The property tax in a place like San Jose, California is very high because of the city’s location at the heart of Silicon Valley. San Jose is located in the Bay Area at the southern edge of the San Francisco Bay, and is home to employees from tech firms all over Silicon Valley, such as nearby Google, Adobe and Oracle. The property tax is pretty steep compared to other major cities.
Homeowners should expect to pay $1,000 to $10,000 in property tax because the houses are highly valued. Homes in San Jose range in value from $200,000 to those in the millions. Compared to other major cities, San Jose, California is fairly expensive.
Let’s compare San Jose, California to San Antonio, Texas, which is making a name for itself as a growing tech market, along with Austin. The property tax in San Antonio ranges from $3,900 to at least $7,000. Homes in San Antonio tend to be appraised at lower values, and there are much fewer homes in the million-dollar range. In fact, homes are available for less than $100,000 in San Antonio, and the most you can expect to pay is $700,000 or $800,000 in many cases.
Property taxes in Columbus, Ohio also tend to be lower than in San Jose, primarily due to Columbus’s location. While Columbus is a major city for concerts and it has a great university, it is a regular American city with typical Midwest weather. Property taxes in Columbus range between $4,000 to $6,800, generally quite lower than San Jose, which can boast its proximity to San Francisco and the California shoreline, along with its year-round temperate weather.
However, both of these cities have a narrower range of property taxes than San Jose. While they may not feature as many million-dollar homes as the Silicon Valley metropolis, San Jose also has a number of affordable housing options compared to other parts of the Bay Area — unsurprising, as it is not just tech moguls who live in San Jose, but also their employees.
Next, let’s compare San Jose with Atlanta, Georgia. In Atlanta, you can expect to pay anywhere from $1,700 to $12,000 in property taxes on your home. The reason for the dramatic range is because Atlanta, like San Jose, has cheap inner city houses but also caters to a number of wealthy or upper-middle-class residents. Atlanta is a booming city that is home to a number of celebrities, from actors to musicians to writers. It is also forever growing, whether due to new residents or people seeking to start a business. Atlanta property taxes can be a decent price if you want to live in a modest home and neighborhood. If you choose to live in an elite neighborhood or a high-value home, expect to pay the same amount you would in San Jose or other areas of California.
Another major East Coast metropolis, New York City, has very high property taxes, even compared to California’s Bay Area. New Yorkers see property taxes ranging from $5,500 to $20,000. Like in San Jose and Atlanta, the reason for this wide range is because New York caters both to everyday, working class residents to the very, very wealthy. Home values in the city range from at least $300,000 into the millions. New York City is nearly as popular as Silicon Valley when it comes to entrepreneurship and tech startups. Like San Jose, New York is the destination of thousands of immigrants looking to start new lives in the United States every single year; in fact, New York attracts a lot more of them.
To compare property taxes between San Jose and other major cities, visit Movoto.
The fact is, a number of factors go into San Jose’s property taxes. Aside from its location at the center of Northern California’s tech empire in Silicon Valley, it’s close to San Francisco as well as California’s wine country. Homes will go up in value, bringing property tax along, if a city is in a beautiful location like California, and a place that is in high-demand for businesses and residents alike, like the Bay Area. People vacation in a place like California and it is a hot tourist place.
When comparing the top end of the range of property taxes paid in major cities, San Jose is going to be higher. It is home to a number of very wealthy people, and the city has some lovely homes that are worth the high value that they are priced at, including villas and mansions priced in the millions. This drives the property taxes up, too.
But in a number of cities, including San Antonio, Columbus and New York City above, the low end of their range of property taxes is higher than in San Jose, because they don’t have the same amount of affordable housing for their lowest-income homeowners.
San Jose, California has an expensive property tax, but it’s reasonable compared to other cities.
2 Point Highlight
California is a state that has a rich background with a beautiful setting of an ocean view, along with the fact that it is the home to a number of tech giants.
Homes will go up in property tax if the area they’re in is beautiful, like California.
