What actually sets Missouri apart
Because Missouri reassesses only in odd years, a buyer purchasing in an even year can go most of two years before seeing the value change that their purchase triggers. Plan for the step, particularly if you bought well above the previous assessment.
Property taxes in Missouri at a glance
- Average effective tax rate: 0.88% of home value per year
- Median home value: $215,600
- Estimated tax on a median-value home: $1,887 per year (about $157 per month)
- Rank by tax rate: 23rd of 50, highest first
- Rank by amount actually paid: 35th of 50, highest first
- Where these figures come from: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, for the Missouri statewide averages shown above — ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimates, last reviewed September 2026.
Why the Missouri rate overstates the bill
Missouri ranks 23rd of the fifty on rate but only 35th on the bill itself — 12 places lower. The percentage reads worse than the cheque does, because it is applied to a median home value of $215,600.
Hawaii is the mirror image: a rate of 0.27%, well under the 0.88% charged here, and a median bill near $2,183 — about $296 more a year than a Missouri owner pays.
How Missouri works out what you owe
Residential property is assessed at 19% of market value, and reassessment happens in odd-numbered years, so values move in two-year steps rather than annually.
The Hancock Amendment requires districts to roll back rates when reassessment increases the base, limiting revenue growth from rising values alone.
Exemptions Missouri homeowners should claim
Each of these reduces a Missouri bill every year you hold the property, and almost none are granted without a claim:
- Senior property tax credit freeze: Counties may adopt a freeze on the amount of property tax owed by eligible owners aged 62 or older. Adoption is county by county, so availability depends on where you buy.
- Missouri property tax credit: A state credit for lower-income owners who are 65 or older, disabled, or a surviving spouse aged 60 or older.
Where you buy inside Missouri changes the bill
A statewide average hides its extremes. Where they show up in Missouri:
- St. Louis County: dozens of municipalities and school districts inside one county, producing large rate differences over short distances
- Jackson County: Kansas City, where a contested reassessment cycle produced sharp increases and a wave of appeals
- St. Charles County: the fast-growing western suburbs, among the first counties to adopt the senior freeze
Missouri and its neighbours
The same $215,600 — the Missouri median — taxed at each neighbouring state's average rate:
- Iowa at 1.43%: about $3,083 a year, roughly $1,196 more than the $1,887 a Missouri owner would pay on the same value.
- Illinois at 2.07%: about $4,463 a year, roughly $2,576 more than the $1,887 a Missouri owner would pay on the same value.
- Kentucky at 0.77%: about $1,660 a year, roughly $227 less than the $1,887 a Missouri owner would pay on the same value.
- Tennessee at 0.55%: about $1,186 a year, roughly $701 less than the $1,887 a Missouri owner would pay on the same value.
- Arkansas at 0.57%: about $1,229 a year, roughly $658 less than the $1,887 a Missouri owner would pay on the same value.
- Oklahoma at 0.82%: about $1,768 a year, roughly $119 less than the $1,887 a Missouri owner would pay on the same value.
- Kansas at 1.3%: about $2,803 a year, roughly $916 more than the $1,887 a Missouri owner would pay on the same value.
- Nebraska at 1.5%: about $3,234 a year, roughly $1,347 more than the $1,887 a Missouri owner would pay on the same value.
Appealing a Missouri assessment
If the assessed value on your Missouri home overstates what it is worth, the route is an appeal to the county Board of Equalization, then the State Tax Commission. The window is appeals are generally due by the second Monday in July in a reassessment year, and it is strict — missing it means waiting a full cycle.
Frequently asked questions
When are Missouri property taxes due, and when must exemption claims be filed?
A single annual bill is issued in the autumn and is due by 31 December. The county freeze is applied for with the county collector, commonly by the autumn; the state credit is claimed with the income tax return.
Does this calculator use my exact Missouri county tax rate?
No — it applies the Missouri statewide average of 0.88%. Rates are set locally, and the spread inside Missouri is wide enough to matter: on a $215,600 home, $228 a year separates Missouri from an averagely taxed state before any county variation is counted. Check the parcel's own rate with its Missouri 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.