What actually sets California apart
California is the state where the seller's tax bill tells you least about yours. A home held since the 1990s may be assessed at a fraction of its market value, and your bill will be based on what you pay, not what they pay. Always model from the purchase price.
Property taxes in California at a glance
- Average effective tax rate: 0.71% of home value per year
- Median home value: $695,400
- Estimated tax on a median-value home: $4,926 per year (about $411 per month)
- Rank by tax rate: 35th of 50, highest first
- Rank by amount actually paid: 8th of 50, highest first
- Where these figures come from: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, for the California statewide averages shown above — ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimates, last reviewed September 2026.
Why the California rate understates the bill
Ranked by rate, California is 35th of the fifty. Ranked by what an owner actually pays, it is 8th — 27 places higher. The rate is not doing that work; the $695,400 median home value is. A modest percentage of an expensive house is still an expensive bill.
Texas makes the point. It charges 1.58%, roughly 2.2 times the California rate, and its median owner still pays about $4,111 a year — some $815 less than a California owner on a median-value home.
How California works out what you owe
Proposition 13 sets the taxable base at the purchase price when you buy, and the base rate is 1% of that value plus voter-approved local bonds and direct assessments.
Assessed value cannot rise more than 2% a year while you own the home. It resets to market value when the property changes hands or is newly built.
Exemptions California homeowners should claim
Each of these reduces a California bill every year you hold the property, and almost none are granted without a claim:
- Homeowners' exemption: A modest reduction in assessed value on an owner-occupied home. It is small in dollar terms but must still be claimed.
- Proposition 19 base year transfer: Owners aged 55 or older, severely disabled owners and wildfire or disaster victims can carry their existing assessed value to a replacement home anywhere in California, up to three times.
Where you buy inside California changes the bill
A statewide average hides its extremes. Where they show up in California:
- Los Angeles County: Mello-Roos districts and city-specific direct assessments can add meaningfully on top of the 1% base rate
- Santa Clara County: high values mean the dollar bill is large even though the rate is ordinary, and school bonds push the effective rate above 1%
- Riverside County: newer master-planned developments frequently carry Mello-Roos community facilities district charges that can rival the base tax
California and its neighbours
The same $695,400 — the California median — taxed at each neighbouring state's average rate:
- Oregon at 0.83%: about $5,772 a year, roughly $846 more than the $4,926 a California owner would pay on the same value.
- Nevada at 0.49%: about $3,407 a year, roughly $1,519 less than the $4,926 a California owner would pay on the same value.
- Arizona at 0.52%: about $3,616 a year, roughly $1,310 less than the $4,926 a California owner would pay on the same value.
Appealing a California assessment
If the assessed value on your California home overstates what it is worth, the route is an appeal to the county assessment appeals board. The window is generally between 2 July and mid-September, and it is strict — missing it means waiting a full cycle.
Frequently asked questions
When are California property taxes due, and when must exemption claims be filed?
The fiscal year runs from July. The first instalment is due 1 November and the second 1 February. The homeowners' exemption is claimed with the county assessor; filing by mid-February secures the full amount for that year.
Does this calculator use my exact California county tax rate?
No — it applies the California statewide average of 0.71%. Rates are set locally, and the spread inside California is wide enough to matter: on a $695,400 home, $1,917 a year separates California from an averagely taxed state before any county variation is counted. Check the parcel's own rate with its California county before relying on this figure.
Reference sources
Related calculators
How this estimate is built
Principal and interest come from the standard amortization formula, worked through in full on the formula reference page. Property tax, insurance, PMI and loan-program figures layer on top from published assumptions — each one sourced, dated and listed on the methodology page. Every result here is an estimate built from public data, not a quote: confirm the specifics with a lender before relying on it.
For developers
This calculation is also available as a REST API and through an MCP server, both running the same engine as this page — so the figures match by construction rather than by convention. No key required.