Does a rental property qualify for Utah's 45 percent primary residential exemption?

Yes, if it is a genuine long-term rental. Utah ties the exemption to the property being used as someone's primary residence, and a full-time tenant counts. Providing the county a signed one-year lease is how owners document it. Short-term and nightly rentals do not qualify, and neither do condos in rental pools.

Southern Utah Property Tax Calculator

Q: How much are property taxes on a $600,000 home in St. George, Utah?

A $600,000 primary residence in St. George, Utah pays about $2,177 per year in property tax at 2026 proposed rates. The same home pays about $1,928 in unincorporated Washington County and about $2,179 in Washington City, a spread of roughly $250 because the school district levy is countywide. Taxed as a second home or nightly rental, that same $600,000 house runs about $3,958 in St. George, roughly 1.82 times the primary residence bill, because Utah taxes a qualifying primary residence on 55 percent of market value and a second home on 100 percent. At a $500,000 price the primary residence figures are about $1,607 unincorporated, $1,814 in St. George and $1,816 in Washington City.

Q: How much more does a second home pay in property tax in Utah?

Exactly 1.82 times the primary-residence bill, because the tax applies to 100 percent of value instead of 55 percent. On a $600,000 home in St. George that is roughly $3,958 instead of $2,177, which is still less than a primary residence costs in most large U.S. cities.

Q: How do Mesquite, Nevada property taxes compare to St. George, Utah?

Mesquite runs higher. A newly built $600,000 home in Mesquite tops out around $5,825 a year at the FY 2026-27 rate of 2.7737 per $100 of assessed value, against about $2,177 for a St. George primary residence, because Nevada has no equivalent of Utah's 45 percent primary residential exemption. Older Mesquite homes pay less due to Nevada's depreciation rules, established owner-occupied homes are capped at 3 percent annual increases, and Nevada has no state income tax.

Q: Which city in Washington County has the lowest property taxes?

Unincorporated areas are lowest, and St. George and Washington City are the lowest incorporated cities, within a few dollars of each other. Toquerville is currently the highest city, about $450 a year more on a $600,000 primary residence. Homes inside the Black Desert public infrastructure district pay a much higher combined levy, over two and a half times the St. George rate.

Every Washington County city at 2026 proposed rates, plus the same home in eleven other cities, at your own price.

Every week I talk to someone moving here from California, or Washington, or Texas, and at some point they ask what property taxes run in Southern Utah. The short answer is lower than almost anywhere they are coming from. I built this calculator so you can see it in real numbers instead of taking a realtor's word for it.

Enter what you expect to pay for a home, then pick how you will use it. The tool runs the 2026 proposed tax rates for every city in Washington County, then runs the same home through eleven other cities, from Salt Lake City to Mesquite to Miami, using each one's own published rates. The use toggle matters more here than anywhere, because of a Utah rule most people have never heard of.

Utah taxes a primary residence on only 55 percent of its market value. The other 45 percent is exempt. Second homes and nightly rentals pay on the full 100 percent. And here is the part that surprises even longtime owners: the exemption follows how the home is used, not who owns it. 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 they approved the primary exemption on it, because my tenant lives there as a primary residence. Nightly rentals and condos in rental pools do not qualify, but a genuine long-term rental with a full-time tenant does.

Home price

$200K$650K$1.1M$1.55M$2M

Estimated first-year tax on a newly purchased single-family home. A long-term rental in Utah keeps the 55 percent taxable basis when a full-time tenant lives there under a signed lease; in every other state shown, rentals are taxed like second homes.

Washington County, city by city

The school district levy is countywide, so the differences below come from each city's own levy and special districts. The whole spread from cheapest to most expensive city is smaller than most people expect.

The same home in 11 other cities

Every figure uses that city's most recent officially adopted rates and its normal exemptions for each use. Bars are scaled against St. George.

How these numbers are built. Figures are estimated first-year taxes on a newly purchased home, computed from each area's most recently adopted official rates: 2026 proposed rates for Washington County and Seattle, fiscal 2025-26 for the California cities, New York and Boston, 2025 adopted rates for Salt Lake City, Boise, Austin and Miami, and fiscal 2026-27 for Las Vegas and Mesquite. Primary-residence figures include the standard exemptions a typical new buyer receives. Fixed parcel-specific charges are excluded everywhere: Mello-Roos in California, parcel taxes, solid waste and stormwater fees. Those can add real money and vary street by street. New York is shown at its statutory ceiling because its assessment caps carry over when a home sells, so most buyers pay less. Las Vegas and Mesquite are shown at their new-construction ceilings because Nevada taxes depreciated replacement cost, so older homes typically pay less. Boston's residential exemption usually begins in a buyer's second tax year, so the year-one figure excludes it. Rate sources are linked on every row.

How much are property taxes on a $600,000 home in St. George, Utah?

A $600,000 primary residence in St. George pays about $2,177 a year at 2026 proposed rates. The same house in unincorporated Washington County pays about $1,928, and in Washington City about $2,179. That is a spread of roughly $250 a year between the cheapest and most expensive places in the county, which is far narrower than most buyers expect, because the school district levy is countywide and it is the single largest piece of the bill.

How you use the home moves the number much more than which city you buy in. That same $600,000 house taxed as a second home or nightly rental runs about $3,958 in St. George, about $3,506 in the unincorporated county and about $3,962 in Washington City. That is roughly 1.82 times the primary residence bill, because Utah taxes a qualifying primary residence on 55 percent of market value and a second home on 100 percent of it. A long-term rental is taxed at the primary rate as long as the tenant lives there as their primary residence, so it lands on the same figures as an owner-occupied home.

At a $500,000 price the primary residence figures come to about $1,607 in the unincorporated county, $1,814 in St. George and $1,816 in Washington City. Put any price into the calculator above to see all thirteen Washington County locations on this page at once, and use the toggle to switch between primary residence, long-term rental and second home.

Why this differs slightly from my property tax article

My property tax article answers the same question at a $500,000 price and gives roughly $1,850, where this calculator gives $1,814. Both are right, and they measure different things. The article uses the countywide median effective tax rate, which is what owners across the county actually paid on average, including parcels still carrying older assessed values. This calculator applies the current published levy for a specific tax area to the price you enter, which is what a newly purchased home reassessed at its sale price would be billed. The article answers what people around here pay. The calculator answers what you would be billed. A gap of about two percent between those two questions is expected, and collapsing them into a single number would hide the more useful distinction. Read the full property tax article here.

Questions I get about Southern Utah property taxes

Why are St. George property taxes so low?

Two reasons stack. Utah exempts 45 percent of a primary residence's value from taxation, so the rate only applies to 55 percent of what the home is worth. And Washington County's combined levies are modest to begin with: St. George's 2026 rate is 0.6596 percent of taxable value. Put together, a $600,000 primary residence pays about $2,177 a year here. The same home runs roughly $7,000 in Los Angeles and over $11,000 in Miami.

Does a rental property qualify for the 45 percent exemption?

Yes, if it is a genuine long-term rental. Utah ties the exemption to the property being used as someone's primary residence, and a full-time tenant counts. I did this with my own rental townhouse in Hurricane: I provided the county the signed one-year lease and the exemption was approved. Short-term and nightly rentals do not qualify, and neither do condos in rental pools. The county uses a residential declaration form, and after an ownership change you should expect to file it.

How much more does a second home pay in Utah?

Exactly 1.82 times the primary-residence bill, everything else equal, because the tax applies to 100 percent of value instead of 55 percent. On a $600,000 home in St. George that is roughly $3,958 instead of $2,177. Even at the full rate, that second-home figure is still less than what a primary residence costs in most of the cities in this comparison.

Which city in Washington County has the lowest property taxes?

Unincorporated county areas are lowest, and among the cities St. George and Washington City sit within a few dollars of each other at the bottom. Toquerville is currently the highest of the incorporated cities, and the gap from bottom to top is about $450 a year on a $600,000 primary residence. The one outlier to know about: homes inside the Black Desert public infrastructure district carry an additional levy that puts their total at more than two and a half times the St. George rate. Districts like that ride on top of city rates, which is worth checking on any new resort or master-planned community.

How do Mesquite, Nevada property taxes compare to St. George?

Higher, which surprises people. A newly built $600,000 home in Mesquite tops out around $5,825 a year, against $2,177 for a St. George primary residence, because Nevada has no equivalent of Utah's 45 percent primary exemption and Mesquite's combined rate runs higher. Nevada has counterweights: older homes pay less because the state depreciates the structure's value every year, established owner-occupied homes are capped at 3 percent annual tax increases, and Nevada has no state income tax. For some of my buyers that last one changes the whole comparison, so run the full budget, not just this line.

What will taxes be on the specific home I am looking at?

The county publishes an official estimate tool, and any listing I send clients includes the actual current tax. These calculator figures are for comparing places fairly, using published rates and a clean set of assumptions. If you want the real number for a specific address, call me at 435-200-5508 and I will pull it, including whether the current owner's exemption status matches how you plan to use the home, because a second home you buy from a primary resident will be taxed more than the listing history suggests. You can also send me a message here.

Comparing a move here against staying put? Property tax is one line. Power is another, and it varies more than taxes do: my Southern Utah power cost calculator compares nine utilities the same way this page compares twelve tax systems. Income tax is the third line, and it is the one the Nevada comparison usually gets argued on: my Southern Utah income tax calculator runs these same cities on state income tax, including what Utah actually charges on Social Security. Closing costs are the one-time line, and they are the one people budget worst: my St. George closing cost calculator prices the real title, escrow and recording charges on a Washington County purchase, and nets out a sale. And if you want the full picture on a real budget, call me at 435-200-5508. I'm Lance Clifford, and I have sold real estate here for thirteen years.

Sources: Washington County 2026 proposed tax rates; Utah State Tax Commission, primary residential exemption (Utah Code 59-2-103); per-city rate sources linked on each row above. Rates as of August 2026. Washington County's 2026 rates are the county's published proposed rates, finalized in the fall, and most other areas adopt new rates then too. Estimates only, not tax advice.