What it costs to own a home in Florida
A median-priced Florida home costs about $2,662 a month to own with 20% down at today's 6.65% thirty-year rate. That covers $2,141 of principal and interest, $271 of property tax and $250 of homeowners insurance. Staying inside the 28% front-end ratio lenders use takes a household income of roughly $114,067 a year.
- Median home price
- $416,800
- Monthly cost
- $2,662
- Income needed
- $114,067
- Property tax rate
- 0.78%
What sets the payment in Florida?
| Input | Florida | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Effective property tax rate | 0.78% | 27th highest of 51 |
| Median home price | $416,800 | 22nd highest of 51 |
| Average annual premium | $3,000 | on a $250k dwelling |
| Assessment cap | 3%/yr | assessed value cannot rise faster than this |
| Price level vs national | 103.4 | BEA price parity, 100 = US average |
| Appreciation, past year | -2.30% | FHFA index |
| Appreciation, past five years | +55.9% | FHFA index |
What makes Florida different
Florida is the one state where homeowners insurance rivals the property tax bill. At roughly $3,000 a year it is the most expensive market in the country, and on a median-priced home the insurance line and the tax line land within about twenty dollars a month of each other. Almost nowhere else does that comparison even come close.
That number also carries more variation than any other input on this site. A concrete-block house inland with a new roof and a wind-mitigation inspection may pay a fraction of a coastal frame house with a fifteen-year-old roof. Roof age in particular has become the pivot on which Florida coverage turns, and the state average behind this estimate cannot see it.
Save Our Homes caps assessed value increases at 3% a year on homesteaded property, and the benefit is portable to a new Florida home. For a long-held homestead the gap between market value and taxable value can run into the hundreds of thousands, which is why the tax figure here on an older purchase sits well under what the current value suggests.
Prices fell 2.30% over the past year, the steepest decline of any state, after gaining nearly 56% over five. Rising insurance and association assessments are widely read as part of the cause. For anyone who bought in 2022 or 2023, the equity shown here is likely to be principal paid rather than appreciation.
How much income do you need to buy a house in Florida?
All four rows buy the same $416,800 house at today's 6.65% rate. The difference is entirely the down payment and the mortgage insurance it does or does not trigger.
| Down | Cash at closing | P&I | PMI | Total monthly | Income needed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5% down | $14,588 | $2,582 | $318 | $3,421 | $146,634 |
| 5% down | $20,840 | $2,542 | $231 | $3,294 | $141,167 |
| 10% down | $41,680 | $2,408 | $144 | $3,073 | $131,697 |
| 20% down | $83,360 | $2,141 | — | $2,662 | $114,067 |
What is a Florida home bought in 2020 worth now?
Working backwards from today's median along the FHFA path for Florida: what that same house would have cost at the time, the rate available then, and where the loan and the equity stand today at 20% down.
| Bought | Price then | Rate | P&I | Balance now | Equity now |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mid-2010 | $161,667 | 4.74% | $674 | $81,933 | $334,867 |
| Mid-2015 | $187,164 | 3.98% | $713 | $113,276 | $303,524 |
| Mid-2018 | $229,137 | 4.57% | $936 | $155,062 | $261,738 |
| Mid-2020 | $265,686 | 3.16% | $915 | $183,599 | $233,201 |
| Mid-2022 | $355,392 | 5.52% | $1,618 | $266,929 | $149,871 |
| Mid-2024 | $409,614 | 6.92% | $2,163 | $320,061 | $96,739 |
How do wages vary across Florida?
Wages track local price levels closely. These are the metropolitan areas in Florida the calculator recognises from a ZIP code, and the pay adjustment it applies to national occupation wages there.
| Metro area | Price level | Pay adjustment |
|---|---|---|
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale, FL | 106.2 | +8% |
| Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | 101.2 | +2% |
| Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL | 101.0 | +1% |
| Jacksonville, FL | 98.2 | -2% |
Run a real address. These are state medians. Put in an actual Florida address, the date it closed and the price paid, and the calculator will work out that home's payment, its mortgage-insurance dates and the equity behind it.