Property Taxes in Hawaii
Hawaii's property tax runs a real, genuinely striking two-sided story: a statewide EFFECTIVE rate of approximately 0.27% -- the LOWEST of any US state -- paired with the nation's highest median home value, so the real DOLLAR bill a typical owner pays (approximately $2,385/year statewide median) lands much closer to the national middle, and each of Hawaii's four counties sets its own distinct nominal rate independently.
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Learn moreThe lowest effective rate in the nation, honestly paired with its real dollar-bill counterpart
Hawaii's statewide EFFECTIVE property tax rate -- tax paid as a percentage of a home's actual market value -- runs approximately 0.27%, verified as the lowest of any US state, roughly a third of the approximately 0.9% national average. But Hawaii also carries the nation's highest median home value, so the real DOLLAR property-tax bill a typical Hawaii homeowner pays lands much closer to the middle of the national pack: a real statewide median annual property-tax bill of approximately $2,385. This record discloses that structural tension directly rather than letting the headline-lowest-rate framing obscure it.
No county-level uniformity -- each of the four counties sets its own real rate
Hawaii has NO county-level property-tax uniformity: each of the four counties (Honolulu/Oahu, Maui, Hawaii/Big Island, Kauai) sets its own real rates, classifications, and homeowner-exemption structures independently. This pass's research found real, substantial variation in NOMINAL owner-occupied residential rates per $1,000 of assessed value: Kauai County's rate runs $2.59 per $1,000 for fiscal year 2026-2027 (the lowest of the four); Oahu's flat home-exemption residential rate runs $3.50 per $1,000; Maui County's residential rate runs $6.00-$7.00 per $1,000 (Maui also layers on a striking non-owner-occupied/short-term-vacation-rental rate as high as $13.00 per $1,000); and Hawaii County's (Big Island) owner-occupied rate runs the highest nominal figure of the four, $8.00-$9.50 per $1,000.
Why the nominal county rates look so much higher than the effective statewide rate
These NOMINAL per-$1,000-of-assessed-value rates look dramatically higher than the roughly 0.27% statewide EFFECTIVE rate because each county's assessment methodology and substantial owner-occupied/age-tiered homeowner exemptions reduce the taxable assessed value well below full market value before the nominal rate is applied -- a real, genuinely confusing structural feature of Hawaii property tax this record explains directly rather than presenting the nominal county rates and the statewide effective rate as if they were the same kind of number.
What this means for a buyer, renter, or retiree
A prospective mover should confirm the specific effective rate, classification, and exemption status for any target property and county directly rather than relying on a statewide figure alone. Hawaii's low property tax sits alongside a genuinely high, 11%-top-rate income tax and a full, longstanding exemption of Social Security income -- see the income-taxes topic for the fuller retiree-relevant picture, and the homeowners-insurance topic for how Hawaii's genuinely cheap insurance market further reduces total ownership cost.
Key takeaways
- Hawaii's statewide EFFECTIVE property tax rate runs approximately 0.27%, the lowest of any US state -- but the real median annual dollar bill runs approximately $2,385 because Hawaii also has the nation's highest home values.
- Each of Hawaii's four counties sets its own distinct nominal rate: Kauai $2.59/$1,000 (lowest), Oahu $3.50/$1,000, Maui $6.00-$7.00/$1,000, and Hawaii County/Big Island $8.00-$9.50/$1,000 (highest).
- Nominal county rates look far higher than the ~0.27% effective statewide rate because substantial homeowner exemptions reduce taxable assessed value well below market value first.
- Confirm the specific effective rate, classification, and exemption status for any target property and county directly rather than relying on the statewide figure alone.
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