California Property Tax Rates by City and County

How California property tax works

When you buy a home in California, the purchase price becomes its assessed value. The tax is that value times the rate for the home's tax rate area: the 1% Proposition 13 base plus any voter-approved bonds.

After the purchase, the assessed value can rise by at most 2% a year until the home sells again, even if market values climb faster.

Buyers also get a supplemental tax bill after closing, covering the difference between the old owner's assessed value and the new one for the rest of the fiscal year.

The rates here do not include Mello-Roos (Community Facilities District) taxes, flat parcel taxes or fixed special assessments, which can add a noticeable amount on some homes. Your true tax rate is the two together, the tax at the city rate plus fixed assessments, divided by the purchase price on a newly purchased home.

California secured property tax is billed in two installments: the first is due November 1 and late after December 10; the second is due February 1 and late after April 10. A 10% penalty applies to a late installment.

Property tax calculator

Search for a city or pick one on the map, then change the price, rate or fixed assessments to estimate a first-year bill. It uses the same math as Mortgage Blueprint's tax breakdown.

Rates by county

Lowest rates

Highest rates

Look up a property tax bill

Each county's treasurer-tax collector posts secured tax bills online. You'll usually need the parcel number (APN), which is on the bill and on the county assessor's records.

Source

Each county's published tax rate book or rate schedule (San Francisco: the Treasurer's secured rate), linked on each county's page. San Bernardino County hasn't published its 2026-27 rate book yet, so its rates are added up from the district rates on its tax bills. Each rate is the total ad valorem rate for the city's primary or most common tax rate area; other areas in the same city can differ. Map boundaries are from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2024 cartographic boundary files.