What a Key West home costs each year
Property tax, water, trash and energy from public rates. Look up your address to make it yours, and see how to pay less.
Suggestions as you type come from Google; the lookup uses free public map services to find who serves it. Not stored unless you save your house.
Starts at the typical market value, $852,400; your assessed value is often lower. Typical use.
- Property tax$6,621
0.800% of $852,400, less $25,000 homestead exemption
- Electricity$2,243
1207 kWh a month $2,243
- Water and sewer$2,124
7,000 gallons a month on Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority: water $106, sewer $71 a month
- Trash$413
Weekly household pickup (annual assessment), $34 a month
- Home insurance$7,863
Typical premium $7,863
A Key West house at the typical market value ($852,400) costs about $19,300 a year: $6,620 property tax and charges, $2,120 water and sewer, $410 trash, $2,240 electricity, $7,860 home insurance. Estimated from public rates, not anyone's actual bill.
Rates checked Oct 28, 2026. Insurance: what you enter, or a typical premium until you do. Sources are listed at the bottom.
Ways to pay less
Nothing here applies to every house automatically. These are worth checking:
Who serves this house
- Water
- Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority
- FKAA rates effective 10/01/2026: monthly base facility charge for a 5/8 x 3/4 inch meter plus five consumption tiers per thousand gallons.
- Property tax
- 0.80% of value
- 2026 tax year, Key West
- Garbage
- City of Key West
- Collected one day a week; paid as an annual assessment on the property tax bill
- Sewer
- City of Key West, billed by FKAA
- Base charge per user plus a charge per 1,000 gallons of flow
- Electricity
- Keys Energy Services
- Residential rate 110: $30.00 customer charge plus per-kWh charges
Other FL cities
Cape Coral home costsCoral Springs home costsDavie home costsDunedin home costsFort Myers home costsHialeah home costsHollywood home costsLargo home costsMelbourne home costsNorth Port home costsOakland Park home costsPlantation home costsPort St. Lucie home costsRockledge home costsSarasota home costsSt. Petersburg home costsTitusville home costsVenice home costsWest Melbourne home costsWeston home costsWinter Springs home costsAltamonte Springs home costsClermont home costsMinneola home costsMargate home costsCasselberry home costsDestin home costsCocoa Beach home costsDeBary home costsNorth Miami home costsFort Walton Beach home costsBonita Springs home costsPalmetto Bay home costsMount Dora home costsCutler Bay home costsPompano Beach home costsSatellite Beach home costsEdgewater home costsCoral Gables home costsDeltona home costsHallandale Beach home costsLeesburg home costsPalm Coast home costsLongwood home costsBradenton home costsPinecrest home costsSunrise home costsTamarac home costsFort Lauderdale home costsCocoa home costsLauderhill home costsNorth Miami Beach home costsClearwater home costsDania Beach home costsSunny Isles Beach home costsNorth Lauderdale home costsPanama City Beach home costsWilton Manors home costsPalmetto home costsAventura home costsOrmond Beach home costsKey Biscayne home costsTavares home costsFernandina Beach home costsTemple Terrace home costsTallahassee home costsMiami Gardens home costsDaytona Beach home costsDoral home costsPensacola home costsKissimmee home costsSt. Cloud home costsGroveland home costsOpa-locka home costsAvon Park home costs
How these numbers are made
- Rates used: county 2.6929 mills, city 1.8848 mills, school 2.817 mills (tentative), SFWMD 0.0948+0.1026+0.0327, mosquito 0.3777.
- Garbage is the $412.73 yearly city assessment on the tax bill.
- Water is FKAA's 10/01/2026 schedule.
- Sewer is the city's FY2026-27 rate billed by FKAA.
- Electric = 0.1142 + 0.00135 + 0.01445 per kWh.
- No natural gas utility.
- Monroe County is not in the Florida Inland Navigation District, so no FIND levy applies.
- The city's annual stormwater (ESU) charge under Code Sec. 74-387 and any electricity public service tax have no published dollar figure or rate in the city documents we could load.
- Nothing here is legal, tax or insurance advice.
How Key West compares
A typical Key West house against the 76 Florida cities we cover, using the same default numbers as the total above.
| Per year | Key West | Median | Where it falls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property tax rate | 0.80% | 1.79% | lower than 75 of the other 75 Florida cities we cover |
| Water | $1,277 | $466 | higher than 74 of the other 75 Florida cities we cover |
| Sewer and utility-bill fees | $847 | $836 | higher than 40 of the other 74 Florida cities we cover |
| Trash | $413 | $369 | higher than 43 of the other 72 Florida cities we cover |
| Electricity and gas | $2,243 | $1,953 | higher than 74 of the other 75 Florida cities we cover |
| Home insurance | $7,863 | $3,702 | higher than 72 of the other 72 Florida cities we cover |
| Total | $19,264 | $12,804 | higher than 70 of the other 75 Florida cities we cover |
Cities bill differently (some put trash on the tax bill, some cover more services), so a higher number isn't necessarily worse. The property tax rate is compared instead of dollars because house values differ.
Questions to ask your candidates
Each one starts from a number above. Any candidate can answer them.
1. Property tax rate
The fact: Key West's property tax rate is 0.80%, lower than 75 of the other 75 Florida cities we cover. The rate adds up every agency on the bill, not only the city.
Ask: "Property tax in Key West is 0.80%, lower than 75 of the other 75 Florida cities we cover. What should that money pay for first, and would you change anything about how it is set?"
2. Water
The fact: Water here costs about $1,277 a year at typical use, higher than 74 of the other 75 Florida cities we cover.
Ask: "Water here costs about $1,277 a year at typical use, higher than 74 of the other 75 Florida cities we cover. What drives that cost, and would you change anything?"
3. Electricity and gas
The fact: Electricity and gas for a typical house here cost about $2,243 a year, higher than 74 of the other 75 Florida cities we cover. Rates are set mostly by the utility and the state.
Ask: "Electricity and gas here cost about $2,243 a year for a typical house, higher than 74 of the other 75 Florida cities we cover. Which parts of that can the city influence, and what would you do about them?"
Common questions about Key West house costs
What is the property tax rate in Key West?
About 0.80% of the value before exemptions a year (2026 tax year, Key West), plus flat charges on the same bill.
How much is property tax on a $500,000 house in Key West?
About $3,801 a year on $500,000 of the value before exemptions with the homestead exemption.
How much is the water bill in Key West?
About $177 a month for water and sewer at typical use (7,000 gallons a month) on Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority.
How much does trash pickup cost in Key West?
$34 a month for a house.
How much does a house in Key West cost to run each year?
A Key West house at the typical market value ($852,400) costs about $19,300 a year: $6,620 property tax and charges, $2,120 water and sewer, $410 trash, $2,240 electricity, $7,860 home insurance. Estimated from public rates, not anyone's actual bill.