National reference

Tax lien states

20 of the 46 states Tax Sale Atlas has mapped sell tax lien certificates, including 2 that also run a separate tax deed auction. Where a state fixes a top statutory rate it runs from 9% to 24%, each read from the state's own statute and checked Sep 27, 2026.

In a tax lien state, the county sells a tax lien certificate against a delinquent property instead of the property itself. You pay the back taxes, and the owner repays you with interest during a set redemption period. If they never redeem, you can eventually move to take the property. It is the yield play, as opposed to the property play of a tax deed state.

States that sell tax liens

We are mapping states one at a time with statute-cited, county-level data. Live states link through to full rules and every county; others are on the roadmap. Hybrid states (like Florida) sell both liens and deeds, so they appear here and on the deed list.

Every tax lien state

The complete list of states that sell tax lien certificates, plus the hybrid states that run both a certificate sale and a tax deed auction. Each entry is classified from its own statute or revenue authority. States we have mapped in full link through to their rules and counties. Checking one state rather than browsing? The answer table for which model each state uses names it for all 50 states and DC, deed states included.

US states by tax sale model, with the statutory rate or penalty where one exists
State	What it sells	Source
Alabama	12% max interest	Code of Alabama Section 40-10-180 (Purpose; Choice of Remedy by Tax Collecting Official) and Act 2018-577, as cited and quoted by Mobile County Revenue Commission
Arizona	16% max interest	A.R.S. Title 42, Ch. 18
Colorado	14% max interest	C.R.S. 39-11-115 "To whom tax lien shall be sold", Title 39 Art. 11 "Sale of Tax Liens". OFFICIAL Colorado General Assembly OLLS publication: the 2024 C.R.S. Title 39 volume PDF (content.leg.colorado.gov). Section read verbatim in the volume 2026-07-25 (whole-title PDF; locate the section by number inside). Replaces a FindLaw mirror; leg.colorado.gov has no per-section text pages.
District of Columbia	18% max interest	D.C. Code § 47-1348 (Certificate of sale) & § 47-1382 (Foreclosure deed issuance), D.C. Law Library
Florida	18% max interest	Fla. Stat. Ch. 197
Illinois	9% max interest	Illinois Legal Aid Online, "Unpaid Property Taxes" (FAQ), corroborated by DuPage County Treasurer's official Tax Redemption Process page
Indiana	15% max interest	Ind. Code 6-1.1-24-9(b). Official host is the Indiana General Assembly (iga.in.gov), whose code pages render only via JavaScript and whose static per-chapter PDFs return the app shell to automated fetch, so the section text could not be confirmed programmatically; the aggregator mirror is retained. A 2026-07-25 browser pass confirmed iga.in.gov renders the Code only through a client-side app (section content served via an internal API, not a fetchable per-section URL or static PDF), so the verified FindLaw mirror is retained for this non-live state; re-verify at iga.in.gov on state launch.
Iowa	24% max interest	Iowa Code §446.7 (Annual tax sale) & §446.16 (Bid, purchaser); deed only issues later per §448.1
Kentucky	12% max interest	KRS 134.420 (Lien for Taxes); see also KRS 134.128 (sale of certificates of delinquency)
Louisiana	12% max interest	La. Const. art. VII, §25 (as amended by Acts 2024 No. 409, implementing Constitutional Amendment 4 approved by voters Dec. 7, 2024) together with La. R.S. 47:2121 et seq. (repealed and replaced by Acts 2024 No. 774, further amended by 2025 Regular Session acts incl. Act 557/HB 557), all effective Jan. 1, 2026
Maryland	20% max interest	Md. Code Ann., Tax-Prop. § 14-820 (Certificate of Sale, in General); Office of the State Tax Sale Ombudsman, Md. Dept. of Assessments & Taxation
Mississippi	18% max interest	Miss. Code Ann. § 27-45-27 ("Rights of purchaser at tax sale; effect of lien..."), Unannotated Mississippi Code hosted by LexisNexis (Michie), the publisher designated by the Legislature's Joint Committee on Compilation, Revision and Publication; the portal is a search interface with no stable per-section deep link, so § 27-45-27 must be retrieved by section number.
Missouri	10% max interest	RSMo § 140.250 (Missouri Revisor of Statutes, official state statute portal)
Montana	10% max interest	Mont. Code Ann. 15-17-125, 15-17-323 (tax lien to county, then private assignment)
Nebraska	14% max interest	Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 77-1807 (sale conducted; certificate issued), 77-1824 (redemption from certificate)
New Jersey	18% max interest	NJ Division of Local Government Services – "Elements of Tax Sales in New Jersey"
Ohio	18% max interest	Ohio Rev. Code Chapter 5721, "Delinquent Lands" (secs. 5721.30-.49 tax certificates; secs. 5721.18-.19 foreclosure/sheriff sale) - codes.ohio.gov
South Dakota	10% max interest	SDCL 10-23-7; 10-23-8; 10-25-1 (South Dakota Legislature, Codified Laws)
West Virginia	12% max interest	W. Va. Code § 11A-3-45 (Auditor to hold annual auction of tax liens) and § 11A-3-56 (redemption from purchase of a tax lien)
Wyoming	15% max interest	Wyoming Statutes § 39-13-108(e) (Enforcement, Tax sales: certificate of purchase / tax deed)

Compare the numbers across states

Two sourced reference tables put the figures side by side.

Best tax lien states Interest rates by state Redemption periods by state Bidding methods by state

Certificates that draw no bid do not disappear, they stay with the county or the state at the full statutory rate. What each lien state calls that leftover inventory, and the statute that governs buying it without an auction, is in state-held and struck-off land by state.

Beginner’s guideStart from zero Tax lien vs tax deedThe core distinction Redemption periodsHow long owners have to pay

Florida is fully mapped

A hybrid state with an 18 percent bid-down certificate sale and a tax deed path. All 67 counties, sourced.

Florida tax liens All states