Property Taxes in Florida: Everything You Need to Know

There are plenty of reasons to love Florida! There’s warm weather year-round, beautiful beaches up and down both coasts, some of the best amusement parks in the country, property taxes . . . wait, what was that last one?

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While Florida is one of only a handful of states with no state income tax, there are other ways local governments try to collect their “fair share”—including property taxes on any real estate you own in the Sunshine State.

If you’re wondering how property taxes work in Florida, who exactly owes this tax, and how much you might owe on the land underneath your feet, you’ve come to the right place. Let’s dive right in!

How Does Florida’s Property Tax Work?

A property tax is paid by someone—an individual or a business—who owns a piece of real estate. How much you owe depends on how much your property is worth and the tax rate set by your local government. 

According to the Florida Constitution, all property tax rates are set by the state’s local governments—including county governments, city governments and school districts—and all the revenue from those taxes goes straight to them. So the state itself doesn’t collect or use any of that money.  

Usually, local governments charge property taxes using a millage rate. Take a deep breath—millage can get a little confusing. Millage is a tax rate that tells you how many dollars you'll pay for every $1,000 of value. One mill equals $1 of tax for every $1,000 of your property’s assessed value. We’ll get into this more a little later.

Property taxes are also based on the market value of your property, which is determined by Florida’s property appraisers at the beginning of each year. Property appraisers also review and apply exemptions, assessment limitations and classifications that could lower your property’s taxable value.

Then tax collectors are responsible for sending you your property tax bill (if you don’t already pay your property tax through your mortgage) and collecting your tax payments. They’re the folks who will answer questions about payment options and give refunds if you happen to overpay on your property taxes.

After collecting what you owe, the tax collector sends all that property tax money to your local governments. Then they’ll put those tax dollars to work! In Florida, property taxes are used to fund public schools and infrastructure, including roads, libraries and some medical services.

Who Pays Property Tax in Florida?

Every homeowner in Florida has to pay property taxes based on their home’s value and the

property tax rates in their county or city. But homeowners aren’t the only folks on the hook for property taxes.

If you run a business that owns property, own any rental properties in the state (even if you live in another state), or inherited property from a loved one as part of their estate, guess what? You owe Florida property taxes on those properties.  

And there’s no minimum or maximum of property tax you could owe. Whether you have a $5,000 shack in the Everglades or a beach house in Tampa, you’ll pay property taxes.

How Is Property Tax Calculated in Florida?

Your property tax rate (and how much you’ll owe) depends on a few different factors, including the county you live in, the exemptions you qualify for, and the value of your home. Here’s the basic equation to help you figure out how much you owe in property tax:

(Taxable Value of Your Property / 1,000) x Millage Rate = Property Tax Owed

Here’s a scenario to help paint the picture a little more clearly. Let’s say you own a home in Orlando, which is in Orange County. Your county appraiser looks at your property and determines your home is worth $350,000. You might not owe taxes on the assessed value of your property if you qualify for certain exemptions.

For example, the homestead exemption allows you to deduct up to $50,000 of your home’s assessed value. If you qualify, you’ll only pay property tax on $300,000 of your home’s value. Nice!

Now let’s say the Orange County millage rate is five mills. Quick refresher: One mill equals $1 in property tax for every $1,000 of your home’s value. So in this case, you would pay $5 in property tax for every $1,000 of your home’s taxable value.

Using the property tax equation we showed you above, here’s how you would calculate how much you owe:

($300,000 / 1,000) x 5 mills = $1,500

In this case, your annual property tax bill in Orange County would be $1,500. If that amount is included in your mortgage payment, about $125 of each monthly payment would be property taxes.

What Are the Average Property Tax Rates in Florida?

According to the Tax Foundation, Florida ranks No. 30 when it comes to property taxes paid as a percentage of housing value, with an effective property tax rate of 0.74%.¹

But remember, not everyone in Florida has the same property tax rate. A homeowner living in the suburbs somewhere in the Florida Panhandle, for example, won’t pay the same property tax as the owner of a high-rise condo in downtown Miami. 

Governments seem to take joy in making things complicated for some reason, which is why your regular property tax rate is set by your local government in millage rates. And like we just showed you, trying to calculate how much you owe using millage rates can feel like you’re back in eighth-grade algebra class. Shudder. 

But if you know your home’s value and your effective property tax rate, it’s much easier than using mills and formulas to figure out what you’ll pay in property taxes each year.

For example, if the effective property tax rate in your county is 1% and your house is worth $300,000, that means you’ll owe about $3,000 in property taxes. Simple!

Let’s look at some examples based on effective property tax rates in Florida’s five most populated counties.²

 

County	Median Home Value	Median Annual Property Tax Payment	Average Effective Property Tax Rate
Broward County	$380,400	$3,610	0.95%
Hillsborough County	$333,300	$2,787	0.84%
Miami-Dade County	$425,400	$3,516	0.83%
Orange County	$358,300	$2,795	0.78%
Palm Beach County	$407,300	$3,600	0.88%

How to Pay Property Taxes in Florida

As we mentioned above, if you have a monthly mortgage payment, chances are you’re already paying your property taxes. That’s because most mortgage payments include partial payments for your Florida property taxes that go into an escrow account each month. When your property tax is due, your mortgage company pays it for you from that account.

Just to make sure, look at your current monthly mortgage statement when you get a chance—there should be a line item on your statement that lists your property tax.

If not, that means you’ll probably have to pay your county’s tax collector directly. The Florida Department of Revenue can help you access each county’s payment options.³

How to Lower Your Florida Property Tax Bill

Do you want to reduce how much you pay in property tax? Of course you do! The good news is that Florida offers several property tax exemptions that can lower your tax bill if you qualify for them.

The most common is the homestead exemption, which helps thousands of Florida homeowners save money on property taxes each year. If you own property and it’s your permanent residence (or the permanent residence of one of your dependents), the homestead exemption could decrease your home’s taxable value by up to $50,000.⁴

Exemptions are also available for several other groups and situations in Florida:

• Property owners with disabilities
• Widows and widowers
• Senior citizens
• Veterans and active-duty military service members
• Spouses of first responders who died in the line of duty
• Properties with specialized uses

Veterans in particular can qualify for four different types of exemptions, and widows and widowers are entitled to a $5,000 exemption (as long as they haven’t remarried and weren’t divorced when their ex-spouse died). Legally blind homeowners are also entitled to a $5,000 exemption.⁵