What actually sets Kansas apart
Kansas requires counties to send a notice whenever a taxing district intends to collect more revenue than the prior year, even if the mill levy is unchanged. That revenue-neutral rate notice is the most useful document a Kansas homeowner gets, because it shows the increase that a flat mill levy would otherwise hide.
Property taxes in Kansas at a glance
- Average effective tax rate: 1.3% of home value per year
- Median home value: $203,400
- Estimated tax on a median-value home: $2,643 per year (about $220 per month)
- Rank by tax rate: 14th of 50, highest first
- Rank by amount actually paid: 24th of 50, highest first
- Where these figures come from: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, for the Kansas statewide averages shown above — ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimates, last reviewed September 2026.
Why the Kansas rate overstates the bill
Kansas ranks 14th of the fifty on rate but only 24th on the bill itself — 10 places lower. The percentage reads worse than the cheque does, because it is applied to a median home value of $203,400.
California is the mirror image: a rate of 0.71%, well under the 1.3% charged here, and a median bill near $4,926 — about $2,283 more a year than a Kansas owner pays.
How Kansas works out what you owe
Residential property is assessed at 11.5% of appraised market value, one of the lower assessment ratios in the country, with mill levies applied to that figure.
Kansas sets no statutory limit on how fast a home's taxable value can rise, so a Kansas assessment tracks the market more closely than it would in a capped state.
Exemptions Kansas homeowners should claim
Each of these reduces a Kansas bill every year you hold the property, and almost none are granted without a claim:
- Homestead refund: An income-tested refund of part of the property tax paid, available to lower-income owners who are older, disabled or have dependent children.
- SAFESR senior refund: A separate and more generous refund of a share of property tax paid for owners aged 65 or older below an income threshold.
Where you buy inside Kansas changes the bill
A statewide average hides its extremes. Where they show up in Kansas:
- Johnson County: the Kansas City suburbs, with the state's highest values and its most competitive school districts
- Sedgwick County: Wichita, where mill levies run above the Johnson County norm on considerably lower values
- Shawnee County: Topeka, with a comparatively high effective rate for the state
Kansas and its neighbours
The same $203,400 — the Kansas median — taxed at each neighbouring state's average rate:
- Nebraska at 1.5%: about $3,051 a year, roughly $408 more than the $2,643 a Kansas owner would pay on the same value.
- Missouri at 0.88%: about $1,790 a year, roughly $853 less than the $2,643 a Kansas owner would pay on the same value.
- Oklahoma at 0.82%: about $1,668 a year, roughly $975 less than the $2,643 a Kansas owner would pay on the same value.
- Colorado at 0.49%: about $997 a year, roughly $1,646 less than the $2,643 a Kansas owner would pay on the same value.
Appealing a Kansas assessment
If the assessed value on your Kansas home overstates what it is worth, the route is an appeal to the county appraiser informal review, then the Board of Tax Appeals. The window is within 30 days of the notice of value mailed in March, and it is strict — missing it means waiting a full cycle.
Frequently asked questions
When are Kansas property taxes due, and when must exemption claims be filed?
Bills are mailed in November. The first half is due 20 December and the second half 10 May. Refund claims are filed with the Kansas Department of Revenue with the income tax return, generally by 15 April.
Does this calculator use my exact Kansas county tax rate?
No — it applies the Kansas statewide average of 1.3%. Rates are set locally, and the spread inside Kansas is wide enough to matter: on a $203,400 home, $639 a year separates Kansas from an averagely taxed state before any county variation is counted. Check the parcel's own rate with its Kansas county before relying on this figure.
Reference sources
Related calculators
How this estimate is built
Principal and interest come from the standard amortization formula, worked through in full on the formula reference page. Property tax, insurance, PMI and loan-program figures layer on top from published assumptions — each one sourced, dated and listed on the methodology page. Every result here is an estimate built from public data, not a quote: confirm the specifics with a lender before relying on it.
For developers
This calculation is also available as a REST API and through an MCP server, both running the same engine as this page — so the figures match by construction rather than by convention. No key required.