Portland, Oregon Property Taxes Among Highest in U.S. – Mostly Stable in 2024
In 2023, Portland voters approved two measures that will affect property owners. One that voters chose to renew continues to support education programs and food security for children while also helping foster children and youth to succeed. The second renewed a five-year levy to sustain emergency fire and medical services for Riverdale residents. Home prices remained fairly stable in most parts of the city or experienced a slight decline in 2023. While these measures maintain established tax rates, the fact that home values tend to increase annually means higher costs in 2024 for most property owners because the tax is based on assessed property value. Home and business owners will also incur additional tax increases in 2024 due to the way Portland property tax is structured. In this article we will explore how these factors will impact your property taxes.
Portland, Oregon Property Tax Rates: Among the Highest in the Country and Rising
Last year we referred to a study by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy that found Portland had the fifth-highest property taxes in the nation in 2019. That study was repeated in 2022 with the same results, ranking Portland at number five with a 2.59% effective property tax rate on a median valued home. In 2024, Multnomah County – which includes most of the city of Portland – has one of the highest median property taxes in the U.S. with a ranking of 203 out of 3143 counties, according to Tax-Rates.org.
What Leads to Portland Property Tax Increases?
The city of Portland uses a complex formula to determine taxes for individual properties. The formula takes into account both the real market value of a home (determined by sale prices of similar homes) and its “maximum assessed value” (limited to a 3% increase per year) and calculates property tax based on the lower of the two numbers. The 3% annual cap on assessed home value for the purpose of calculating property taxes is beneficial to homeowners whose properties may have increased beyond 3% in value, but the addition of bonds and levies that are passed or renewed each year in Portland leads to ever-increasing taxes. This often depends on the particular part of Multnomah County the property resides in, called a levy code area. You can find your levy code area on this chart (far right). Check out this article for a helpful breakdown of Portland’s tax structure for properties.
Measures Affecting Portland 2024 Property Tax Rates
Below are the measures passed in 2023 that will impact property taxes for homeowners in the Portland, Oregon metro area this year.
| Area | Measure | Bond Summary | Property Tax Effect | Description |
| Portland, Multnomah County | Portland Children’s Levy Ballot Measure 26-240 | Renews the Portland Children’s Levy; supports programs preventing childhood hunger, abuse and neglect, helps foster children and youth to succeed. | Renews a five-year levy at the current rate of $0.4026 per $1,000 of assessed value. | Voters chose to renew funding for proven programs that address early childhood issues through enhancing learning and providing safe after-school activities. |
| Riverdale, Multnomah County | Riverdale Rural Fire Protection District Measure 26-241 | Renews five-year levy to provide emergency services to the Riverdale neighborhood. | Continues the local option levy at $0.50 per $1,000 of assessed value for five years beginning 2024-2025. | This measure provides taxes necessary to pay the annual contract costs for emergency fire and medical services for Riverdale residents. |
Searching for Property Tax Relief?
If you want to live in the Portland area without the high cost of housing, the tri-county metro area (including Washington and Clackamas counties with different tax rates) holds many appealing suburbs with the potential for lower property tax rates. For those looking to downsize, deals are more plentiful in our current cooler housing market. We highly recommend checking out the comprehensive home search platform at PortlandHomesforSale.com and reaching out to our top 1% buyer’s agents so we can help you find the exact property you are looking for. If you are considering selling a home, our top 1% sellers agents charge less than average and pay more to market your home so it sells faster and for more. Get started by chatting with the bot on this site or giving us a call today at 503-773-0000. We’d love to be a part of your team!
