Property Taxes in Boulder
Boulder property taxes run genuinely low by national standards but not by Colorado's own standards -- the base Boulder record cites Boulder County's 2026 effective property tax rate at 0.54% (a median annual bill of $3,821 on a median home value of $713,900), modestly above Colorado's own roughly 0.49% state median even though it sits far below the roughly 0.91% national median, a real distinction this page preserves rather than blurs.
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Learn moreThe Headline Rate and a Real Sample Bill
As detailed in the base Boulder record, Boulder County's 2026 effective property tax rate is cited at 0.54% by Ownwell (a separate source rounds this to 0.57%), translating to a median annual bill of $3,821 on a median assessed home value of $713,900. Because Boulder's actual median sale price runs closer to $915,000 (per the housing-market topic page), a bill on a median-priced Boulder home specifically would likely run higher than the county-median figure -- get a property-specific assessment rather than applying the county median directly to Boulder's higher price levels.
Colorado Is Broadly Low-Tax, but Boulder Is Not a Below-State-Average Outlier
Colorado's property taxes are broadly low nationally -- the state's roughly 0.49% median sits well below the roughly 0.91% national median. But within Colorado specifically, Boulder County's 0.54% rate runs modestly above that state median, not below it. This distinction is preserved deliberately: Boulder benefits from Colorado's generally favorable national tax position, but it is not itself a below-average outlier the way some other Tier A cities in this dataset are -- see the base record's file header for the same disclosed judgment call.
Rates Vary Within Boulder and Across the County
Per the base Boulder record, ZIP-level rates within the City of Boulder itself vary -- 80305 at a cited 0.58% versus 80301 at 0.54% -- and the broader county shows even wider variance, with Erie running highest at a cited 0.72% and unincorporated areas lowest at 0.41%. Confirm the specific rate for an actual address rather than applying a single citywide or countywide figure.
What Drives the Total Bill: Assessed Value, Not Just the Rate
Because Boulder's assessed home values run well above the county median (Boulder's actual median sale price near $915,000 versus the county-median assessed value of $713,900 used in the sample-bill calculation above), the effective rate alone understates what a typical Boulder homeowner actually pays in dollar terms relative to a lower-priced Boulder County property elsewhere in the county. Confirm both the applicable millage/rate and the property's specific assessed value directly with the Boulder County Assessor's Office before budgeting a specific bill.
Key takeaways
- Boulder County's 2026 effective property tax rate is cited at 0.54% (Ownwell; a separate source rounds to 0.57%), with a sample median annual bill of $3,821 on a $713,900 median assessed value -- a Boulder-specific bill would likely run higher given the city's higher median sale price.
- Colorado's property taxes are broadly low nationally (roughly 0.49% state median vs. roughly 0.91% national), but Boulder County's 0.54% rate sits modestly above the Colorado state median -- not a below-state-average outlier.
- Rates vary by ZIP within the city (80305 at 0.58% vs. 80301 at 0.54%) and across the county (Erie at 0.72% vs. unincorporated areas at 0.41%) -- confirm the specific rate for an actual address.
- Because Boulder's assessed values run well above the county median, the effective rate alone understates the typical dollar bill for a Boulder-specific property -- confirm the specific assessed value with the Boulder County Assessor's Office.
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