CALIFORNIA PROPERTY TAX · 2026
California property tax calculator
California's effective property tax rate is 0.698%: owner-occupiers paid a median $5,124 a year on homes with a median value of $734,700. On a $300,000 home, that rate comes to $2,094.00 a year.
Property tax estimate
- Property tax a year
- $2,094.00
- A month
- $174.50
- Rate
- 0.698%, statewide
California property tax by county
| County | Effective rate | Median tax | Median home value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alameda County | 0.763% | $8,474 | $1,090,100 |
| Alpine County | 0.55% | $4,530 | $590,200 |
| Amador County | 0.695% | $3,172 | $449,800 |
| Butte County | 0.706% | $2,951 | $424,700 |
| Calaveras County | 0.709% | $3,319 | $457,200 |
| Colusa County | 0.671% | $2,426 | $393,400 |
| Contra Costa County | 0.775% | $7,156 | $866,800 |
| Del Norte County | 0.492% | $2,099 | $342,000 |
| El Dorado County | 0.723% | $4,753 | $679,900 |
| Fresno County | 0.763% | $2,861 | $388,800 |
| Glenn County | 0.612% | $2,263 | $352,400 |
| Humboldt County | 0.616% | $2,858 | $446,900 |
| Imperial County | 0.827% | $2,394 | $309,600 |
| Inyo County | 0.587% | $2,576 | $348,700 |
| Kern County | 0.892% | $2,984 | $338,300 |
| Kings County | 0.753% | $2,425 | $324,300 |
| Lake County | 0.715% | $2,369 | $324,300 |
| Lassen County | 0.804% | $1,923 | $265,300 |
| Los Angeles County | 0.672% | $5,675 | $834,200 |
| Madera County | 0.692% | $2,756 | $393,200 |
| Marin County | 0.774% | $10,000+ | $1,507,300 |
| Mariposa County | 0.583% | $2,377 | $387,900 |
| Mendocino County | 0.665% | $3,545 | $512,200 |
| Merced County | 0.671% | $2,634 | $391,800 |
| Modoc County | 0.682% | $1,561 | $224,700 |
| Mono County | 0.703% | $4,177 | $639,400 |
| Monterey County | 0.63% | $4,910 | $781,000 |
| Napa County | 0.603% | $5,995 | $869,500 |
| Nevada County | 0.726% | $4,694 | $621,800 |
| Orange County | 0.643% | $6,330 | $962,600 |
| Placer County | 0.793% | $5,812 | $688,100 |
| Plumas County | 0.689% | $2,537 | $360,200 |
| Riverside County | 0.831% | $4,348 | $557,300 |
| Sacramento County | 0.761% | $3,921 | $534,200 |
| San Benito County | 0.785% | $6,441 | $793,400 |
| San Bernardino County | 0.733% | $3,538 | $505,000 |
| San Diego County | 0.67% | $5,774 | $854,700 |
| San Francisco County | 0.721% | $9,862 | $1,394,500 |
| San Joaquin County | 0.788% | $3,960 | $530,700 |
| San Luis Obispo County | 0.641% | $5,636 | $824,700 |
| San Mateo County | 0.633% | $9,519 | $1,559,600 |
| Santa Barbara County | 0.59% | $5,103 | $790,700 |
| Santa Clara County | 0.677% | $10,000+ | $1,490,600 |
| Santa Cruz County | 0.603% | $6,538 | $1,027,500 |
| Shasta County | 0.703% | $2,542 | $366,400 |
| Sierra County | 0.618% | $2,279 | $331,900 |
| Siskiyou County | 0.598% | $1,973 | $309,500 |
| Solano County | 0.783% | $4,621 | $617,700 |
| Sonoma County | 0.647% | $5,695 | $815,500 |
| Stanislaus County | 0.725% | $3,216 | $450,100 |
| Sutter County | 0.78% | $3,268 | $433,500 |
| Tehama County | 0.649% | $2,118 | $339,600 |
| Trinity County | 0.262% | $1,888 | $325,800 |
| Tulare County | 0.694% | $2,318 | $330,100 |
| Tuolumne County | 0.616% | $2,864 | $433,200 |
| Ventura County | 0.686% | $5,574 | $822,700 |
| Yolo County | 0.789% | $4,749 | $620,700 |
| Yuba County | 0.765% | $3,071 | $412,300 |
California homestead exemption
- California's homeowners' exemption takes $7,000 off the assessed value of a home that is the owner's principal residence on January 1.
- Under Proposition 13, a home's assessed value can rise with inflation by at most 2% a year.
- File once; a claim filed by February 15 gets the full exemption that year.
This is the property tax homestead exemption, not the homestead exemption that protects a home from creditors in bankruptcy.
California property tax questions
How much is property tax in California?
California's effective property tax rate is 0.698%: owner-occupiers paid a median $5,124 a year on homes with a median value of $734,700. On a $300,000 home, that rate comes to $2,094.00 a year.
Which county in California has the highest property tax?
Kern County, with an effective rate of 0.892%; Trinity County has the lowest, at 0.262%. On a $300,000 home that is $2,676.00 a year in Kern County and $786.00 in Trinity County.
Does California have a homestead exemption?
California's homeowners' exemption takes $7,000 off the assessed value of a home that is the owner's principal residence on January 1. The calculator does not subtract it: the rates already reflect the exemptions owners received.
Why might a California tax bill differ from this estimate?
The rate is what owner-occupiers in California paid on average in 2020 through 2024, as a share of their homes' value. An actual bill depends on the home's assessed value, the levies where it sits and the exemptions its owner claims.
What the calculator leaves out
- The rate is the total real estate tax owner-occupiers reported paying divided by the total value they reported for their homes, not a tax rate set by law.
- The rate already reflects the exemptions, caps and credits typical owner-occupiers received, so the calculator does not subtract a homestead exemption again.
- An actual bill depends on the home's assessed value, the levies where it sits and the exemptions its owner claims.
- Survey estimates for small counties have wide margins of error.
Rates and medians are American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates: taxes owners paid in those years, not 2026 bills.
Sources
- Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 table B25090: aggregate real estate taxes paid
- Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 table B25082: aggregate value of owner-occupied homes
- Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 table B25103: median real estate taxes paid
- Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 table B25077: median home value
- California Board of Equalization: homeowners' exemption
- California Constitution article XIII A, section 2