After 
a recent client asked us for specifics on how property tax rates compare from city to city in our market area, we tried searching for a quick and easy source, but weren’t able to find it. So we compiled the raw data from county reports and created a quick and easy guide that has yielded some rather surprising results about property tax rates within King & Snohomish County.
Keep in mind that 7 of the top 10 cities in this analysis have median home values that are at least 2-3 times, if not 5-8 times the median value of King County – in addition to being very small communities – so they can keep their rates low because their needs are small and property values high.
Here are few notes on this analysis:
- Cities are rank from lowest taxing (levy) rate to highest.
- The levy rate is the tax rate per $1,000 of assessed home value.
- Seattle’s tax rate which ranks 24th of 59 cities is the baseline for relative comparison.
- The Median Example estimates taxes for a home valued at $350,000 (the median price of home in King County)
| Vs. Baseline | ||||||||
| Rank | City | County | Avg. Levy | Med. Ex. | $ Diff. | % Diff | ||
| 1 | Hunts Point | King | $ 6.680 | $ 2,338 | $ (1,104) | -32% | ||
| 2 | Yarrow Point | King | $ 7.150 | $ 2,502 | $ (940) | -27% | ||
| 3 | Index | Snoh. | $ 7.526 | $ 2,634 | $ (808) | -23% | ||
| 4 | Clyde Hill | King | $ 7.621 | $ 2,667 | $ (775) | -23% | ||
| 5 | Medina | King | $ 7.710 | $ 2,699 | $ (744) | -22% | ||
| 6 | Mercer Island | King | $ 7.805 | $ 2,732 | $ (711) | -21% | ||
| 7 | Stanwood | Snoh. | $ 8.052 | $ 2,818 | $ (624) | -18% | ||
| 8 | Beaux Arts | King | $ 8.186 | $ 2,865 | $ (577) | -17% | ||
| 9 | Woodway | Snoh. | $ 8.384 | $ 2,934 | $ (508) | -15% | ||
| 10 | Brier | Snoh. | $ 8.420 | $ 2,947 | $ (495) | -14% | ||
| 11 | Mukilteo | Snoh. | $ 8.460 | $ 2,961 | $ (481) | -14% | ||
| 12 | Mountlake Terrace | Snoh. | $ 8.656 | $ 3,030 | $ (413) | -12% | ||
| 13 | Edmonds | Snoh. | $ 8.756 | $ 3,065 | $ (378) | -11% | ||
| 14 | Lynnwood | Snoh. | $ 8.781 | $ 3,073 | $ (369) | -11% | ||
| 15 | Bothell | Snoh. | $ 8.915 | $ 3,120 | $ (322) | -9% | ||
| 16 | Kirkland | King | $ 8.998 | $ 3,149 | $ (293) | -9% | ||
| 17 | Redmond | King | $ 9.084 | $ 3,179 | $ (263) | -8% | ||
| 18 | Bellevue | King | $ 9.259 | $ 3,241 | $ (202) | -6% | ||
| 19 | Skykomish | King | $ 9.516 | $ 3,330 | $ (112) | -3% | ||
| 20 | Arlington | Snoh. | $ 9.538 | $ 3,338 | $ (104) | -3% | ||
| 21 | Mill Creek | Snoh. | $ 9.698 | $ 3,394 | $ (48) | -1% | ||
| 22 | Sultan | Snoh. | $ 9.796 | $ 3,429 | $ (14) | 0% | ||
| 23 | Gold Bar | Snoh. | $ 9.802 | $ 3,431 | $ (12) | 0% | ||
| 24 | Seattle | King | $ 9.835 | $ 3,442 | $ - | 0% | ||
| 25 | Bothell | King | $ 10.287 | $ 3,600 | $ 158 | 5% | ||
| 26 | North Bend | King | $ 10.318 | $ 3,611 | $ 169 | 5% | ||
| 27 | Everett | Snoh. | $ 10.341 | $ 3,619 | $ 177 | 5% | ||
| 28 | Carnation | King | $ 10.389 | $ 3,636 | $ 194 | 6% | ||
| 29 | Snohomish | Snoh. | $ 10.468 | $ 3,664 | $ 221 | 6% | ||
| 30 | Monroe | Snoh. | $ 10.535 | $ 3,687 | $ 245 | 7% | ||
| 31 | Marysville | Snoh. | $ 10.551 | $ 3,693 | $ 250 | 7% | ||
| 32 | Milton | King | $ 10.574 | $ 3,701 | $ 258 | 8% | ||
| 33 | Sammamish | King | $ 10.715 | $ 3,750 | $ 308 | 9% | ||
| 34 | Woodinville | King | $ 10.723 | $ 3,753 | $ 311 | 9% | ||
| 35 | Darrington | Snoh. | $ 10.761 | $ 3,766 | $ 324 | 9% | ||
| 36 | Issaquah | King | $ 10.848 | $ 3,797 | $ 354 | 10% | ||
| 37 | Kenmore | King | $ 11.009 | $ 3,853 | $ 411 | 12% | ||
| 38 | Newcastle | King | $ 11.082 | $ 3,879 | $ 436 | 13% | ||
| 39 | Granite Falls | Snoh. | $ 11.084 | $ 3,879 | $ 437 | 13% | ||
| 40 | Lake Stevens | Snoh. | $ 11.114 | $ 3,890 | $ 448 | 13% | ||
| 41 | Snoqualmie | King | $ 11.121 | $ 3,892 | $ 450 | 13% | ||
| 42 | Black Diamond | King | $ 11.257 | $ 3,940 | $ 498 | 14% | ||
| 43 | Pacific | King | $ 11.261 | $ 3,941 | $ 499 | 14% | ||
| 44 | Enumclaw | King | $ 11.306 | $ 3,957 | $ 515 | 15% | ||
| 45 | Tukwila | King | $ 11.374 | $ 3,981 | $ 539 | 16% | ||
| 46 | Renton | King | $ 11.530 | $ 4,035 | $ 593 | 17% | ||
| 47 | SeaTac | King | $ 11.716 | $ 4,101 | $ 658 | 19% | ||
| 48 | Duvall | King | $ 11.849 | $ 4,147 | $ 705 | 20% | ||
| 49 | Kent | King | $ 12.012 | $ 4,204 | $ 762 | 22% | ||
| 50 | Normandy Park | King | $ 12.122 | $ 4,243 | $ 800 | 23% | ||
| 51 | Lake Forest Park | King | $ 12.263 | $ 4,292 | $ 850 | 25% | ||
| 52 | Maple Valley | King | $ 12.266 | $ 4,293 | $ 851 | 25% | ||
| 53 | Federal Way | King | $ 12.356 | $ 4,325 | $ 882 | 26% | ||
| 54 | Algona | King | $ 12.402 | $ 4,341 | $ 898 | 26% | ||
| 55 | Burien | King | $ 12.405 | $ 4,342 | $ 900 | 26% | ||
| 56 | Covington | King | $ 12.530 | $ 4,386 | $ 943 | 27% | ||
| 57 | Des Moines | King | $ 12.571 | $ 4,400 | $ 958 | 28% | ||
| 58 | Auburn | King | $ 12.845 | $ 4,496 | $ 1,053 | 31% | ||
| 59 | Shoreline | King | $ 12.968 | $ 4,539 | $ 1,096 | 32% | ||
| County Averages | ||||||||
| King County | King | $ 11.384 | $ 3,984 | $ 542.08 | 16% | |||
| Snohomish County | Snoh. | $ 10.198 | $ 3,569 | $ 126.87 | 4% | |||
King County levy rates from county assessors website – all districts in each city were averaged to create single rate;
Snohomish County rates based on ‘typical levy rates’ as found in 2010 Annual assessors report.
