Orange County Property Tax Rates by City

The typical effective property tax rate in Orange County is about 1.14% of the purchase price in the first year (Ownwell's countywide median). Across the 19 cities below, city median effective rates run from 1.01% to 1.62%, and Mello-Roos cities sit at the top of the range with community facilities district levies already inside their figures.

Median prices are recorded MLS closings in the last 90 days to November 5, 2026, so they can differ from the three-month medians in our monthly market reports. Tax rates from the Ownwell Orange County dataset, April 2026.

Property tax in Orange County starts from a single statewide rule and then diverges sharply. Proposition 13 caps the base ad valorem rate at 1 percent of assessed value, but voter-approved bonds and direct assessments sit on top of it, so the rate a homeowner actually pays ranges from roughly 1.0 percent to more than 1.6 percent depending on the city. Because California reassesses a property at its purchase price when it sells, the figure that matters to a buyer is their purchase price multiplied by the local effective rate. Applied to each city’s median sale price, that produces estimated first-year tax bills ranging from the lightest burdens inland to the heaviest along the coast. The table below reports that estimate for 19 cities, with the current figures drawn from live housing data rather than fixed in this text.

Estimated property tax by city

Each row multiplies the city’s median home price by its median effective tax rate. The result estimates what a buyer purchasing at that median price would owe in their first year of ownership.

Example: a $1,500,000 purchase comes to about $15,200 in its first year in Coto de Caza at 1.01%, and about $24,300 in Rancho Mission Viejo at 1.62%, the lowest and highest rates on the table.

How an Orange County tax bill is built

The 1 percent base rate set by Proposition 13 is the part everyone knows, and it is rarely the part that varies. It applies to the assessed value, which is set at purchase price and then rises by no more than 2 percent a year until the property changes hands again.

Above that base sit voter-approved bonds, typically for school facilities, which are levied as a percentage of assessed value and differ by district. These are why two homes of identical value in neighboring cities can carry different bills.

The third layer is direct assessments, and it is the one that moves a payment most. Community Facilities District levies, known as Mello-Roos, fund infrastructure in newer master-planned communities and are charged as a flat annual amount rather than a percentage. The Mello-Roos column above shows whether a city’s median rate already reflects such a levy. For how these work and how long they last, see our guide to Mello-Roos and HOAs in Orange County.

When Orange County property taxes are due

You pay secured property tax in two installments. The first is due November 1 and turns late after December 10. The second is due February 1 and turns late after April 10. A late installment adds a 10 percent penalty, and a late second installment adds a $23 collection fee as well. The Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector publishes the dates each year.

Supplemental tax bills after you buy

A change in ownership or new construction triggers a supplemental assessment. The Assessor sets the new value right away, and the Treasurer-Tax Collector bills the tax on the difference between the new and prior values, prorated for the months left in the fiscal year ending June 30. A closing between January 1 and May 31 brings a second supplemental bill for the fiscal year that starts July 1. A lower new value can bring a refund instead.

For example, a December closing at $1,500,000 over a $500,000 prior taxable value adds $1,000,000 for six months, January through June. At the 1 percent base rate alone that is about $5,000.

The Treasurer-Tax Collector mails the bill separately from your annual bill. Per the Assessor, it is due on the date mailed and payable in two installments. For bills mailed July through October, the installments turn delinquent on December 10 and April 10. For bills mailed November through June, the first turns delinquent on the last day of the following month and the second on the last day of the fourth month after that. The dates printed on your bill control. A late installment adds 10 percent, plus a $23 cost fee on the second.

A lender’s impound account usually does not pay this bill. The Treasurer says the owner is responsible, so ask your lender before it arrives.

Exemptions that lower the bill

The Homeowners’ Exemption removes $7,000 from the taxable value of the home you own and occupy as your principal residence on January 1. At the 1 percent base rate that saves $70 a year. File with the Orange County Assessor by February 15 for the full amount. A claim filed later, up to December 10, receives a partial exemption. If the home you buy had no exemption, you have 30 days from the mailing of the Notice of Supplemental Assessment to claim it on that assessment.

The Disabled Veterans’ Exemption covers the home of a veteran who, because of an injury or disease from military service, is rated or paid at 100 percent disability, is blind in both eyes or has lost the use of two or more limbs. An unmarried surviving spouse can also qualify. For the 2026 lien date the exemption is $180,671, or $271,009 with household income of $81,131 or less. The amounts change every year.

Owners 55 or older and severely disabled owners can carry their assessed value to a replacement home, and some parent-to-child transfers avoid full reassessment. Our Proposition 19 guide covers both.

If your home’s value falls: decline-in-value reviews and appeals

Proposition 8 allows a temporary reduction in assessed value when a home’s market value on January 1 falls below its Proposition 13 value. The Assessor compares the two each year, uses the lower one and reviews eligible homes without a request. You can also send a Request for Informal Assessment Review between January 1 and April 30.

If you still disagree, file an Assessment Appeal Application with the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors. The filing period for a regular annual assessment is July 2 through November 30. For a supplemental or escape assessment, you have 60 days from the date of the notice. Keep paying your bill while an appeal is pending.

Two cities, one ZIP code, two different tax rates

Ladera Ranch and Rancho Mission Viejo share ZIP code 92694, and both are master-planned communities with Mello-Roos levies. Rancho Mission Viejo, the newer of the two, carries the heavier levy, so its effective rate in the table above runs higher.

The pair shows why comparing list prices between Orange County communities tells you less than you expect: two homes at the same price in the same ZIP code can cost you different amounts to hold.

Methodology and sources

Effective tax rates are median figures from the Ownwell Orange County dataset, vintage April 2026. An effective rate is the actual annual tax bill divided by the value on the assessor’s roll, which in California is the Proposition 13 assessed value rather than today’s market price, so it already reflects bonds and direct assessments rather than the 1 percent base alone.

Median home prices are the median sale price of the homes that closed in each city over the latest 90 days, or 12 months where 90 days hold too few sales, from closings recorded in the CRMLS multiple listing service. Our individual city pages show the same figure, so the numbers agree across the site. For a city without an MLS figure, we use Redfin’s closed-sale medians for its ZIP codes.

Estimated first-year tax is the median price multiplied by the effective rate, rounded to the nearest $100. The rounding is deliberate: both inputs are medians with their own margins, and reporting a figure to the dollar would imply precision that is not there. Cities appear only when both a median price and a matched effective rate are available, which is why 19 of the county’s cities are listed rather than all of them.

This data is published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. You are free to reuse it, including commercially, with attribution.

Tax is only one carrying cost. Our Orange County real estate statistics shows how each city’s prices have moved since 2012.

Frequently Asked Questions About Orange County Property Tax

What is the property tax rate in Orange County?

The base rate is 1 percent of assessed value under Proposition 13, but almost no one pays exactly that. Voter-approved bonds and direct assessments push the effective rate higher, and it ranges from roughly 1.0 percent in cities such as Aliso Viejo and Mission Viejo to about 1.6 percent in Rancho Mission Viejo. The median across the cities in the table above is 1.07 percent.

Why do two Orange County cities with similar home prices have different tax bills?

Two reasons, and both sit above the 1 percent base. School and facility bonds are approved district by district, so they differ across city lines. More significantly, newer master-planned communities often carry Mello-Roos levies that fund their infrastructure, and those can add thousands of dollars a year to an otherwise comparable home.

Does buying a home change the property tax on it?

Yes, and this is the single most misunderstood part of California property tax. A sale triggers reassessment at the purchase price, so a new owner’s bill is calculated from what they paid, not from what the previous owner was assessed at. A long-held home can carry a bill far below what the next buyer will owe on the same property.

What is Mello-Roos and does every Orange County home have it?

Mello-Roos is a Community Facilities District levy that funds infrastructure in newer developments, charged as a flat annual amount on top of regular property tax. Most Orange County homes do not carry one. It concentrates in communities built from the 1980s onward, notably Ladera Ranch and Rancho Mission Viejo. Our guide to Mello-Roos and HOAs covers how long they last.

How do I find the exact property tax on a specific home?

The Orange County Assessor is the authority. Their records give the current assessed value and the exact rate area for any parcel, and the Treasurer-Tax Collector publishes the actual bill including every direct assessment. The estimates on this page model a typical purchase at a citywide median and cannot substitute for the record on an individual property.

What is a supplemental tax bill in Orange County?

A supplemental tax bill is a separate bill the Treasurer-Tax Collector sends after a sale or new construction raises a property’s assessed value. It covers the months left in the fiscal year, and a closing between January 1 and May 31 brings a second bill for the next fiscal year. A lender’s impound account usually does not pay it.

How much does the homeowners’ exemption save in Orange County?

The homeowners’ exemption saves at least $70 a year. It removes $7,000 of taxable value, and 1 percent of that is $70. The home must be your principal residence on January 1, and you file with the Orange County Assessor by February 15 for the full exemption.

Can I appeal my property tax assessment in Orange County?

Yes. File an Assessment Appeal Application with the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors from July 2 through November 30, or within 60 days of a Notice of Supplemental Assessment. The Assessor takes informal review requests from January 1 to April 30.

Is property tax paid in escrow when I buy?

Escrow usually prorates the current year’s tax between buyer and seller by days of ownership, but it usually does not collect your supplemental tax, which is billed several months after closing.