Local transfer taxes: what counties and cities add

Where local taxes are largest

On a $500,000 home, the local share alone comes to:

• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: $20,000 (city 3% plus school district 1%), on top of the 1% Pennsylvania tax, so $25,000 in all.
• Philadelphia: $17,890 (city 3.578% since July 1, 2025), $22,890 with the state’s 1%.
• Crested Butte, Colorado: $15,000 (3%); Colorado itself only charges a recording fee of $0.01 per $100.
• Washington, DC: $14,500, the deed recordation tax and the deed transfer tax at 1.45% each once the price reaches $400,000.
• Baltimore City: $12,500 (transfer tax 1.5% plus recordation tax of $5 per $500), $15,000 with the 0.5% Maryland tax.

Each figure is computed on Payotte’s page for the place, which quotes the official rate and links to it.

Why the same price costs so differently

Three things change the bill:

1. Who levies. In Maryland every county sets its own transfer and recordation taxes; in Pennsylvania the municipality and the school district each take a share; in Illinois, Chicago, the CTA and Cook County each charge, on top of the state.
2. How the rate is applied. Some rates apply to the whole price once a threshold is crossed (Washington, DC: 1.1% below $400,000, 1.45% of the entire price from $400,000). Others apply only to the slice above a threshold, like income tax brackets (Culver City, California). The difference is large right above the threshold.
3. Whether the county rate replaces the state’s. In Nevada and Ohio, the county rate includes the state share; in Miami-Dade, the deed stamp rate is $0.60 per $100 instead of $0.70 elsewhere in Florida, so a buyer there pays less than the state’s usual rate on a single-family home.

California: no state tax, but city taxes

California has no state transfer tax. Every county charges $0.55 per $500 (Rev. & Tax. Code §11911), about 0.11%. In a general-law city the city’s half is credited against the county tax, so it costs nothing extra. Charter cities can charge their own tax on top of the county’s: on a $500,000 home that is $3,400 in San Francisco (0.68%, which replaces the county tax there), $2,800 in Los Angeles, and $8,050 in Oakland, Berkeley or Albany (1.5% plus the county tax). The Los Angeles “ULA” tax adds 4% from $5.4 million (see mansion taxes).

Who pays

It depends on the place and, often, on the contract. Washington’s local tax is usually paid by the seller; Chicago’s city portion falls on the buyer and the CTA portion on the seller; Yonkers puts its tax on the seller. Where the law is silent, the purchase contract decides. Each place’s page gives who pays when the source states it.

What the figures do not include

They are computed before exemptions (first-time buyers, transfers between relatives, affordable housing) and leave out taxes on the mortgage itself, such as New York City’s mortgage recording tax, which depend on the loan amount. Recording fees per page or per document are also left out. The amount due on your deed is the one the recorder or the settlement agent computes; ask for it in writing before closing.