End Property Tax.
Restore Freedom.

National Overview

National Property Tax Statistics

The big picture, before you drill into your state and county.

Total property tax collected (US)
$778.9B
Median effective property tax rate
0.83%

Total collected: U.S. Census Bureau, Quarterly Summary of State & Local Tax Revenue, trailing four quarters through Q4 2023. Effective rate: Census ACS 5-Year Estimates 2019-2023, median across all 50 states, pulled 2026-09-15.

How many people actually lose their homes over unpaid property tax?

No single national agency tracks "homes lost to tax foreclosure" the way the mortgage industry tracks mortgage foreclosures - it's handled by 3,000+ separate counties. These numbers, used together, are the real picture that exists instead of one master total.

~$15 billion in property tax delinquencies nationally, per year NCLC, 2012 - dated, but no more recent comprehensive national estimate exists.
30 states + DC let local governments sell property-tax liens to private investors instead of collecting the debt themselves
18% to 50% interest/penalty rates homeowners often face trying to redeem their property after a tax lien sale - far above ordinary lending rates
8,500+ homes / $780M+ foreclosed and sold 2014-2021, with governments keeping equity beyond the tax debt owed - ruled unconstitutional nationwide in 2023, but this is only the states studied, not a full national count

A $200,000 home can be sold at a tax lien sale over a debt of only a few hundred or a few thousand dollars - the sale is triggered by the unpaid tax amount, not the home's value, which is exactly how homeowners lose not just the house but the equity in it.

Sources: National Consumer Law Center; Pacific Legal Foundation [1] [2]

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