Metro East Sun

Property owners in Alton paid more than 2.4 percent of the value of their homes in taxes last year. That’s more than two times the national average, according to an LGIS analysis of real estate sales data in Madison County from Jan 1. to June 30.

Local Government Information Service (LGIS) publishes the Metro East Sun.

Alton, population 26,861, recorded a median sale price of $63,500, based on data from the 171 properties sold during the first half of 2018. In 2017, homeowners paid a median property tax bill of $1,537, according county tax data from the Madison County Assessment Office.

That’s 2.42 percent of the community’s median home value. In the U.S., the average effective property tax rate is 1.19 percent.

Put another way: a $63,500 home in Indiana, where the effective rate is 0.89 percent, would have a property tax bill of about $565, or more than $1,000 less per year.

The analysis, including 26 Madison County communities with more than 5 sales since January, shows homeowners in East Alton, Madison, Pontoon Beach, and Highland, each clocking in with effective rates of 3 percent or higher. Hamel and Bethalto have rates higher than 2.75 percent.

Alhambra, Granite City, Wood River, Troy, and Hartford are 2.5 percent or higher — about average in Illinois but two times the national average. 

Illinois homeowners pay the second-highest property tax in the country with an effective median rate of 2.32 percent, just behind those in New Jersey's (2.28 percent). 

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Madison County communities paying the highest effective property tax rates

The following table ranks Madison County communities by their median effective property tax rate, calculated using sales and property tax data from 2018.

City	Jan - June     2018 Sales	Jan - June 2018     Median Price	Median tax	Effective     tax rate
East Alton	39	$40,000	$1,616	4.04%
Madison	16	$20,250	$716	3.53%
Pontoon Beach	19	$60,000	$2,040	3.40%
Highland	54	$106,000	$3,377	3.19%
Hamel	3	$125,000	$3,647	2.92%
Bethalto	58	$88,450	$2,466	2.79%
Holiday Shores	16	$149,250	$3,913	2.62%
Alhambra	6	$112,000	$2,925	2.61%
Granite City	179	$57,000	$1,487	2.61%
Wood River	44	$60,500	$1,574	2.60%
Troy	51	$152,000	$3,873	2.55%
Hartford	10	$31,000	$789	2.55%
Alton	171	$63,500	$1,537	2.42%
Glen Carbon	65	$192,000	$4,494	2.34%
South Roxana	7	$42,500	$893	2.10%
Moro	11	$132,500	$2,777	2.10%
Edwardsville	114	$192,750	$4,028	2.09%
Godfrey	106	$133,500	$2,740	2.05%
Collinsville	108	$110,500	$2,262	2.05%
Maryville	33	$206,000	$4,130	2.01%
Rosewood Heights	24	$84,500	$1,661	1.97%
Worden	6	$146,000	$2,866	1.96%
Cedar Park	5	$87,500	$1,646	1.88%
Mitchell	5	$71,500	$1,210	1.69%
Marine	6	$187,750	$3,073	1.64%
Roxana	9	$76,000	$1,101	1.45%

Source: Blockshopper.com; Madison County Assessment Office

Madison County communities with the highest median home price

The following table ranks Madison County communities by their median sale price, which is calculated using prices of properties sold during the first six months of 2018.

City	Jan - June 2017 Sales	Jan - June 2017 Median Price	Jan - June 2018 Sales	Jan - June 2018 Median Price	Change
South Roxana	11	$27,000	7	$42,500	57.41%
Marine	7	$125,000	6	$187,750	50.20%
Moro	9	$108,500	11	$132,500	22.12%
Roxana	13	$62,490	9	$76,000	21.62%
Edwardsville	231	$164,900	114	$192,750	16.89%
Worden	23	$125,000	6	$146,000	16.80%
Godfrey	174	$114,950	106	$133,500	16.14%
Madison	13	$18,000	16	$20,250	12.50%
Alhambra	3	$100,000	6	$112,000	12.00%
Granite City	343	$52,000	179	$57,000	9.62%
Cedar Park	5	$82,500	5	$87,500	6.06%
Maryville	55	$198,000	33	$206,000	4.04%
Alton	226	$63,000	171	$63,500	0.79%
Collinsville	214	$110,000	108	$110,500	0.45%
Glen Carbon	132	$195,000	65	$192,000	-1.54%
Mitchell	4	$74,500	5	$71,500	-4.03%
Rosewood Heights	41	$90,000	24	$84,500	-6.11%
Hamel	10	$133,750	3	$125,000	-6.54%
Troy	111	$163,000	51	$152,000	-6.75%
Wood River	105	$66,000	44	$60,500	-8.33%
Holiday Shores	29	$165,900	16	$149,250	-10.04%
Highland	112	$124,500	54	$106,000	-14.86%
Bethalto	96	$109,450	58	$88,450	-19.19%
Hartford	9	$41,500	10	$31,000	-25.30%
Pontoon Beach	33	$92,000	19	$60,000	-34.78%
East Alton	63	$62,000	39	$40,000	-35.48%

Source: Blockshopper.com; Madison County Recorder