Florida has no state income tax, so local governments lean on property tax. Yet the typical Florida homeowner pays less than the national figure: $2,730 a year, an effective rate of about 0.76% of home value. The reason is a set of protections for people who live in their homes, and those protections are about to get much larger. If you own or plan to buy in Florida, the difference between a homestead and every other property is the most important thing to understand.
The numbers at a glance
- Typical homeowner bill: $2,730 (US: $3,119)
- Typical home value: $359,000
- Effective rate: 0.76% (US: 0.94%)
- Typical bill as a share of household income: 3.7%
Figures are medians from the Census Bureau’s 2020 to 2024 American Community Survey. All 67 counties are on the Florida page.
Where bills are highest and lowest
The highest typical bills are in Monroe County (the Keys) at $4,129, then Broward ($3,890), Palm Beach ($3,858) and Miami-Dade ($3,744). The highest effective rate is in Alachua County (Gainesville) at about 0.96%, close to the national figure. The lowest rates are in the Panhandle, led by Walton County at about 0.45%, where high-value vacation homes spread the cost.
Step 1: the property appraiser sets the value
Each county’s elected property appraiser values every property as of January 1, a figure Florida calls “just value.” For homes without a homestead, that just value is close to what the tax is based on. For homesteads, two rules lower it.
Step 2: homestead exemptions
If the home is your permanent residence on January 1 and you file by March 1, you get Florida’s homestead exemption:
- The first $25,000 of value is exempt from all property taxes, including school taxes.
- A second exemption, worth about $25,000 and now adjusted each year for inflation, applies to the value between $50,000 and $75,000. It does not apply to school taxes.
Counties and cities can add more, such as extra exemptions for low-income seniors and long-term residents, and there are exemptions for veterans with disabilities, surviving spouses and first responders. See our homestead guide.
What changes in 2027
Voters approved Amendment 3 in November 2026. It raises the non-school homestead exemption to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028. Early estimates put the savings at roughly $1,300 on a typical homestead’s 2027 bill and about $2,700 a year after that, though local governments will set their rates next summer. The school portion of the bill does not change. Read our Amendment 3 story.
Step 3: Save Our Homes caps the growth
Once a home has a homestead exemption, its assessed value can rise by no more than 3% a year or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower. This is the Save Our Homes cap. During the price surge earlier this decade, it kept many long-time owners’ taxes nearly flat while their market values jumped.
Two catches:
- The value resets when the home sells. A buyer starts over at full just value. This is why your bill as a new owner can be far higher than the seller’s. Our home buying guide explains how to estimate it.
- Values can rise when prices fall. If the market dips but your assessed value is still below just value, the assessed value can keep going up by the capped amount until the two meet.
Portability
When you sell a homestead and buy another in Florida, you can carry up to $500,000 of your Save Our Homes benefit to the new home. You must set up the new homestead within three years of leaving the old one, and you have to apply with the new county’s property appraiser.
Non-homestead property: the 10% cap
Rentals, second homes and commercial property do not get homestead exemptions. Their assessed value for non-school taxes can rise up to 10% a year, and school taxes are based on full just value. As a result, an investor or snowbird often pays far more than a homesteaded neighbor with the same house. Our rental property guide explains more.
The calendar
- January 1: values and homestead status set
- March 1: deadline to apply for homestead and other exemptions
- Mid-August: the TRIM notice arrives, showing your value, exemptions and the proposed tax from each local government. It also lists the dates of public budget hearings.
- 25 days after the TRIM notice: deadline to file a petition with the Value Adjustment Board if you disagree with your value or an exemption denial
- November 1: tax bills mailed, with a 4% discount for paying in November. See our story on the early-payment discount.
- April 1: unpaid taxes become delinquent
Appealing your value
Start by calling the property appraiser’s office, where many value questions are settled informally. If that does not work, file a petition with the Value Adjustment Board within the 25-day window. The filing fee is small, and you can present recent sales of similar homes or an appraisal. Our guide on how to appeal covers the evidence that works.
Comparing Florida counties
Because so much depends on homestead status and when a home was bought, the typical bills on our county pages are best for comparing places, not for predicting a buyer’s first bill. For a first-year estimate, use the calculator on any Florida county page with the price you plan to pay.
Figures from the US Census Bureau American Community Survey, 2020-2024. How we calculate them.
