Where the 0.55% in the tax box comes from
The property tax field opened on 0.55% of price a year, and that figure is Arkansas's rather than ours. The Census Bureau's American Community Survey publishes two medians for every state: the real estate taxes actually paid on owner-occupied homes (table B25103_001E) and the value of those homes (B25077_001E). In the 2024 five-year estimates, Arkansas reports $1,040 of tax against a home worth $188,000. One divided by the other is 0.55%, which is what the median owner there pays as a share of what the median home is worth.
That is an effective rate, not a statutory one, and no assessor prints it on a bill. Everything between a rate on paper and money out of a bank account lands inside it: the ratio the property is assessed at, any cap on how fast an assessed value may move, the exemptions the owner claimed, and the school district and city levies stacked on the county's. A rate derived from bills actually paid is the only figure that compares one state with another, which is why the calculator starts there.
| Median tax paid | Median home value | Effective rate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arkansas | $1,040 | $188,000 | 0.55% |
| United States | $3,119 | $332,700 | 0.94% |
So Arkansas sits far below the national figure: 13th of the 51 jurisdictions, counting up from the lowest effective rate. Rate and bill are worth reading together, though. A low rate on an expensive housing stock can produce a larger bill than a high rate on a cheap one, and it is the bill that has to be paid every month.
What that does to a payment
Take a home at Arkansas's median value of $188,000 and leave the rest of the calculator's defaults alone: 20% down, 6.5% over 30 years, insurance at 0.35% of price a year, no HOA dues. The payment is $1,092 a month: $951 of principal and interest, $86 of property tax, and $55 of insurance. The loan itself is $150,400 after $37,600 down.
At the national effective rate of 0.94%, the tax line on that same home would be $147, so Arkansas's rate saves about $61 a month, or $733 a year, against the national figure. Round numbers at a rate nobody quoted: the size of the gap is the point, not the total. It matters beyond the budget, too, because lenders qualify a borrower on the whole payment with taxes and insurance in it. The tax line is not a bill that turns up later. It is part of what a lender will lend.
The rate is the assumption that dates fastest, so change it to whatever you were quoted before reading anything into the total. Under 20% down, mortgage insurance appears as its own line: see PMI for when it comes off.
Why insurance is not set per state
The insurance box holds the same 0.35% of price a year on every state page here, deliberately. There is no public series for homeowners insurance comparable to the Census tax medians: premiums are filed with each state's insurance department and summarized in industry reports that are not free to republish, and they turn on the home far more than on the state. Roof age, construction, distance to a hydrant, prior claims, wind or wildfire exposure and the deductible chosen all move a premium more than a state border does. A state average would hide that behind a number that looks as solid as the tax rate and is not. Put your own quote in the box; it is the field most worth replacing.
Where the tax is actually assessed
Property tax is levied locally, not by the state. A county assessor puts a value on the property, and the rate applied to it is the sum of the levies of whichever bodies the parcel sits inside: the county, a school district, a city or town in most places, and sometimes a fire, library, water or special improvement district on top. Two homes a mile apart in the same county can carry different rates because one is inside a municipal boundary and the other is not, which is why a statewide figure can only ever be a starting point.
Relief is local too, and it is much of the reason an effective rate comes in under the posted one. A homestead or primary-residence exemption is the usual one; exemptions for veterans, for owners over a certain age or with a disability, and classifications for agricultural or conservation use are common as well. Which of them Arkansas offers, what each is worth and whether it has to be applied for are set by statute and administered by the assessor, so those figures are theirs to state rather than this page's. Pull the county's record for the parcel before trusting any monthly number: it is what a servicer funds the escrow account from, and the reason a first-year payment often resets after a sale.
Where to go from here
The generic payment calculator runs the same arithmetic on the site's own defaults, and takes a price in the URL from any listing page. If the question is whether to buy at all, the rent vs buy calculator takes this monthly figure and a comparable rent and names the year buying pulls ahead. Renting in Arkansas for now, or renting the place out? The Arkansas lease agreement builder writes a lease that holds to what Arkansas allows.
Questions people ask
What is the property tax rate in Arkansas?
There is no single one. The figure this calculator opens with, 0.55% of value a year, is an effective rate: the American Community Survey's median real estate tax bill for owner-occupied homes in Arkansas ($1,040) divided by the median value of those homes ($188,000), from the 2024 five-year estimates. Statutory rates are set locally by counties, school districts and cities, and what is actually paid depends on the assessment and the exemptions that apply, which is why a figure derived from bills paid is the one that compares across states.
How much is the property tax on a $188,000 home in Arkansas?
At the state's effective rate of 0.55%, about $1,034 a year, or $86 a month inside the payment. That is an estimate from a statewide median, not the bill for a parcel. The county assessor's record for the specific address is the only figure that settles it, and it is the figure a lender will fund the escrow account from.
Is Arkansas a high property tax state?
On effective rate, Arkansas is far below the national figure: 0.55% against 0.94% nationally, which is 13th of the 51 jurisdictions counting up from the lowest. Rate is only half of it, though. A low rate on an expensive home can produce a larger bill than a high rate on a cheap one, which is why the median bill paid ($1,040 in Arkansas, $3,119 nationally) is worth reading beside the rate.
Can I change the tax rate the calculator uses?
Yes, and you should once you have a real parcel in mind. Open the assumptions and type the rate, or the figures, from the county record. Everything you change is kept in this browser and used the next time you open a calculator or a listing here. Nothing typed is sent anywhere.
Arithmetic on the numbers you type, not a quote, an offer, or tax advice. The property tax default is a statewide effective rate derived from U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2024 five-year estimates (B25103_001E and B25077_001E), not a rate set by Arkansas or by any taxing district, and the bill for a specific parcel comes from the county. Rates, premiums and dues move. Nothing typed here is stored or sent anywhere.