Buyer closing costs by state (2026): what you'll pay and why

Buyer closing costs are the lender fees, title and settlement charges, taxes and prepaid items due at closing. Cash to close adds the down payment and subtracts earnest money and credits. On a $400,000 home with our calculator’s national estimates, closing costs run $9,888 with 20% down, $10,742 with FHA and $10,924 with VA. State taxes then add anything from $0 in Texas to $5,760 in New York City and $8,000 in Delaware.

A buyer’s closing costs look like one number on a Loan Estimate, but they’re really four kinds of money: fees to the lender, fees for title and settlement, taxes to the state or county, and prepaid items that fund the home’s first insurance and tax bills. Only the taxes depend heavily on where the home is, and they’re the line most buyers don’t see coming.

This guide walks through every line, explains the taxes buyers pay in each state, and works three full examples with our free closing cost calculator. Its rules come from state statutes, revenue departments, HUD, VA and the CFPB, researched state by state in September 2026.

What’s the difference between closing costs and cash to close?

Closing costs are what it costs to buy, apart from the house itself: loan fees, appraisal, title insurance, settlement and recording fees, taxes, and prepaid insurance, interest and escrow.

Cash to close is the amount you actually wire or bring:

Down payment + closing costs − earnest money − seller credits − lender credits = cash to close

The two can be far apart. A VA buyer with no down payment might have cash to close equal to closing costs. A buyer putting 20% down on a $400,000 home has $80,000 more. And a buyer whose seller agreed to a $5,000 credit, who already paid $10,000 in earnest money, brings $15,000 less than the gross total.

Your lender’s Loan Estimate and, three business days before closing, the Closing Disclosure show both figures. Our calculator shows both too.

What’s on a buyer’s closing cost estimate?

Group	Lines	Who sets the amount
Loan costs	Origination and lender fees, discount points, appraisal, FHA upfront premium or VA funding fee if paid in cash	The lender, HUD and VA
Title and closing	Lender’s title policy, owner’s title policy where the buyer pays by custom, settlement fee, closing attorney, recording fees	Title company, state rate rules, county
Taxes	The buyer’s share of any transfer tax, plus mortgage, note or recordation taxes in some states	State and county statute
Prepaids and escrow	First year of homeowner’s insurance, prepaid interest, initial escrow deposit	Insurer, lender, local tax calendar
Other	Home inspection, HOA transfer fees	Vendors and the association
Credits	Earnest money, seller credit, lender credit	The contract and the lender

Freddie Mac puts typical buyer closing costs at 2% to 5% of the price. Here’s what drives each line.

Lender fees and points

The origination fee is what the lender charges to make the loan. Freddie Mac says it’s typically 0.5% to 1% of the loan, sometimes with a separate underwriting fee. Many lenders charge flat fees instead. Discount points are optional: each point costs 1% of the loan and buys a lower rate.

For a sense of scale, the CFPB’s 2023 mortgage market report found median total loan costs on a home purchase of $6,684, or $7,530 on VA loans and $11,368 on FHA loans, where the figure includes FHA’s upfront premium. Those totals include origination charges, points, the appraisal, the credit report, the settlement agent and the lender’s title policy, but not taxes or prepaids. It’s the latest year the CFPB has reported.

Our calculator starts lender fees at 1% of the loan, the top of Freddie Mac’s range, so the estimate errs high until you have a Loan Estimate.

Appraisal

There’s no official national average, so we use the closest government figure: VA’s maximum appraisal fees, effective May 1, 2026. For a single-family home, the statewide fees run from $650 to $1,100 (Alaska), with a median of $700. Florida’s is $700. Texas is $775, or $800 in Dallas, Harris, Bexar, Tarrant and seven other counties. Conventional and FHA appraisals cost about the same. Our calculator uses $700.

FHA: upfront and yearly mortgage insurance

FHA loans carry two premiums, per HUD’s Mortgagee Letter 2023-05 and the Single Family Handbook:

• Upfront premium: 1.75% of the base loan. It has to be financed in full or paid in full in cash, and most buyers finance it.
• Yearly premium: paid monthly. On a 30-year loan up to the national conforming loan limit, $832,750 in 2026, it’s 0.55% with less than 5% down and 0.50% with 5% or more. Above it, it’s 0.75% and 0.70%. HUD ties the line to the conforming limit, so it moves each January.
• How long: with less than 10% down, for the life of the loan. With 10% or more, for 11 years.

The minimum down payment is 3.5% with a credit score of 580 or higher, and 10% with a score from 500 to 579.

VA: the funding fee

VA loans have no monthly mortgage insurance, but most borrowers pay a one-time funding fee, a percent of the loan. These rates are from VA’s funding fee page, last updated September 22, 2026:

Down payment	First use	After the first use
Less than 5%	2.15%	3.3%
5% to less than 10%	1.5%	1.5%
10% or more	1.25%	1.25%

The fee can be financed or paid in cash, and on a VA purchase it’s the only cost that can be financed. Veterans receiving VA compensation for a service-connected disability don’t pay it, nor do qualifying surviving spouses receiving Dependency and Indemnity Compensation or active-duty members with a Purple Heart.

Conventional: PMI below 20% down

Conventional loans need private mortgage insurance when you put down less than 20%. Fannie Mae requires it on any loan above 80% of the home’s value (Selling Guide B7-1-01). Most PMI is a monthly premium with little or nothing due at closing. Freddie Mac says it typically costs $30 to $70/month for every $100,000 borrowed, and you can ask to cancel it once you owe 80% of the original value.

Credit score matters a lot. The Urban Institute’s August 2026 chartbook shows yearly PMI at 96.5% loan-to-value running from 0.46% of the loan for scores of 760 or more to 1.5% for scores of 620 to 639. Our calculator estimates 0.5% a year.

The minimum down payment on a conventional loan is 3%, through programs like Fannie Mae HomeReady and Freddie Mac Home Possible and HomeOne. The 2026 baseline conforming loan limit is $832,750.

Title insurance: lender’s and owner’s

Your lender will require a lender’s title policy, and the buyer pays for it nearly everywhere. Two states set its price when it’s issued along with the owner’s policy. In Florida, the lender’s policy is $25 as long as the loan doesn’t exceed the price. In Texas it’s $100. Elsewhere our calculator estimates 0.11% of the loan, with a $500 minimum, until you get a quote.

The owner’s policy protects you, the owner, and who pays for it is local custom. Buyers usually pay in 20 states and DC, including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, Massachusetts and North Carolina. Sellers usually pay in 19 states, including Texas, Washington, Illinois, Michigan and Colorado. In Florida and California it depends on the county or the contract.

Settlement, attorney and recording fees

The settlement or escrow company charges a fee to run the closing, which our calculator starts at $600. In 15 states, an attorney usually handles the closing, and our calculator adds a $900 estimate for the buyer’s attorney: Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont and West Virginia.

Recording fees are set by the county. Florida’s, for example, are $10 for the first page and $8.50 for each page after, and a deed plus a mortgage can run many pages. Our calculator starts at $250.

Transfer taxes: who pays by custom

In most states the seller pays the transfer tax. Buyers pay all of it in Tennessee (0.37%) and Vermont (0.5% on the first $200,000 for a main home, 1.47% above), and the tiny documentary fee in Colorado. The tax is split by custom or statute in Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Hampshire, Maine, Arkansas and Maryland. In Pennsylvania the split covers a 1% state tax plus a local one that’s commonly another 1%, and in Philadelphia, 3.578%. Our transfer tax by state page has the rate and custom for every state.

Which states charge buyers their own taxes?

Beyond the transfer tax, nine states and DC charge taxes that land on the buyer: on the loan, on the deed, or on expensive homes. These are the line items that make the same house cost more to buy in one state than the next.

Florida: stamps on the note and the intangible tax

Florida buyers pay two taxes on a new mortgage, and neither has a cap:

• Documentary stamp tax on the note: 35 cents per $100 of the loan, or 0.35%.
• Nonrecurring intangible tax: 2 mills, or 0.2% of the loan.

On a $320,000 loan, that’s $1,120 plus $640, or $1,760. Because they’re on the loan, financing an FHA premium or VA funding fee raises them too. Florida’s separate 0.70% stamp tax on the deed is the seller’s by custom.

New York: the mortgage recording tax and the mansion tax

New York’s mortgage recording tax is a percent of the loan that varies by county. The buyer’s share outside New York City runs from 0.5% in counties like Ulster and St. Lawrence to 0.75% in Erie, Monroe and Onondaga, 0.8% on Long Island and in Dutchess, Orange and Putnam, 1.05% in Westchester and Rockland, and 1.55% in Yonkers. In New York City it’s 1.8% on loans under $500,000 and 1.925% at $500,000 or more. On one- to six-family homes, the lender pays another 0.25%.

The state’s “mansion tax” adds 1% of the whole price on homes of $1 million or more, paid by the buyer. New York City adds a supplemental tax from $2 million, for these totals on the whole price:

Price	Buyer’s mansion tax in New York City
$1 million to under $2 million	1%
$2 million to under $3 million	1.25%
$3 million to under $5 million	1.5%
$5 million to under $10 million	2.25%
$10 million to under $15 million	3.25%
$15 million to under $20 million	3.5%
$20 million to under $25 million	3.75%
$25 million or more	3.9%

So a $1.5 million New York City condo with 20% down carries a $23,100 mortgage recording tax and a $15,000 mansion tax, $38,100 before any other cost.

District of Columbia: the deed recordation tax

DC buyers pay a deed recordation tax of 1.1% on a home under $400,000, or 1.45% of the whole price at $400,000 or more. That’s $5,800 on a $400,000 home, matched by the seller’s own 1.45% transfer tax. First-time DC homebuyers who meet income and price limits pay a reduced 0.725%. The purchase mortgage isn’t taxed when it’s recorded with the deed.

Virginia: recordation on the deed and on the loan

Virginia charges a state recordation tax of 25 cents per $100 on the deed, based on the price or the assessed value, whichever is greater, and the same on the deed of trust for loans up to $10 million. Cities and counties may add a third of the state tax, which brings each to about 0.333%. On a $400,000 home with a $320,000 loan, that’s $1,333 plus $1,067, or $2,400. We confirmed the local add-on for Fairfax County, and it’s widely charged elsewhere.

Maryland: county recordation tax, split

Maryland’s counties set their own recordation tax on the deed, and state law splits it equally between buyer and seller unless the contract says otherwise. The same goes for the state’s 0.5% transfer tax and any county transfer tax. The purchase mortgage itself isn’t taxed.

Rates from the Department of Legislative Services’ FY2026 figures run from 0.5% of the price in Baltimore and Howard counties to 1.4% in Charles and Frederick. Baltimore City is 1% and Prince George’s 0.55%. Montgomery County uses tiers that start at 0.89% and climb to 2.27% above $1 million, with the first $100,000 exempt for a home you’ll live in.

On a $400,000 home, the buyer’s half of the state transfer tax and county recordation tax comes to $2,000 to $3,800 depending on the county, plus half of any county transfer tax, which reaches 1.5% in Baltimore City and Baltimore County. First-time Maryland buyers get a break: the state rate drops to 0.25%, and the seller pays it and, unless the contract says otherwise, the recordation and local transfer taxes too.

Georgia, Alabama, Minnesota, Tennessee and Oklahoma

Five more states tax the mortgage itself:

• Georgia: an intangible recording tax of $1.50 per $500 of the loan (0.3%), capped at $25,000. On a $320,000 loan, $960.
• Alabama: a mortgage recording tax of 15 cents per $100 (0.15%), or $480. Alabama’s 0.1% deed tax is negotiable, and when the mortgage is recorded with the deed, the deed tax may apply only to the part of the price above the loan.
• Minnesota: a mortgage registry tax of 0.23%, or 0.24% in Hennepin and Ramsey counties. $736 on a $320,000 loan.
• Tennessee: a mortgage tax of 11.5 cents per $100 above the first $2,000 of the loan, plus the 0.37% transfer tax the buyer pays. Together, $1,846 on a $400,000 home with a $320,000 loan.
• Oklahoma: a mortgage tax of 10 cents per $100 (0.1%) on loans of five years or more, plus a $10 certification fee. $320 on a $320,000 loan.

What are prepaids and escrow?

Prepaids and escrow were about 40% of the closing costs in our examples below, and they aren’t fees. They’re money you’d spend anyway, paid early.

• Homeowner’s insurance, first year. Most lenders require the first year’s premium paid at or before closing. The NAIC’s latest report, published July 2026 with 2023 data, put the average HO-3 premium at $1,737 nationally, $2,779 in Florida and $2,864 in Texas. Premiums have risen since, so use a real quote. Our calculator estimates 0.5% of the price, at least $1,500.
• Prepaid interest. Mortgage interest is paid in arrears, so your first payment is due on the first of the second month after closing. At closing you pay interest from the closing day through the end of that month. On a $320,000 loan at 6.5%, closing November 16 means 15 days, or $855, and a first payment on January 1. Closing later in the month shrinks this line, because you’ve borrowed the money for fewer days.
• Initial escrow deposit. If your lender pays your taxes and insurance for you, it opens an escrow account at closing. Federal rules (Regulation X, 12 CFR 1024.17) let the servicer collect enough to pay each bill when it comes due, plus a cushion of no more than one-sixth of a year’s escrow payments, about two months. How many months that takes depends on when local taxes are due. Our calculator estimates three months of property tax and two of insurance.

How do seller credits work?

A seller credit is money the seller agrees to put toward your closing costs. It shows up as a credit on your Closing Disclosure and lowers your cash to close, often in exchange for a higher price or instead of repairs. Your earnest money is credited the same way, since you’ve already paid it.

Each loan program limits what a seller can pay. VA, for example, doesn’t limit a seller paying normal closing costs, but caps “seller concessions,” like paying the funding fee or paying off the buyer’s debts, at 4% of the home’s reasonable value. FHA and conventional loans set their own limits by loan type and down payment, so ask your lender before you write the offer.

A lender credit works similarly, coming from the lender rather than the seller, and usually in exchange for a higher rate.

Worked examples: $400,000 with conventional, FHA and VA loans

Here are three full estimates from our calculator, with these assumptions:

• Price: $400,000, using national estimates, so no state taxes. Those come next.
• Rate: a 30-year fixed at 6.5%, as an example, not a quote.
• Closing: November 16, 2026, so 15 days of prepaid interest.
• Property tax: $4,000 a year (the calculator’s 1% estimate). Insurance: $2,000 for the first year.
• Fees: FHA’s upfront premium and the VA funding fee are financed, and the VA buyer is using the benefit for the first time.
• Left out: the property tax proration, which can go either way depending on the state, and any seller credit or earnest money.

	Conventional, 20% down	FHA, 3.5% down	VA, 0% down
Down payment	$80,000	$14,000	$0
Base loan	$320,000	$386,000	$400,000
Upfront fee, financed	None	$6,755 (1.75%)	$8,600 (2.15%)
Loan amount	$320,000	$392,755	$408,600
Origination and lender fees (1%)	$3,200	$3,860	$4,000
Appraisal	$700	$700	$700
Lender’s title insurance	$500	$500	$500
Settlement fee	$600	$600	$600
Recording fees	$250	$250	$250
Homeowner’s insurance, first year	$2,000	$2,000	$2,000
Prepaid interest, 15 days	$855	$1,049	$1,091
Property tax escrow, 3 months	$1,000	$1,000	$1,000
Insurance escrow, 2 months	$333	$333	$333
Home inspection	$450	$450	$450
Closing costs	$9,888	$10,742	$10,924
Cash to close	$89,888	$24,742	$10,924
Monthly payment	$2,523	$3,159	$3,083
Of which mortgage insurance	$0	$177	$0

A few things stand out. Closing costs are within about $1,000 of each other, between 2.5% and 2.7% of the price, so the loan choice mostly changes the down payment and the monthly payment. The FHA and VA upfront fees don’t show in closing costs because they’re financed, but they raise the loan, and with it the prepaid interest and the monthly payment. And $4,188 to $4,424 of each column is prepaids and escrow.

With 5% down on a conventional loan instead, closing costs are $10,648, cash to close $30,648, and the monthly payment $3,060, including $158 of estimated PMI.

Location then adds its taxes. The same conventional purchase costs $1,760 more in Florida, but Florida’s $25 lender’s title policy saves $475, so its closing costs are $11,173. In Texas, with no transfer tax and a $100 lender’s policy, they’re $9,488.

Philadelphia$9,156

Delaware$8,000

District of Columbia$5,800

New York City$5,760

Pennsylvania, outside Philadelphia$4,000

Vermont$3,940

New Hampshire$3,000

New York, most upstate counties$2,400

Virginia$2,400

Tennessee$1,846

Florida$1,760

Georgia$960

Minnesota$736

Texas, California and 31 other states$0

Computed with our closing cost calculator on a $320,000 loan: the buyer's customary share of the transfer tax plus the buyer's own loan, deed and recordation taxes. Maryland, not shown, runs $2,000 to $3,800 by county before county transfer taxes. Rates from state statutes and revenue departments, checked September 2026.

Buyer closing taxes in all 50 states and DC

Each figure is the buyer’s taxes on a $400,000 home with 20% down (a $320,000 loan), at the customary split, worked out with our calculator. It leaves out the property tax proration and the owner’s title policy. Local taxes can add more, as noted.

State	Transfer tax, and who usually pays	Taxes on the buyer’s side	Buyer’s taxes
Alabama	0.1% deed tax, negotiable	0.15% mortgage tax, plus the deed tax if agreed	$480 to $880
Alaska	None	None	$0
Arizona	$2 affidavit fee, negotiable	None	$0 to $2
Arkansas	0.33%, split	Half the transfer tax	$660
California	0.11% county tax, seller; some cities add more	None statewide; city taxes split by local custom	$0
Colorado	0.01% documentary fee, buyer; some mountain towns add their own	The documentary fee	$40
Connecticut	1% to $800,000, seller	None	$0
Delaware	About 4%, split by law	Half the transfer tax, reduced for first-time buyers	$8,000
District of Columbia	1.1% or 1.45%, seller	Deed recordation tax, 1.1% or 1.45%	$5,800
Florida	0.70% doc stamps, seller	0.35% on the note, 0.2% intangible tax	$1,760
Georgia	0.1%, seller	0.3% intangible recording tax, capped at $25,000	$960
Hawaii	0.1% under $600,000, seller	None	$0
Idaho	None	None	$0
Illinois	0.1% state plus county, seller	None statewide; Chicago adds 0.75% for the buyer	$0
Indiana	None	None	$0
Iowa	0.16%, seller	None	$0
Kansas	None	None	$0
Kentucky	0.1%, seller	None	$0
Louisiana	None statewide	None	$0
Maine	0.44%, split by law	Half the transfer tax	$880
Maryland	0.5% state plus county taxes, split by law	Half the state and county transfer and recordation taxes	$2,000 to $3,800, plus county transfer tax
Massachusetts	0.456%, seller	None; Nantucket’s 2% land bank fee is the buyer’s	$0
Michigan	0.86%, seller	None	$0
Minnesota	0.33%, seller	0.23% mortgage registry tax (0.24% in Hennepin and Ramsey)	$736
Mississippi	None	None	$0
Missouri	None	None	$0
Montana	None	None	$0
Nebraska	0.332%, seller	None	$0
Nevada	0.39% (0.51% in Clark County), seller	None	$0
New Hampshire	1.5%, half from each side by law	Half the transfer tax	$3,000
New Jersey	Graduated fee, seller	None; the old mansion tax moved to sellers in 2025	$0
New Mexico	None	None	$0
New York	0.4% state (more in NYC), seller	Mortgage recording tax by county; 1% mansion tax from $1 million	$2,400 in most upstate counties; $5,760 in NYC
North Carolina	0.2%, seller	None	$0
North Dakota	None	None	$0
Ohio	0.4%, seller	None	$0
Oklahoma	0.15%, seller	0.1% mortgage tax	$320
Oregon	None (0.1% in Washington County)	None	$0
Pennsylvania	1% state + about 1% local, split	Half the transfer tax	$4,000 ($9,156 in Philadelphia)
Rhode Island	0.75% to $800,000, seller	None	$0
South Carolina	0.37% deed recording fee, seller	None	$0
South Dakota	0.1%, seller	None	$0
Tennessee	0.37%, buyer	The transfer tax, plus a 0.115% mortgage tax	$1,846
Texas	None	None	$0
Utah	None	None	$0
Vermont	0.5% to $200,000, then 1.47%, buyer (main home)	The transfer tax	$3,940
Virginia	0.1% grantor tax, seller	Recordation on the deed and the loan, about 0.333% each	$2,400
Washington	Graduated excise tax from 1.1%, seller	None	$0
West Virginia	0.33%, seller	None	$0
Wisconsin	0.3%, seller	None	$0
Wyoming	None	None	$0

Each state has its own calculator page with the sources, like Florida, New York, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. The transfer tax by state page covers the seller’s side.

What’s changing in 2026 and 2027?

These are the dated changes our research turned up. We’ll update the calculator as they land.

• October 1, 2026: USDA’s new fiscal year. USDA can reset its guarantee fees, 1% upfront and 0.35% a year, at the start of each fiscal year. They’ve been unchanged since 2017, and the current rates were confirmed in August 2026.
• January 1, 2027: Washington’s excise tax thresholds rise. The 1.1% rate will cover the first $551,000 instead of $525,000, with the higher tiers moving to $1,551,000 and $3,051,000, per Washington’s Department of Revenue. Sellers usually pay it, but it changes the math on any negotiated split.
• Every July 1: Maryland county rates. Counties set recordation and transfer tax rates each fiscal year. Our figures are FY2026 from the Department of Legislative Services, and we haven’t yet confirmed FY2027 rates, which took effect July 1, 2026. Check the county before you rely on them.
• Every July 1: Los Angeles’s Measure ULA thresholds. For closings after June 30, 2026, the city’s extra tax is 4% of the whole price above $5.4 million and 5.5% at $10.9 million or more, indexed each year.
• The 2027 session: Hawaii’s conveyance tax. A 2026 bill to switch to marginal rates with higher top rates was deferred in April and didn’t pass. It could return.
• Every January: FHA’s loan-size line. The yearly premium rises above the national conforming loan limit, which FHFA resets each year. It’s $832,750 for 2026, and the 2027 figure comes out in late November.
• October 1, 2031 and January 1, 2032. Miami-Dade’s 0.45% surtax on deeds other than single-family homes is set to expire in 2031, and Nebraska’s documentary stamp tax is scheduled to drop from $3.32 back to $2.32 per $1,000 in 2032.

And the recent changes already in our numbers:

• March 1, 2026: Texas cut its title insurance rates 6.2%. The $100 lender’s policy charge didn’t change.
• May 1, 2026: VA’s new appraisal fee schedule took effect.
• July 18, 2026: Nebraska’s documentary stamp tax rose to $3.32 per $1,000.
• FY2026: Charles County, Maryland raised its recordation tax from $5 to $7 per $500.
• 2025: New Jersey moved its mansion tax from buyers to sellers on July 10, Philadelphia’s city transfer tax rose to 3.578% on July 1, and Maine added an extra 0.76% above $1 million on November 1.

How can a buyer lower closing costs?

• Compare Loan Estimates. Lender fees and rates vary by lender, and every Loan Estimate uses the same format, so they’re easy to line up.
• Shop the services you’re allowed to shop for. Your Loan Estimate lists them, often the settlement agent and title services. In Florida and Texas, title rates are set by the state, so shop on service instead.
• Ask for a seller credit, within your loan program’s limits.
• Check for first-time buyer breaks. DC, Maryland and Delaware cut their taxes for first-time buyers who qualify.
• Pick the closing date with prepaid interest in mind. A late-month closing means fewer days of interest at closing.

How do I estimate my own?

Open the closing cost calculator, pick the state and county, and choose conventional, FHA, VA or cash. It applies the state’s taxes and title rules, the federal loan fees, and the proration for your closing date, and shows both closing costs and cash to close along with the monthly payment. Every estimated line is marked, so you know which ones your Loan Estimate will replace.

Selling too? Our guide to the seller net sheet explains the other side of the closing table.

What’s the short version?

Budget for four kinds of money: lender fees, title and settlement, taxes, and prepaids. The first two are similar across the country. The taxes depend on the state, from nothing in 33 states at $400,000 to thousands in DC, Delaware, New York City and Philadelphia. The prepaids are your own insurance, interest and tax money, paid early. Then subtract your earnest money and any credits, and add the down payment, to get your cash to close.

This guide explains what state laws and federal loan rules say. It isn’t legal, tax or financial advice, and fees vary by lender and county. Your Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure have the final figures.