How Property Taxes Impact Home Buying In St. Cloud Area

The American Dream - buying and living in your own home. I don't mean an apartment/condo or a mobile home that you own. I mean an actual house on a foundation with a little bit of land aound it.

Sometimes this can be a bit tough. Especially now when you need to pay attention to the interest rate, if there is an HOA or any other factors that can add to your payment other than the property taxes.

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR - LOTS OF FACTORS TO KEEP IN MIND

One thing to keep in mind is that generally when you get something for less, there is a trade off. Like states that don't have any or much of an income tax, you make that up with a sales tax or property taxes. There's no free ride. It just depends on what is important to you.

So, if you are looking for a house, and property taxes are important to you, the town with the least amount of property tax in the St. Cloud area is St. Augusta.

HERE ARE SOME OF THE PROPERTY TAX DIFFERENCES IN THE IMMEDIATE AREA

These are the approximate tax differences for towns in the area.

St. Augusta: Typically features a lower mill rate.
St. Cloud (City): The median effective property tax rate averages roughly \(1.14\%\) to \(1.24\%\) depending on whether your property falls within Stearns or Benton County.
Sartell/Sauk Rapids: These northern suburbs often carry higher tax burdens due to recent school referendum investments and city infrastructure bonds.

St. Joseph has been starting to lean more into the expensive range as well. The town has been growning, and developing, but that also means higher taxes, generally.

MAYBE YOU WANT TO BE MORE RURAL AND WILLING TO PAY MORE TAX

So, it does depend on what is important to you as to where you want to live. The cost of the housing market is one factor, along with acreage and how rural do you want to be?

We are moving into a prime housing market time, so start thinking about what is important to you.