JACKSONVILLE, FL — Jacksonville-area homeowners saw property taxes rise much faster than home values between 2022 and 2024, putting the metro area No. 2 in the nation in a ConsumerAffairs analysis of the 100 largest U.S. metros.
The typical property tax bill in the Jacksonville metro increased 21.7% over that period, while median home values rose 8.1%. That left a 13.6 percentage-point gap, second only to Lakeland-Winter Haven, Florida, in the ranking.
The analysis used U.S. Census Bureau data and compared the change in tax bills with the change in home values over the most recent two-year window available when the report was published.
How Jacksonville compared with the rest of the country
ConsumerAffairs found that property taxes rose faster than home values in 46 of the 100 metro areas it examined. Nationally, home values increased 12.4% over the same period, while property taxes climbed 10.6%.
That means Jacksonville’s increase in tax bills stood well above the national pace, even though local home values were still rising. The metro’s 21.7% property-tax jump was large enough to place it near the top of the list for widening pressure on homeowners.
The ranking was based on the percentage-point difference between property-tax growth and home-value growth, rather than on taxes or values alone. In other words, it measured how much faster one moved than the other.
The longer five-year picture looks different
The two-year comparison tells only part of the story. ConsumerAffairs also looked at a five-year period, from 2019 to 2024, and Jacksonville came out differently over that longer stretch.
Over those five years, median home values in the Jacksonville area rose 63.1%, while property taxes increased 44.9%. In that time frame, home-price growth outpaced tax growth.
That broader view suggests the recent spike in tax bills came after a much stronger run-up in property values earlier in the decade. For homeowners, the shorter-term strain may feel sharper even if the longer-term trend still shows home values growing faster overall.
Why home-value growth slowed in 2023
The analysis said Jacksonville home values climbed by double digits in 2021 and 2022 before slowing in 2023 as mortgage rates rose to about 7% for a 30-year loan.
ConsumerAffairs cited a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development analysis of the local market in describing that shift. Higher borrowing costs can cool demand by making monthly payments more expensive for buyers.
As home-value growth eased, property-tax bills continued to move higher, widening the gap between the two measures over the two-year period studied. That combination helped push Jacksonville toward the top of the national ranking.
Florida voters face a property-tax amendment in November
The tax discussion is unfolding as Florida voters prepare to decide on Amendment 3 in the Nov. 3 general election. The proposal would change the state’s homestead exemption rules for non-school property taxes.
According to the Florida Department of State, the amendment would raise the exemption to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, with inflation adjustments after that. It would also lower the annual assessment-increase cap for non-homestead properties from 10% to 5%.
While the ConsumerAffairs ranking is separate from the ballot question, both point to property taxes as a major issue for Florida homeowners and property owners right now.
What the study says about the tax burden trend
ConsumerAffairs said the data covers 2022 to 2024 because that was the most recent comparable two-year period available when the analysis was published. The metro ranking was built to show where tax bills were pulling away from home values the most.
For Jacksonville-area homeowners, the numbers show a clear recent increase in the property-tax burden relative to housing values. The gap does not mean taxes were the highest in the country, but it does show they grew faster than values in one of the nation’s largest metro areas.
That distinction matters for households trying to budget around housing costs, especially when mortgage rates, insurance, and property taxes can all move in the same direction at once.
