California · County property tax · ACS 2024
Contra Costa County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Contra Costa County pays $7,156 a year, an effective rate of 0.83%, far above the U.S. average.
- $7,156
- Median tax / yr · Highest-decile bill
- 0.83%
- Effective rate · Above-median rate
- +259%
- vs U.S. average
- #3 of 58
- rank in CA
The verdict
Homeowners in Contra Costa County pay a median $7,156 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.83%, more affordable than 48% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $7,156
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.83%
- Effective rate on median home
- #1639 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +259%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($866,800). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for California. Population: 1,165,012. Owner-occupied homes: 281,819.
The median annual property tax in Contra Costa County is $7,156, which is 40% higher than the California state average and 259% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.83% on a median home value of $866,800. Property taxes represent 5.6% of the median household income in this county.
Why Contra Costa County's ACS bill runs high vs the U.S.
Primary signal
The bill sits well above the national median
Homeowners in Contra Costa County pay a median annual property tax of $7,156, far above the national median and well above the California state median. On a $866,800 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.83% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
Income carries a heavy tax share
Property taxes in Contra Costa County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 5.6% of the $127,229 median household income.
Decision signal 3
Low among California counties by effective rate
Contra Costa County ranks #3 of 58 counties in California by effective rate (95% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 4
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Contra Costa County's 0.83% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 48%).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Contra Costa 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
Contra Costa County sits in the quarter of U.S. counties whose effective rate moved least over this span: 4.7% down, against a median home value that rose 32.2%.
A near-steady rate on a moving market passes that movement straight through: the median bill rose 26.0%, from $5,679 to $7,156.
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 26% from $5,679 to $7,156. 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: 235,271 of 281,819 owner-occupied homes (83.5%) 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.
Earnings are in the national top quarter and the rate is above the midpoint, so the median bill represents 5.6% of median household income. A headline bill conflates the dollar figure with the proportion; the two come apart here, and the ratio above is the second of them.
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.
Contra Costa County is an outlier inside California
Across the 58 California counties with a published rate, the average effective rate is 0.70%. Contra Costa County is at 0.83%, which sits 2.1 standard deviations above that average. Fewer than one county in twenty nationally is this far from its own state's centre, so a state-level average is a poor guide to what is owed here.
Standard deviations are computed across every county in the state with a published effective rate for 2024; states with fewer than five such counties are not assessed.
What Contra Costa County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Contra Costa County homeowners, 235,271 of 281,819 owner-occupied homes (83.5%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 2.2% (6,114)
- $800 to $1,499 2.3% (6,378)
- $1,500 to $1,999 2.4% (6,624)
- $2,000 to $2,999 7.2% (20,291)
- $3,000 or more 83.5% (235,271)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
7,141 homes here (2.5%) 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 Contra Costa County pay a substantially higher bill, 48% more, pointing to a wide home-value gap between the two groups.
Contra Costa County's bill vs state & U.S. medians
Median annual bill bars around Contra Costa County's SPIKE ACS 2024 figure.
Contra Costa County's median bill is 40% above the California median and 259% above the U.S. median.
What changed since 2020
The median bill in Contra Costa County moved from $5,679 in the 2020 release to $7,156 in 2024, a change of about 26%. 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.
Contra Costa County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Contra Costa County | California Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Highest-decile bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Above-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Highest-decile income burden | 5.6% | - | - |
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 Contra Costa County's $7,156 median bill appeal-worthy?
At Contra Costa County's $7,156 ACS median (SPIKE), a 10% assessment cut is worth about $716/yr before exemptions. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for California.
Contra Costa County bill trail · SPIKE
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $7,156 +3.7% | 0.83% |
| 2023 | $6,903 +3.7% | 0.83% |
| 2022 | $6,654 +9.7% | 0.85% |
| 2021 | $6,068 +6.8% | 0.88% |
| 2020 | $5,679 | 0.87% |
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.
Contra Costa County: tax takes 5.6% of income
Counties near Contra Costa County's median bill
On effective rate, Contra Costa County sits nearest Haines Borough (AK), Bristol Bay Borough (AK), DeSoto County (FL).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Benton County (OR), Jones County (NC), Jay County (IN).
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
Contra Costa County: only 21% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 114,700 of 554,210 returns from Contra Costa County reported real estate taxes, averaging $10,976 - 45% 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
Contra Costa County bill FAQs
- How does Contra Costa County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Contra Costa County run far above the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.83% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the average property tax in Contra Costa County, California?
- The median annual property tax in Contra Costa County is $7,156, an effective rate of 0.83% on a $866,800 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Contra Costa County?
- Property taxes in Contra Costa County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 5.6% of the $127,229 median household income.
- Are property taxes increasing in Contra Costa County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Contra Costa County jumped 26.0% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $5,679 to $7,156, 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 Contra Costa County?
- Contra Costa County, California scores F (14/100) 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 D (0.83%). 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 Contra Costa County's SPIKE bill
Contra Costa County's $7,156 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 5.6% of Contra Costa County's $127,229 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by median bill (then rate)
Bill-first peers for Contra Costa 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: 0.83%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $7,156/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Contra Costa County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Contra Costa County (UNDER · SPIKE), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
UNDER SPIKE
Will County, IL
ABS(median_tax) peer · $7,173/yr (near-tied bill ABS $17); rate 2.24% vs Contra Costa County 0.83%.
Delaware County, OH
ABS(median_tax) peer · $7,132/yr (near-tied bill ABS $24); rate 1.60% vs Contra Costa County 0.83%.
King County, WA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $7,114/yr (near-tied bill ABS $42); rate 0.83% vs Contra Costa County 0.83%.
Williamson County, TX
ABS(median_tax) peer · $7,205/yr (near-tied bill ABS $49); rate 1.61% vs Contra Costa County 0.83%.
California county set
State ACS overview for every published California county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Contra Costa 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 Contra Costa County (UNDER · SPIKE) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.