Mortgage calculator

California Property Tax and Insurance Estimator

Turn a California home price into a monthly property tax figure at the levy you enter, next to a modeled range for homeowners insurance, so both fit into a monthly budget.

Run your numbers

Assumptions this tool makes

The levy you enter is the full combined rate for the property — the 1% Proposition 13 base rate plus voter-approved bonds and assessments for that tax rate area. The tool rejects a levy below 1.00%, because the base rate alone is 1%.
Assessed value starts at the purchase price. Under Proposition 13 the factored base year value rises at most 2% a year, so the tax on a home held for years is usually lower than the tax a new buyer pays at the same market value.
Insurance is modeled as a range of 0.2% to 0.5% of the price per year, because premiums turn on the dwelling, its fire risk, and its carrier — not on the price alone. Homes in high-fire areas and FAIR Plan policies can cost more than the top of the range.
A supplemental tax bill in the first year after a purchase is not included. Neither are Mello-Roos or other special assessments beyond what the levy you enter already contains.

The formula

Annual property tax = assessed value × levy ÷ 100. Monthly tax = annual tax ÷ 12. Modeled insurance range = 0.2% to 0.5% of the price per year, divided by 12 for the monthly figures.

A worked example

Price $950,000, levy 1.16%.

Annual tax: $950,000 × 1.16% = $11,020.00. Monthly tax: $11,020.00 ÷ 12 = $918.33.
Insurance range: $950,000 × 0.2% = $1,900.00 a year ($158.33 a month) to $950,000 × 0.5% = $4,750.00 a year ($395.83 a month).
Combined monthly carrying cost at these inputs: $918.33 + $158.33 = $1,076.67 at the low end, and $918.33 + $395.83 = $1,314.17 at the high end — before any loan payment.

How to read your result

Budget from the high end of the insurance range in fire-risk areas, and get a property-specific premium quote early: insurance is the line most likely to move between an offer and closing.
Two homes at the same price in different tax rate areas carry different levies. A 0.2-point levy difference on a $950,000 home is $1,900 a year, every year.
If you are comparing a new purchase with a home you already own, do not carry your current tax bill across — the purchase resets the base year value to the price you pay.
Add the supplemental bill to your first-year cash plan separately; it arrives outside the monthly escrow cycle this estimator describes.