A $600,000 primary residence in Washington County, Utah is billed somewhere between about $1,928 and $2,629 a year in property tax at 2026 proposed rates, and where it lands inside that range depends on which city you buy in. That is the entire spread across the county, roughly $700 a year, and it is far narrower than most people moving here expect. Between two similarly priced homes here, the biggest differences usually come down to how the property is used and whether the parcel sits inside a special taxing district, and both of those swing the number by thousands rather than hundreds.
Washington County property tax quick answer
On a $600,000 primary residence at 2026 proposed rates, the annual bill runs about $2,177 in St. George, $2,179 in Washington City, $2,323 in Ivins, $2,505 in Hurricane and $2,629 in Toquerville. Unincorporated Washington County is the lowest in the county at about $1,928.
The same house bought as a second home or a nightly rental is billed roughly 1.82 times those figures, because Utah's 45 percent primary residential exemption does not apply to it. A long-term rental with a full-time tenant living there as a primary residence can still qualify for the exemption.
How much is property tax in each Washington County city?
The table below runs the same $600,000 home through the thirteen Washington County locations in my calculator at the county's 2026 proposed rates, first as an owner-occupied primary residence and then as a second home or nightly rental. Every figure comes straight off my Southern Utah property tax calculator, which is built on the rates the Washington County Assessor publishes in its 2026 tax rate schedule. Read as of August 31, 2026. Open the property tax calculator here, and the county's 2026 rate schedule is published here.
This article is the map: what each place actually costs. The mechanics behind the number, how the 45 percent exemption is applied, how Truth in Taxation holds rates down as values rise, how to appeal an assessment and which relief programs exist, are all covered in my St. George property tax explainer. Open the St. George property tax explainer here.
| Tax area | 2026 rate | $600K primary residence | $600K second home |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unincorporated county | 0.5843% | $1,928 | $3,506 |
| St. George | 0.6596% | $2,177 | $3,958 |
| Washington City | 0.6603% | $2,179 | $3,962 |
| Apple Valley | 0.6641% | $2,192 | $3,985 |
| Santa Clara | 0.6767% | $2,233 | $4,060 |
| Springdale | 0.6917% | $2,283 | $4,150 |
| Enterprise | 0.6984% | $2,305 | $4,190 |
| Ivins | 0.7038% | $2,323 | $4,223 |
| Leeds | 0.7189% | $2,372 | $4,313 |
| Hurricane | 0.7590% | $2,505 | $4,554 |
| La Verkin | 0.7643% | $2,522 | $4,586 |
| Toquerville | 0.7968% | $2,629 | $4,781 |
| Black Desert PID 1 | 1.7038% | $5,623 | $10,223 |
Toquerville is the most expensive incorporated city on that list and St. George is close to the cheapest, and the difference between them on a $600,000 primary residence is about $452 a year. That is real money, but it is around $38 a month, and I have watched buyers spend weeks agonizing over which city to target for tax reasons when a single afternoon of shopping the right neighborhood would have moved their monthly payment ten times further. The unincorporated county is genuinely cheaper than any city, because there is no municipal levy on top, which is why a place like Dammeron Valley or the Diamond Valley area prices out lower on this line than anywhere with a city hall.
Why the gap between cities is so small
The reason the spread is narrow is that the largest single piece of the bill is identical everywhere. The Washington County School District levy is countywide, so it lands on a home in Toquerville and a home in Santa Clara at the same rate. The county levy, the water district levy and the state basic levy are also county-wide or state-wide. What is left to vary is each city's own municipal levy plus whatever local special districts sit under that parcel, and in most of Washington County that adds up to about a tenth to two tenths of a percent of taxable value.
This is the opposite of what people arrive expecting, especially from Texas and Illinois, where crossing a school district line can change a tax bill by thousands. Here, crossing a city line usually changes it by a couple hundred dollars a year. If you want the numbers on your own price point rather than my $600,000 example, the calculator runs all thirteen of those locations at once, and you can slide the price to whatever you are actually shopping.
How you use the home matters more than which city you buy in
Utah taxes a qualifying primary residence on 55 percent of its market value and exempts the other 45 percent, under Utah Code 59-2-103. The Utah State Tax Commission publishes the rule here. A second home or a short-term nightly rental is taxed on 100 percent of market value. A long-term rental can still qualify for the 45 percent exemption when a full-time tenant lives there as their primary residence, which I come back to below. That single distinction multiplies the bill by roughly 1.82 times, which is why the right-hand column of the table above runs so much higher than the one beside it. A $600,000 home in St. George is about $2,177 as a primary residence and about $3,958 as a second home. The gap between the cheapest and most expensive city in the county is $700. The gap between primary and second-home status in one city is $1,781.
The exemption follows how the home is used, not who owns it, and that surprises people in a useful direction. I own a townhouse in Hurricane that I rent out long term. I sent the county a copy of the signed one-year lease, and the primary residential exemption was approved on it, because my tenant lives there as a primary residence. A nightly rental does not qualify, and neither does a condo sitting in a rental pool, but a genuine long-term rental with a full-time tenant does. If you are buying an investment property in the Hurricane Valley and running the numbers, that is the difference between a $4,554 tax line and a $2,505 one.
The part that gets missed at closing: the exemption is not automatic and it does not simply ride along with the house. Washington County Code section 8-2-2 requires every residential owner to sign and submit the county's declaration form no later than 60 days after a change in ownership or a change in use, and the county charges a $50 administrative fee on applications for the current tax year filed after September 15. The Washington County Assessor takes the application online. Apply for the residential exemption here. Starting January 1, 2027, Utah Senate Bill 238 of the 2026 session applies that same application requirement statewide whenever an ownership interest changes, so this is about to become the normal expectation everywhere in Utah rather than a Washington County quirk.
The line item that can double your bill: public infrastructure districts
Look again at the bottom row of that table. Black Desert PID 1 is billed at 1.7038 percent against Ivins City's 0.7038 percent, an extra full percentage point of taxable value, which puts a $600,000 primary residence at about $5,623 a year instead of $2,323. That is not a different city. It is the same rates as Ivins with a public infrastructure district levy stacked on top, and it exists to pay for the resort infrastructure that was financed to build the place.
Utah authorizes these districts under Title 17D, Chapter 4 of the Utah Code, which caps a public infrastructure district's operations levy at 0.015 and allows an additional levy to service its bonds. The public infrastructure district statute is published here. Black Desert is the one buyers have heard of, but the county's 2026 rate schedule lists roughly twenty other public infrastructure districts, including Bench Lake, Boulder Ridge, Coral Junction, Gateway at Sand Hollow, Jepson Canyon, Oculta Roca, Pine View, Sand Hollow Mesa and Sienna Hills. Not all of them carry a levy anywhere near Black Desert's, and the rate on each one is published in that same county schedule.
This is the single most important thing to check when you are buying in a newer master-planned community, and it is why I look up the tax area on the parcel rather than trusting a rule of thumb about the city. A district like this does not show up in a listing description and it does not show up in a countywide average. It shows up on the tax notice. If you are shopping new construction in St. George, ask which tax area the lot sits in before you write the offer, and ask what the district's levy is projected to do as its bonds are drawn.
What the same house costs where you moved from
The reason most of my clients ask about property tax at all is that they are comparing Southern Utah against somewhere they already own. Here is that comparison on the same $600,000 primary residence, again from the calculator, with each city's own exemptions applied.
| City | $600K primary residence | Versus St. George | What the figure assumes |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. George, UT | $2,177 | Benchmark | Taxed on 55 percent of value |
| Salt Lake City, UT | $3,049 | 1.4x | Same 55 percent rule, higher combined levies. 2025 rates |
| Boise, ID | $4,402 | 2.0x | Homeowner exemption of 50 percent, capped at $125,000. 2025 levies |
| Mesquite, NV | up to $5,825 | 2.7x | New-construction ceiling. Older homes typically pay less. FY 2026-27 |
| Seattle, WA | $5,945 | 2.7x | No homestead exemption in Washington. 2026 levy |
| Sacramento, CA | $6,792 | 3.1x | Assessed at purchase price under Proposition 13. Excludes Mello-Roos. FY 2025-26 |
| Las Vegas, NV | up to $6,884 | 3.2x | New-construction ceiling. FY 2026-27 |
| Los Angeles, CA | $7,041 | 3.2x | Proposition 13. Excludes parcel taxes and direct assessments. FY 2025-26 |
| New York City, NY | up to $7,143 | 3.3x | Statutory ceiling. Assessment caps carry over on sale. FY 2026 |
| Boston, MA | $7,502 | 3.4x | Year one. The residential exemption usually starts in year two. FY 2026 plus the 1 percent CPA surcharge |
| Austin, TX | $9,756 | 4.5x | Five overlapping entities with homestead exemptions applied. 2025 adopted rates |
| Miami, FL | $11,149 | 5.1x | Assessed value resets to market at sale. Homestead applied. 2025 millage |
Two honest caveats, because a comparison that only flatters Utah is not worth publishing. The Nevada figures are new-construction ceilings, since Nevada taxes depreciated replacement cost, so an older Mesquite or Las Vegas home is usually billed well under those numbers, and Nevada caps annual increases on an owner-occupied home at 3 percent under state law. Utah has no equivalent per-parcel cap; our restraint comes from Truth in Taxation holding the rate revenue-neutral as values rise, which works differently and does not protect an individual owner in a fast-appreciating neighborhood the way Nevada's cap does. Nevada also has no state income tax, which for a retiree can swamp the property tax difference entirely. I run both sides of that trade for clients rather than pretending the answer is obvious.
Why the tax figure on a listing may not be your tax figure
The number printed on a listing is what the current owner is being billed, and three things can move it after you close. If the seller lives there and you are buying it as a second home, the taxable basis goes from 55 percent to 100 percent, and your bill will be roughly 1.82 times theirs. If the home is being reassessed at your purchase price after a run-up in value, the assessed value itself moves. And the rates in the table above are the county's 2026 proposed rates, which are finalized in the fall, so the certified figure can shift slightly from what is published today.
Two dates worth putting on the calendar. The valuation notice, which tells you what the county thinks your home is worth and what the proposed rates would cost you, is mailed by late July. The actual tax notice comes by November 1, and the full balance is due November 30, with no installment plan available in Washington County. The county treasurer accepts voluntary partial payments of $10 or more at any time, which is the closest thing to a payment plan that exists here. If you disagree with the county's value, the Board of Equalization appeal deadline for 2026 is September 15, and my full article on how St. George property taxes work walks through what evidence actually wins an appeal.
Questions I get about Washington County property taxes
Which city in Washington County has the lowest property taxes?
Unincorporated Washington County is lowest at 0.5843 percent, and among the incorporated cities St. George at 0.6596 percent and Washington City at 0.6603 percent sit within a few dollars of each other at the bottom. On a $600,000 primary residence that works out to about $1,928 in the unincorporated county, $2,177 in St. George and $2,179 in Washington City. Toquerville is the highest incorporated city at 0.7968 percent, or about $2,629. These are 2026 proposed rates from the Washington County Assessor, read August 31, 2026.
How much is property tax on a $600,000 home in St. George, Utah?
About $2,177 a year as an owner-occupied primary residence, and about $3,958 a year if you buy it as a second home or a nightly rental. The difference is Utah's primary residential exemption, which taxes an owner-occupied home on 55 percent of its market value and a second home on 100 percent.
Why is my property tax higher than my neighbor's on a similar home?
Usually one of three reasons. Your neighbor may hold the primary residential exemption while your home is classified as a second home, which is a 1.82 times difference on its own. Your assessed value may be higher because the home sold more recently at a higher price. Or your parcel may sit inside a public infrastructure district while theirs does not, which on a district like Black Desert PID 1 adds a full percentage point of taxable value. The tax area code on your notice is what settles it.
Do I have to apply for the primary residential exemption in Washington County?
Yes. Washington County Code section 8-2-2 requires owners to sign and submit the county's declaration form no later than 60 days after a change in ownership or a change in use, and the assessor takes the application online. An application for the current tax year filed after September 15 carries a $50 administrative fee. Utah Senate Bill 238, passed in 2026 and effective January 1, 2027, extends the application requirement statewide when an ownership interest changes.
Does a long-term rental qualify for the 45 percent exemption in Utah?
Yes, when a full-time tenant lives there as their primary residence. Utah ties the exemption to how the property is used rather than who owns it. I did this on my own rental townhouse in Hurricane by giving the county a copy of the signed one-year lease. Nightly and short-term rentals do not qualify, and neither do condos in a rental pool.
Are property taxes lower in St. George, Utah or Mesquite, Nevada?
Lower in St. George on a like-for-like primary residence. A newly built $600,000 home in Mesquite tops out around $5,825 a year against about $2,177 in St. George, because Nevada has no equivalent of Utah's 45 percent primary residential exemption. Nevada does depreciate the structure's value over time, so an older Mesquite home is typically billed less than that ceiling, it caps annual increases on owner-occupied homes at 3 percent, and it has no state income tax. Property tax alone does not settle that comparison.
Getting the real number on a specific home
Every listing I send a client includes the current tax figure, and I check the tax area and the exemption status before we write an offer, because a second home bought from a full-time resident will be billed more than the listing history suggests. If you want to see how the whole county compares at your own price point, the Southern Utah property tax calculator runs all thirteen of those locations at once. Open the property tax calculator here. For the real number on one specific house, call or text me at 435-200-5508 and I will pull the actual parcel, including whether the current owner's exemption status matches how you plan to use the home. You can also send me a message here. If you are still deciding where in the county to land, my St. George market summary tracks what homes are actually selling for, and my 55 and older communities page covers the retirement side of that decision. I am Lance Clifford, and I have sold real estate in St. George, Utah for thirteen years.