State & local tax revenue from property taxes paid reached $203.9 billion in the third quarter of 2024 (seasonally adjusted), according to the Census Bureau’s quarterly summary of state & local tax revenue. This marks a 2.8% increase from the revised $198.3 billion in the second quarter of 2024 and also marks the first quarter where property tax revenue topped $200 billion for state & local governments. Year-to-date, total state & local tax revenue was $1.56 trillion. This was 5.4% higher than the $1.48 trillion through the first three quarters of 2023.
The 2.8% quarterly increase in the property tax revenue was up from the previous quarter of 2.6%. Property tax revenues have grown at an average rate of 0.87% from 2009 to 2024. This quarter marks the fourth consecutive quarter of above average growth.
Year-over-year, property tax revenue was 11.2% higher, a notable uptick from the 8.0% increase in the previous quarter. The average year-over-year growth rate from 2010 to 2024 is 3.60%. The last time yearly growth was below the average was the 1.1% decline in the third quarter of 2022.
Of total state & local collections in the third quarter, property tax made up the largest share at 38.2%, followed by sales tax at 27.3%. Individual income tax represented 26.0% of tax revenue, while corporate tax made up the remaining 8.5% for state & local revenues in the third quarter of 2024.
Over the past decade, state & local governments have been most reliant on property taxes for revenue. Sales tax has had an increased importance since 2023, when the share of sales tax of total revenues grew above individual income tax shares. See the chart below for the trends of total state & local government tax revenue shares.
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