Depending on where you live in the Cleveland area, your property taxes are going to vary. Cuyahoga County is the one that is going to be responsible for the majority of the Cleveland area’s tax rates.  If you live in the actual city of Cleveland you are looking at a property tax rate of $2874 per $100,000 of home value, to service the Cleveland City school district. It’s much higher in some of the more affluent suburbs of Cleveland like Brecksville, Bay Village, Rocky River, and Westlake. The Eastside of Cleveland really gets up there being $3860 in Cleveland Heights, and $3900 in Garfield Heights. So they have a much higher percentage of their tax rate to pay. In a community like Lakewood, there are many renters, so the property tax rate is a bit higher to compensate for that at $3300. On the opposite end, an upscale community like Independence has an oddly lower tax rate at $1900, because they have a heavy business district off of Rockside Road with many hotels, corporations, and restaurants. Those businesses contribute to the total taxes taken in by the state, which helps out homeowners in that area.
How is the tax rate of your home determined? It’s basically two to four percent of the total value of your home. The exact rate will vary per city, so it’s hard to pinpoint just one property tax rate. Cleveland comes in at 2.29 percent.
How Does Cleveland Compare To Other Major Cities In Ohio?
When compared with other large cities in Ohio, it’s easy to see that Cleveland has some of the higher tax rates in the state, mainly because Cuyahoga County is the most populated county in the state. With a total population of 390,000 in Cleveland, it’s the 48th most populated city in the country. It’s the second largest city in the state after the capital of Columbus.
The tax rate in Franklin County, which is one of the major counties in Columbus, that includes many of their high end suburbs like Dublin, Westerville, Reynoldsburg, Upper Arlington, Grove City, and Hilliard, is fairly high at 2.1 percent. The property tax rate is roughly on average 2.5 percent of your home’s value.
In Cincinnati, the property tax rate in Hamilton County is 1.77 percent, so it’s much lower than Cleveland and Columbus. Their neighbor to the Northeast is Dayton, which has a tax rate of 1.08 percent in Darke County.
Another major city, directly West of Cleveland is Toledo, which has a tax rate of 1.95 percent in Lucas County. Cleveland clearly out of many of the other major cities in Ohio has the largest tax rate.
The next city that is closest to Cleveland, directly South is Akron with a tax rate of 1.76 percent in Summit County.
You might wonder why Cleveland’s property tax rate is some of the highest in the state? The reason is simple. It’s the biggest. Out of the 88 counties in all of Ohio, Cuyahoga County is the largest hands down.
How Does Cleveland Compare to Other Major Cities Nationwide?
You would think that the largest major city in America would have the highest tax rate, but it doesn’t. New York City has an average tax rate of .72 percent. Statewide it comes in at 1.5 percent being the average rate. This includes the capital, Albany, and other cities like, Buffalo.
Another major city to look at is Chicago. It’s the largest city closest to Cleveland with respect to geography. You would think they have similar tax rates to Cleveland. And they do! They are statewide at 2.13 percent, and Chicago itself is at 2.0 percent in Cook County.
Going south, you are going to want to compare tax rates in some of those states like Texas and Georgia. Dallas, the largest major city in Texas has a rate of 2.17, with the state being at 1.94 percent. Georgia statewide is so low at .94 percent, while their biggest city, Atlanta is at 1.14 percent in Fulton County.
Traveling out west you are going to want to compare it to the real estate nightmare that is Los Angeles. Homes are so expensive out there, that most people pay a pretty high premium to live there as it is. Lucky for them, the property tax rate of Los Angeles isn’t so bad at .79 percent. At least your tax bill won’t be as high as your mortgage when a small bungalow goes for upwards of $700,000 in most prime areas.
Overall property taxes are higher than the national average in Ohio. Cleveland, if you live in Cuyahoga County, is kind of high compared to many other major cities in the United States. So when you are buying a home, make sure you factor in the high cost of the property taxes, so you aren’t going to be surprised when the bill comes that first year that you own your home. Most people do pay their property taxes factored into their mortgage, so it’s part of that expense each month. That way those homeowners aren’t left with a huge tax bill at the end of the year when tax time comes. It’s just the smarter way to handle your property tax expenditures.
2 Point Highlight
Highlight #1
Overall property taxes are higher than the national average in Ohio. Cleveland, if you live in Cuyahoga County, is kind of high compared to many other major cities in the United States.
Highlight #2
You might wonder why Cleveland’s property tax rate is some of the highest in the state? The reason is simple. It’s the biggest. Out of the 88 counties in all of Ohio, Cuyahoga County is the largest hands down.
