What is the property tax rate in Wisconsin?
The property tax rate in Wisconsin averages 1.32% of market value for owner-occupied homes (Tax Foundation 2026, using the 2024 American Community Survey). That is below Illinois at 1.88% and Connecticut at 1.54% on the same measure, and well above Massachusetts at 1.00%.
The Wisconsin Department of Revenue publishes its own figure each year in the Town, Village and City Taxes report. For 2025 taxes, payable in 2026, the statewide average full value effective rate was 1.338%, and the gross rate before the state property tax credit was 1.468%. Those rates are measured against equalized, or full, value, which the department sets to reflect market value across every municipality.
How Wisconsin sets assessed value
Assessors value non-agricultural property, including apartment buildings, at market value as of January 1 each year, according to the department’s 2026 Guide for Property Owners. The assessor can update a value every year, even without an inspection, based on building permits or sales.
Not every municipality assesses at exactly 100% of market. Each municipality must assess its major property classes within 10% of full value at least once every five years. If it falls short, the department sends a first notice after four years, a second after five, and orders a supervised assessment after six.
To compare places fairly, the department certifies equalized values by August 15 each year, putting all non-agricultural property at 100% of full value. You can check your own assessment for fairness by dividing it by your property’s current market value and comparing that ratio with your district’s assessment level.
What the state property tax credit is worth
The gap between the gross and effective rates is the state property tax credit, which the state pays and which shows up as a reduction on your bill. Statewide for 2025 taxes, it narrowed the rate from 1.468% to 1.338% of full value, or about 0.13 percentage points.
On a building worth $2,000,000, that difference is about $2,600 a year at the statewide average. When you compare buildings or estimate a buyer’s tax, use the net figure after credits, since that is what actually gets paid, and check the credit line on your own bill rather than relying on the state average.
Gross rate, effective rate and assessed rate
Wisconsin bills show several rates, and they are easy to mix up. The gross full value rate is total property tax divided by full value. The effective full value rate subtracts the state property tax credit first. Your bill also shows a rate on assessed value, which differs from the full value rate wherever the local assessment level is above or below 100%.
For a building, the cleanest comparison is the effective full value rate applied to market value, because it works the same way in every town, village and city. If your municipality assesses at 92% of market, its assessed-value rate will be higher than its full value rate, but your bill will be the same.
Does a sale trigger reassessment in Wisconsin?
Not by itself. A recent arm’s-length sale is the best indicator of market value, but the department’s guide says the assessor cannot change one property’s assessment based solely on a single sale without also adjusting comparable properties in the same market area.
Sales still matter. They feed the assessor’s market studies and any municipal revaluation, so a buyer who pays well above the assessed value can expect that value to move toward the price at the next revaluation or market update. If the old assessment was far below the price, that move can be large.
Wisconsin property tax rates by county
County effective full value rates for 2025 taxes ranged from about 1.07% to 1.46% among the counties shown below, all taken from the Department of Revenue’s Town, Village and City Taxes 2025 report. Rates inside a county vary by school district and municipality, so your own rate may be higher or lower.
The table shows the counties whose totals we could confirm in the department’s report, not a full statewide ranking. For any other county, look up its line in the same report or ask the county treasurer.
| County | Effective full value rate (2025) | Gross full value rate (2025) |
|---|---|---|
| Ashland | 1.456% | 1.581% |
| Brown | 1.335% | 1.464% |
| Barron | 1.193% | 1.326% |
| Adams | 1.097% | 1.201% |
| Bayfield | 1.068% | 1.158% |
| Statewide average | 1.338% | 1.468% |
How to appeal your property assessment in Wisconsin
Start at Open Book, the period when the completed assessment roll is open for review and the assessor must be available for at least two hours. Many disagreements are settled there. Changes after Open Book require a formal Board of Review hearing or a circuit court case.
The Board of Review meets during the 45-day period beginning on the fourth Monday in April, at least seven days after the roll opens. You must give the board clerk written or oral notice of your intent to object at least 48 hours before the first scheduled meeting, and file a signed Objection Form (PA-115A) before or during the first two hours of that meeting. The board may waive these deadlines for good cause.
If you disagree with the board, you can seek certiorari review in circuit court within 90 days after receiving its notice. A review by the Department of Revenue under section 70.85 must be requested within 20 days, costs $100 and is not available for property worth more than $1 million or in Milwaukee, which rules it out for many apartment buildings.
- January 1: assessment date.
- Spring: Open Book, with notice published at least 15 days ahead (30 days in revaluation years).
- At least 48 hours before the first Board of Review meeting: notice of intent to object.
- First two hours of that meeting: signed Objection Form due.
- 90 days after the board’s notice: deadline for circuit court review.
Property tax exemptions for Wisconsin apartments
Privately owned, for-profit apartment buildings generally pay tax on full value. The main exemption for rental housing is in section 70.11(4a) of the statutes, and it applies only to property owned by a nonprofit benevolent association and used as low-income housing.
To qualify, at least 75% of the units must be occupied by, or reserved for, low-income or very low-income persons. At least 20% must be rented to very low-income persons, and another 40% to persons at or below 120% of the very low-income limit. The owner files an occupancy statement with the assessor by March 1 each year. If you are selling a building that holds this exemption to a for-profit buyer, expect the exemption, and the buyer’s tax savings, to end.
Worked example: property tax on a $2M Wisconsin apartment building
Take a 24-unit building in Green Bay with a market value of $2,000,000. At the statewide average effective full value rate of 1.338%, the yearly tax would be about $26,760. At Brown County’s 1.335% it is about $26,700. The same value would owe about $29,120 in Ashland County at 1.456% and $21,360 in Bayfield County at 1.068%.
Now the sale. Suppose the building’s assessment reflects a full value of $1,600,000, for a tax of $21,360 at 1.335%, and a buyer pays $2,000,000. The assessor cannot reset this one parcel to the price, but when the municipality next updates values, the assessment may move toward market. If it reaches $2,000,000, the tax becomes $26,700, an increase of $5,340 a year. At an illustrative 6.5% cap rate, that cut to NOI takes about $82,000 off what a buyer can pay.
A careful buyer prices in that future increase from day one, which is why your actual tax bill and assessment history matter in a Wisconsin sale.
| Scenario | Full value | Yearly tax |
|---|---|---|
| Statewide average, 1.338% | $2,000,000 | $26,760 |
| Brown County, 1.335% | $2,000,000 | $26,700 |
| Ashland County, 1.456% | $2,000,000 | $29,120 |
| Bayfield County, 1.068% | $2,000,000 | $21,360 |
| Before sale, assessed at $1.6M equivalent | $1,600,000 | $21,360 |
| After assessment moves to sale price | $2,000,000 | $26,700 |
Effective rate or full value rate: which one to use
Use the Tax Foundation’s 1.32% to compare Wisconsin with other states, and the department’s full value rate for your own municipality when you estimate a bill. The Tax Foundation measure divides median taxes paid by median home value for owner-occupied homes, so it does not reflect any one apartment building.
For a specific property, take the latest tax bill, note the assessed value and the municipality’s assessment level, and work out the tax as a share of current market value. That figure is what a buyer will use in underwriting.
What to check before you sell
Pull these together before a buyer asks.
- The last three tax bills and assessment notices.
- Your municipality’s assessment level and when it last revalued.
- Any pending Board of Review objection or court case.
- Special assessments, such as street or utility charges, on the bill.
- Any exemption on the parcel and whether it ends with a sale.
Selling an apartment building in Wisconsin
Skyline buys apartment buildings with five or more units in Wisconsin, from Milwaukee and Madison to Green Bay and the Fox Valley. We buy directly, close on your timeline, and can work inside 1031 deadlines. We read your actual bills and assessment history, so the tax figure we underwrite matches your building.
For the tax on the sale itself, see Wisconsin capital gains tax on real estate, and for tenant rules a buyer inherits, Wisconsin landlord-tenant law for apartment owners.
