Santa Clara County property tax calculator

How Santa Clara County property tax is calculated

Santa Clara County property tax is your net assessed value times 1%, plus the county retirement levy and the voter-approved bond rates of the Tax Rate Area (TRA) your parcel sits in. The assessed value is your Proposition 13 base (purchase price or new construction value) raised by at most 2% a year.^[2][1]

Tax = (Assessed value − $7,000) × (1% + 0.0388% + TRA bonds) + 0.0039% × (land + improvements) + parcel taxes

Example: a San Jose home in the San Jose Unified district (TRA 017-090) assessed at $1,200,000 pays $14,410.52 for 2025-26 with the homeowners' exemption and $14,494.80 without it, about $1,201 a month for an escrow account.^[2]

Santa Clara County property tax rate by city

The rate in Santa Clara County runs from 1.1599% in Mountain View to 1.2614% in San Jose (Franklin-McKinley / East Side) among the areas below, a difference of $1,008 a year on a $1 million home. School district bonds make most of the gap: they add 0.07% to 0.16% depending on the elementary, high school and unified districts that serve the address.^[2]

The county has 816 Tax Rate Areas; the TRA number is printed on your bill. San Jose alone has 204, from 1.14% in the Morgan Hill Unified part of south San Jose to 1.26% in the East Side Union areas.^[2]

Santa Clara County Tax Rate Area: how to read yours

A Santa Clara County Tax Rate Area is a six-digit code (such as 017-090) for a unique set of taxing agencies; the first three digits name the city or unincorporated area: 005 Mountain View, 006 Palo Alto, 007 Santa Clara, 009 Sunnyvale, 013 Cupertino and 017 San Jose.^[2] Every TRA pays the same countywide pieces (1% levy, 0.0388% retirement levy, 0.0052% Valley Medical Center bond and 0.0056% 2016 housing bond); the rest are school, college and city bonds.

Two parts of the bill do not follow the rate. The 0.0039% State Water Project levy is charged on land and improvements before exemptions, so the homeowners' exemption does not reduce it.^[2] Parcel taxes and fees (school parcel taxes, Valley Water flood and safe water charge, sewer, garbage) are flat dollar amounts listed separately on the bill.

Santa Clara County property tax due dates

Santa Clara County secured tax bills are mailed by November 1; the first installment is due November 1 and delinquent after December 10, and the second is due February 1 and delinquent after April 10, each with a 10% penalty if late.^[2]

• By November 1 — Secured bills mailed
• Due November 1; delinquent after December 10 — 1st installment (10% penalty)
• Due February 1; delinquent after April 10 — 2nd installment (10% penalty)
• Due January 1 lien date; delinquent after August 31 — Unsecured taxes (10% penalty)
• July 1 — Tax-defaulted (unpaid June 30) (1.5% a month redemption penalty)

Taxes still unpaid on June 30 become tax-defaulted, and a 1.5% a month redemption penalty starts July 1. Other counties' dates are on property tax due dates.^[2][1]

Exemptions in Santa Clara County

The homeowners' exemption takes $7,000 off the assessed value of an owner-occupied home, worth about $84 a year in San Jose; it is filed once with the Assessor (form BOE-266) and must be in by February 15 for the full amount.^[3][2]

Santa Clara County assessment appeal: September 15

Santa Clara County's regular appeal window closes on September 15 (filing opens July 2), earlier than the November 30 deadline in Los Angeles County property tax and Orange County, because the Assessor does not mail a value notice to every owner by August 1.^[5] File an Assessment Appeal Application (form BOE-305-AH) with the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors, which serves the Assessment Appeals Board. For supplemental and escape assessments the deadline is 60 days after the notice is mailed.^[1]

What Santa Clara County homeowners typically pay

Census figures for 2024 put the median Santa Clara County home value at $1,555,600; the median property tax paid is above $10,000, the top of the Census reporting range, so the exact median is not published.^[6][7] Long-time owners pay far less than new buyers because their Prop 13 base is decades old.

The statewide rules (Prop 13 factors, Prop 19 transfers for owners 55 and older, supplemental bills) are on the California property tax calculator, and senior programs on property tax exemptions for seniors.

Common mistakes

• Multiplying today's price by 1.2%. Use the assessed value on your bill; for a new purchase, the price becomes the new base after the supplemental bill.
• Using the city's name to guess the rate. Two San Jose homes can be 0.12% apart because of school districts; find your TRA on the bill.
• Forgetting parcel taxes. Fixed charges can add several hundred dollars on top of the rate.
• Missing September 15. The appeal window is shorter here than in Southern California.

Other counties: start from the property tax calculator.