Camden County's effective property tax rate ranks second among more than 3,000 counties in the US.

—

This article first appeared in 70and73.com's weekly NJ newsletter, acrossnj.com. Go to the newsletter sign-up page to add your email address for free to get news curated from about 75 community news sites.

New Jersey always is listed among the states with the highest property-tax burdens, but what county in NJ has one of the highest property tax rates in the nation?

Camden County holds that distinction — the overall effective property tax rate is second highest in the nation, according to a new study by the nonprofit and nonpartisan Tax Foundation. Only Menominee County in Wisconsin has a higher effective rate, according to the study.

Burlington County is No. 33 among counties in the nation.

A March report from the Tax Foundation found that Camden County was second among 3,208 counties and similar jurisdictions when the total rate — including municipal, school, county and other property taxes — was calculated. The effective property tax from the Tax Foundation is for 2023.

"Some states with high property taxes, like New Hampshire and Texas, rely heavily on them in lieu of other major tax categories," according to the Tax Foundation report by Andrey Yushkov, a senior policy analyst. "Other states, like New Jersey and Illinois, impose high property taxes alongside high rates in the other major tax categories."

"The property tax won’t win any popularity contests with homeowners, but it still has an important role to play in public finance. Policymakers can and should address taxpayers’ legitimate grievances about out-of-control property tax bills, but they should do so without upending a system of taxation that is more efficient, fair, and pro-growth, and better suited to municipal finance, than any of the alternatives," according to a November, 2024 analysis by Jared Walczak, vice president of state projects at the Tax Foundation.

Look up all counties at the Tax Foundation site here.