California · County property tax · ACS 2024
Alameda County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Alameda County pays $8,474 a year, an effective rate of 0.78%, far above the U.S. average.
- $8,474
- Median tax / yr · Highest-decile bill
- 0.78%
- Effective rate · Below-median rate
- +325%
- vs U.S. average
- #6 of 58
- rank in CA
The verdict
Homeowners in Alameda County pay a median $8,474 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.78%, more affordable than 52% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $8,474
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.78%
- Effective rate on median home
- #1507 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +325%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($1,090,100). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for California. Population: 1,649,473. Owner-occupied homes: 325,509.
The median annual property tax in Alameda County is $8,474, which is 65% higher than the California state average and 325% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.78% on a median home value of $1,090,100. Property taxes represent 6.6% of the median household income in this county.
Why Alameda County's ACS bill runs high vs the U.S.
Primary signal
The bill sits well above the national median
Homeowners in Alameda County pay a median annual property tax of $8,474, far above the national median and far above the California state median. On a $1,090,100 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.78% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
Income carries a heavy tax share
Property taxes in Alameda County run well above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 6.6% of the $129,367 median household income.
Decision signal 3
Low among California counties by effective rate
Alameda County ranks #6 of 58 counties in California by effective rate (90% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 4
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Alameda County's 0.78% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 52%).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Alameda County as reported to the Census Bureau; your parcel can differ. Not tax, legal, or financial advice: check the county assessor or a qualified professional before decisions that depend on these numbers.
The rate held while the market moved
Alameda County sits in the quarter of U.S. counties whose effective rate moved least over this span: 0.7% up, against a median home value that rose 32.1%.
A near-steady rate on a moving market passes that movement straight through: the median bill rose 33.1%, from $6,369 to $8,474.
Effective rate is the published median bill divided by the published median home value, so the two multiply back to the bill exactly; the rate's movement here is derived from those two figures rather than read from the rounded published rate. Both are ACS 5-year survey estimates for the median owner-occupied household, compared across non-overlapping releases. They describe what the Census published, not a local policy, assessment, or exemption change.
How to read this county's bill
The bill here climbed steeply over 2020-2024, up 33% from $6,369 to $8,474. These ACS medians describe the reported change; they do not identify whether a levy, assessment, home value, or change in the responding households caused it.
The heaviest band is also the fullest one here: 277,810 of 325,509 owner-occupied homes (85.3%) report annual real-estate taxes above $3,000. That band has no upper edge in the source, so the county median understates the burden carried by the plurality rather than describing it.
Top-quartile earnings meet a below-median rate, putting the median bill at 6.6% of median household income. Counties in this position span a wide range on the ratio above, because the dollar bill tracks home values rather than the rate.
The share above is the median annual bill divided by median household income, a ratio of two county-level medians rather than a household-by-household figure.
What Alameda County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Alameda County homeowners, 277,810 of 325,509 owner-occupied homes (85.3%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 1.9% (6,129)
- $800 to $1,499 2.1% (6,884)
- $1,500 to $1,999 2.6% (8,333)
- $2,000 to $2,999 5.2% (16,797)
- $3,000 or more 85.3% (277,810)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
9,556 homes here (2.9%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how California handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in Alameda County pay more than double the bill of those without one (+60%), the widest kind of value gap this dataset tracks.
Alameda County's bill vs state & U.S. medians
Median annual bill bars around Alameda County's SPIKE ACS 2024 figure.
Alameda County's median bill is 65% above the California median and 325% above the U.S. median.
What changed since 2020
The median bill in Alameda County moved from $6,369 in the 2020 release to $8,474 in 2024, a change of about 33%. These are American Community Survey 5-year estimates compared across releases that share only one sample year, which is why this page never compares consecutive releases: those overlap in four years of the same households and move mostly on sampling.
Alameda County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Alameda County | California Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Highest-decile bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Below-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Highest-decile income burden | 6.6% | - | - |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates. Tax-burden differences across rows reflect millage decisions, assessment-ratio practices, and the residential-vs-commercial mix of each tax base.
Is Alameda County's $8,474 median bill appeal-worthy?
At Alameda County's $8,474 ACS median (SPIKE), a 10% assessment cut is worth about $847/yr before exemptions. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for California.
Alameda County bill trail · SPIKE
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $8,474 +5.1% | 0.78% |
| 2023 | $8,061 +5.8% | 0.76% |
| 2022 | $7,622 +10.9% | 0.76% |
| 2021 | $6,873 +7.9% | 0.79% |
| 2020 | $6,369 | 0.77% |
Each row is a separate ACS 5-year release, and consecutive releases share four of their five survey years. The percentage beside each bill is therefore movement in the published estimate against the previous release, not a single year's tax change. The two releases largely describe the same households. For change over time, compare releases that do not overlap.
Alameda County: tax takes 6.6% of income
Counties near Alameda County's median bill
On effective rate, Alameda County sits nearest Manatee County (FL), Putnam County (FL), Sumter County (FL).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Cedar County (NE), Logan County (KS), Concho County (TX).
How peers are chosen
These are the nearest cross-state matches in the published Census data, not neighboring counties or recommendations. Peers are rebuilt with each data release; see the calculation method.
Similar effective rates
Similar published median-tax changes, 2020–2024
Alameda County: only 17% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 132,380 of 775,600 returns from Alameda County reported real estate taxes, averaging $11,901 - 51% of those reporters sat in the $200k+ AGI band.
What this IRS county file does not say
Amounts are reported before the SALT cap, not deducted; the share is of filers, not homeowners. Source: IRS SOI county data, tax year 2022.
Other Counties in California
Alameda County bill FAQs
- How does Alameda County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Alameda County run far above the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.78% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the average property tax in Alameda County, California?
- The median annual property tax in Alameda County is $8,474, an effective rate of 0.78% on a $1,090,100 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Alameda County?
- Property taxes in Alameda County run well above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 6.6% of the $129,367 median household income.
- Are property taxes increasing in Alameda County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Alameda County jumped 33.1% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $6,369 to $8,474, a 4-year span. These are survey estimates covering five years each, so this compares the two releases furthest apart rather than consecutive ones, which overlap and would mostly measure the same households twice.
- What is the tax affordability score for Alameda County?
- Alameda County, California scores F (16/100) on PlainPropertyTax's tax affordability composite across 5 Census ACS dimensions (effective rate, bill size, income share, mortgage gap, and home-value/income). Its strongest scored dimension here is rate relief at C- (0.78%). The score compares published county medians to U.S. percentiles, it is not a personal bill and not advice to buy, sell, appeal, or relocate.
What to do with Alameda County's SPIKE bill
Alameda County's $8,474 median bill sits well above the U.S. median - size a personal estimate before treating the county headline as your budget. Estimate your bill →
Income burden is elevated here: about 6.6% of Alameda County's $129,367 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by median bill (then rate)
Bill-first peers for Alameda County's SPIKE median, then a disjoint out-of-state rate set, not the same-state geography lattice.
Similar effective rate
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS effective rate. This county: 0.78%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $8,474/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Alameda County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Alameda County (UNDER · SPIKE), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
UNDER SPIKE
Orange County, NY
ABS(median_tax) peer · $8,494/yr (near-tied bill ABS $20); rate 2.19% vs Alameda County 0.78%.
Sussex County, NJ
ABS(median_tax) peer · $8,568/yr (higher bill ABS $94); rate 2.32% vs Alameda County 0.78%.
Greater Bridgeport Planning Region, CT
ABS(median_tax) peer · $8,670/yr (higher bill ABS $196); rate 2.02% vs Alameda County 0.78%.
Arlington County, VA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $8,153/yr (lower bill ABS $321); rate 0.91% vs Alameda County 0.78%.
California county set
State ACS overview for every published California county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Alameda County stamps UNDER · SPIKE - how assessed value and millage become the ACS median bill.
Data vintage and method
Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.
Property tax data reflects median amounts paid by homeowners. Effective rates are calculated as median tax divided by median home value.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, county median real-estate taxes · 2024 Alameda County (UNDER · SPIKE) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.