Lansing Firm's Data Maps Highlight Differences In Property Tax Burdens

LANSING -- If you're looking for a bargain property, try Arkansas, but if you're thinking of settling on the pricey coasts of Oregon or Maryland, your property tax burden shouldn't be a major concern -- relatively speaking.

Nuggets like this can be gleaned from a new series of maps created by John Nelson of data visualization company IDV Solutions, which compare income, property values, and property taxes across the United States.

Starting with Census Bureau data supplied by IDV Solutions' partner company, Applied Geographic Solutions, Nelson mapped median household incomes, average property values, and tax rates for towns, townships, and other census divisions. Then he compiled maps for the ratios between them, including a total "Property Tax Burden" map that rolls the other comparisons together.

"Judging by the raw property value data, you'd say Arkansas is on sale," Nelson said, "But I think it's more interesting to see how the values compare to one another."

The maps are the latest in a series by Nelson, who is the user experience manager for IDV Solutions, maker of the data visualization software Visual Fusion and Visual Command Center.  Among his previous works area maps of hurricane and earthquake locations, tornado tracks, and the rates of alcohol-related car crashes across the U.S.

Nelson's latest maps reflect the sky-high property values along the coasts, in South Florida, and in metro areas like Denver, New York City, and Washington, D.C. Buyers looking for a bargain might be advised to head to Arkansas, which appears nearly solid blue (for low property values compared to incomes) or to the storm-wracked coast of Louisiana.

But beware; the tax burden is higher than you might expect in some low-value areas, and surprisingly low in areas like Massachusetts and the Oregon coast. New York City and its suburbs suffer the double whammy of taxes that are high in comparison to both property value and income.

IDV Solutions is a data visualization software company that helps organizations discover opportunity, identify risk, and take action. By repeatedly solving key problems for customers in the Global 2000 and government, IDV and its products have earned a reputation for innovation, speed, and the highest quality user experience. For more information, visit www.idvsolutions.com.