A recent NAHB study published tables of the 2009 effective property tax rates for all states and metropolitan areas. The release of the new data from the Census Bureau allows this analysis to be extended to smaller geographic areas like counties, places (which include political jurisdictions like towns and cities) and tracts (the main way the Census Bureau subdivides counties). In addition to presenting tables of effective property rates, this article discusses factors that help explain differences in property tax rates. In particular, effective property tax rates often appear to be related to household income, the value of the homes, and how recently the homes have been sold. Full Story