The Truth Behind Cell Towers and Property Values

“It’s an eyesore,” “it will cause health problems,” “it will drive down property values.” These are all common responses to cell towers being constructed in residential areas or in close proximity to someone’s home or business. With the expansion of cell phone networks, towers are being constructed all over the place. 

Everyone these days expects great cell phone service all the time—that requires towers. What’s so terrible about living next to a cell phone tower, besides getting great cell phone service all the time and never having to hear the “beep, beep, beep” associated with dropped calls?

Tom J. Keith & Associates, Inc. conducted research and illustrated how cell phone towers can affect property values. Their findings can be found in “Impact ofCell Tower on Surrounding Properties,” which is where the chart below was originally published.

This chart shows that there isn’t a significant change in the values for the properties 1/10 mile away from the tower or 5/10 mile away from the tower. “The values rise and fall as you move out from ring one to ring five, concluding that the tower does not affect the value of the properties as distance increases from tower,” Tom J. Keith & Associates, Inc. explained. There is no definite link between cell phone towers and decreasing property values and with the expansion of mobile coverage, towers are going to be difficult to avoid.