. The Department of Finance sorts property into four classes. Class 1 (one to three family homes) is assessed at 6% of market value, while Classes 2, 3 and 4, which include rental buildings, co-ops and condos, are assessed at 45%.
How New York property tax rates are stated
Local tax rates in New York are stated in dollars per $1,000 of assessed value, and because assessment levels differ, ORPTS converts them to full-value rates so you can compare places. A full-value rate is the total levy divided by the full market value of all taxable property, per $1,000.
A full-value rate of $27.40 per $1,000 means a tax of about 2.74% of market value. If a town assesses at 27% and its combined rate is $100 per $1,000 of assessed value, the full-value rate is about $27 per $1,000, or 2.7%. Your bill adds together county, town or city, village, school district and special district levies, and the school levy is often the largest piece.
Highest and lowest property tax counties in New York
Broome County had the highest overall full-value tax rate in New York at 4.24%, and Hamilton County the lowest at 1.61%, in the ORPTS figures for the 2021 local fiscal year, the latest the state publishes. The rankings leave out New York City and Nassau County, which use class-based systems that the county averages do not capture well.
These are county-wide averages for all taxing purposes and all property types, not residential-only effective rates. Rates inside a county can differ widely from one town or school district to the next, so always check the actual rate for the parcel you own or are buying.
| Rank | Highest-rate counties (2021) | Rate | Lowest-rate counties (2021) | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Broome | 4.24% | Hamilton | 1.61% |
| 2 | Allegany | 4.14% | Warren | 1.71% |
| 3 | Oswego | 3.99% | Suffolk | 1.89% |
| 4 | Cortland | 3.98% | Essex | 1.93% |
| 5 | Monroe | 3.82% | Saratoga | 1.98% |
Does New York reassess property when it sells?
No. New York assessors may not raise a property’s assessment just because it sold. ORPTS legal opinions treat that practice, sometimes called welcome stranger assessment, as improper selective reassessment.
An assessor can change one property’s value outside a full revaluation only to bring it in line with comparable properties, for example after new construction or a physical change. In practice, a buyer’s taxes rise when the municipality next revalues every parcel. In towns that have not revalued in years, that can be a large jump, so check the date of the last town-wide reassessment before you price a deal.
Is there a cap on property tax increases in New York?
There is no statewide cap on assessment increases in New York outside New York City. Upstate and suburban assessments can move as far as market value moves when a town revalues.
New York City caps assessment growth for smaller buildings. Class 1 assessments can rise no more than 6% a year and 20% over five years. Class 2 buildings with 10 or fewer units are capped at 8% a year and 30% over five years. Larger Class 2 rental buildings, with more than 10 units, and Class 4 commercial property have no fixed cap. Instead, increases in their market value are phased in over five years through transitional assessed values.
How to check the taxes on a New York building before you buy or sell
The quickest check is to compare the assessment on the current roll with what the building would sell for today, after adjusting for the town’s level of assessment. If the two are far apart, expect the gap to close at the next revaluation.
- Pull the latest tax bills from the seller or the receiver of taxes, and split them into county, town or city, village, school and special district parts.
- Find the parcel on the municipality’s assessment roll and note its assessed value and the year of the last town-wide revaluation.
- Divide the assessed value by the town’s level of assessment (or its state equalization rate) to get the full value the town is taxing.
- Compare that full value with the contract price. A building taxed on $1,600,000 that sells for $2,000,000 carries a 25% gap.
- Check which exemptions or abatements apply and when they end, since an expiring benefit can raise the bill faster than any revaluation.
How to grieve your property taxes in New York
Outside New York City and Nassau County, you challenge an assessment by filing a grievance with your local Board of Assessment Review by Grievance Day, which is typically the fourth Tuesday in May. Some municipalities use a different date, so confirm it with your assessor each year.
Start by reviewing the tentative assessment roll, which comes out before Grievance Day. For an apartment building, the strongest evidence is usually the income approach: rent rolls, operating statements and cap rates from comparable sales. If the board denies your grievance, an apartment owner can take the case to court in a tax certiorari proceeding under Article 7 of the Real Property Tax Law. New York City owners appeal to the NYC Tax Commission, and Nassau owners to the county’s own board, each on its own deadline.
Property tax exemptions for New York apartment buildings
Most New York apartment tax breaks are tied to new construction, rehabilitation or affordable units, and the best known are New York City programs run by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD).
- 485-x (Affordable Neighborhoods for New Yorkers): a partial exemption for new multiple dwellings that include affordable units.
- 467-m: a benefit for converting commercial buildings to residential use with affordable units.
- J-51 Reform: an abatement and exemption for qualifying rehabilitation of multiple dwellings.
- 421-a and 420-c: older programs that still cover many existing buildings until their benefit periods end.
What property taxes do to a New York building’s NOI and value
Property tax is usually one of the largest operating expenses on a New York apartment building, so every dollar of tax comes straight out of net operating income and, through the cap rate, out of value.
Take a building with a $2,000,000 market value in a Monroe County town with a full-value rate equal to the county’s 2021 average of 3.82%. The town last revalued years ago, and the current assessment reflects a full value of $1,600,000, so this year’s tax is about $61,120. The same building in a Saratoga County town at that county’s 1.98% average would pay about $39,600 on a $2,000,000 value.
Now the building sells for $2,000,000. The sale alone does not change the assessment. But when the town revalues and the full value moves to $2,000,000, the tax rises to $76,400, an increase of $15,280. If NOI was $140,000, it drops to $124,720. At a 7% cap rate, that cuts the value a buyer can pay by about $218,000. Buyers will underwrite that future revaluation, so sellers in towns with stale rolls should expect it in the offer.
| Line | Before revaluation | After revaluation |
|---|---|---|
| Full value used for tax | $1,600,000 | $2,000,000 |
| Full-value rate | 3.82% | 3.82% |
| Annual property tax | $61,120 | $76,400 |
| Net operating income | $140,000 | $124,720 |
| Value at a 7% cap rate | $2,000,000 | $1,781,714 |
How New York compares with other states
New York’s 1.30% average is high by national standards. Using the same Tax Foundation 2026 figures, Connecticut averages 1.54% and New Jersey 1.88%, while Florida averages 0.78% and California 0.70%. For New York sellers trading into another state through a 1031 exchange, the difference in property tax often shows up as higher NOI on the replacement property at the same price.
You can model the effect on your own numbers with the property tax calculator and the NOI calculator.
Selling a New York building with a high tax bill
Skyline buys apartment buildings with five or more units in New York, including buildings in high-tax counties and towns facing a revaluation. We buy directly, close on your timeline, and can work inside 1031 deadlines. We look at your actual tax bill and assessment history when we price a building, rather than assuming the worst.
