Moving Within California in Retirement: County Cost Comparison

Editorial note: This page is educational and is not legal, tax, or financial advice. County cost figures change every fiscal year. Verify current figures with each county assessor, the California State Board of Equalization, the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, and a licensed California CPA or attorney before making a move decision.

Last updated: August 15, 2026 · By Gold California Editorial

This page compares the measurable cost differences a California retiree faces when moving from one California county to another. It is written for the reader who wants a factual county-by-county view, without editorializing which county is better. That decision belongs to the reader, the reader's spouse or heirs, and the reader's California CPA or attorney.

Every figure on the page is drawn from a primary agency source and dated to the fetch. Sources are the California State Board of Equalization, the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, the California Association of Realtors, and the United States Bureau of Economic Analysis. See the numbered Sources section at the bottom of the page for direct links.

What actually differs by California county

Four costs vary at the county level in a way a retiree can measure before moving. The first is the property tax rate that the county tax collector applies to the assessed value of the home. The second is the county and city sales tax rate that CDTFA publishes for retail purchases in the destination.

The third is the median single-family home price in the destination, as published monthly by the California Association of Realtors. The fourth is the general price level of the destination metro, as published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis in the Regional Price Parity series.

Two very large costs are not county-level variables in California. The California personal income tax rate is set at the state level. It applies to residents regardless of county. The California statewide sales and use tax base of 7.25 percent is also set at the state level and applies across all counties, with district taxes stacking on top only where voters have approved them.

A comparison must also acknowledge Proposition 13 and Proposition 19. Proposition 13 caps the base ad valorem property tax at 1 percent of assessed value, with local voter-approved bonded debt stacking on top. Proposition 19 lets a homeowner age 55 or older transfer a principal residence base-year value to a replacement principal residence anywhere in California, subject to three lifetime uses and a two-year sale-purchase window.

County comparison table (13 counties, four measurable costs)

The table below shows the four measurable county-level costs for thirteen California counties commonly considered by retirees. It combines the BOE 2024-25 average property tax rate and the CDTFA county-wide sales tax rate effective July 1, 2026. It also lists the CAR June 2026 median single-family home price and the BEA 2024 Regional Price Parity for the metro that covers the county.

Property tax: how the BOE average rate is built

The California property tax stack starts with the 1 percent base cap set by Article XIII A of the California Constitution, which voters approved as Proposition 13 in 1978. On top of the 1 percent base, the county collects the incremental rate needed to fund locally voter-approved bonded indebtedness. That combined rate is applied to the assessed value on the county roll.

The California State Board of Equalization publishes an "Average Property Tax Rate" table by county each year in its Annual Report, currently Publication 306. The table divides the total ad valorem levy in a county by the net taxable assessed value in that county. That ratio is the reported average tax rate.

For 2024-25, the average tax rate stack across the thirteen counties in this comparison runs from 1.052 percent in Nevada County to 1.220 percent in Alameda County. The spread of about 17 basis points reflects the depth of local voter-approved bonded debt in each county, not any difference in the Proposition 13 base rate.

Two cautions apply. The average tax rate does not include Mello-Roos community facilities district assessments, water and sanitation district assessments, or fixed-charge assessments that appear on the county tax bill as separate line items. The average also masks parcel-level variation, because the effective rate on a specific parcel depends on whether that parcel sits inside a Mello-Roos district or a special assessment district.

Chart: 2024-25 average tax rate by county

Sales tax: statewide 7.25 percent plus district add-ons

California's statewide sales and use tax base rate is 7.25 percent, set by state statute. On top of the state base, cities, counties, and transportation districts can layer voter-approved district transactions and use taxes. The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) publishes the resulting county-wide and city-level rates every quarter.

Effective July 1, 2026, the county-wide sales and use tax rate in this comparison runs from 7.250 percent in Placer and Shasta counties to 10.250 percent in Alameda County. Los Angeles County posts 9.750 percent, San Diego 7.750 percent, Orange 7.750 percent, San Francisco 8.625 percent, Sacramento 7.750 percent, Riverside 7.750 percent, San Bernardino 7.750 percent, Fresno 7.975 percent, Nevada 7.500 percent, and Humboldt 8.750 percent.

City rates inside a county can run higher than the county floor. In Los Angeles County the city of Los Angeles posts 9.750 percent, and several other LA cities layer additional district tax. In Alameda County the city of Oakland posts 10.750 percent. In Sacramento County the city of Sacramento posts 8.750 percent. Verify the destination city rate on the CDTFA rate lookup before a retirement move.

Sales tax does not apply to the purchase of a primary residence. It does apply to a vehicle purchase, which many retirees make within the first year of a move. It also affects everyday consumption on taxable goods.

Median home price: the CAR county series

The California Association of Realtors publishes a monthly "Median Sold Price of Existing Single-Family Homes" series for California counties, sourced from more than 90 associations of Realtors and multiple listing services covering roughly 90 percent of the state market.

For June 2026, the median single-family home price across the thirteen counties in this comparison ranged from $385,000 in Shasta County to $2,128,000 in San Francisco. Nevada County posted $620,000, Placer $680,000, Sacramento $575,000, Riverside $635,000, San Bernardino $508,080, Fresno $429,820, Humboldt $438,000, Los Angeles $910,370, Orange $1,490,000, San Diego $1,085,000, and Alameda $1,325,000.

The median is a snapshot of transactions that closed in one month and shifts month to month. A retiree modeling a move should pull the most recent CAR county series before setting a price target. Detached single-family is one segment; condos and manufactured homes trade at different medians in the same counties.

Cost of living: BEA Regional Price Parity by metro

The United States Bureau of Economic Analysis publishes Regional Price Parities (RPPs) that measure the price level of goods and services in a metropolitan area relative to the United States average, with the national average set at 100. RPPs are the most defensible cross-metro price comparison available for a California retiree, because they are federal, free, and use a documented methodology.

For the 2024 data year, the BEA RPP for the all-items index in the California metros covered by this comparison runs from 100.684 in the Redding MSA (Shasta County) to 115.613 in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont MSA. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim posts 113.566, San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad 111.887, Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom 106.670, Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario 106.442, and Fresno 102.158.

The Missouri Economic Research and Information Center publishes a separate quarterly Cost of Living index sourced from the C2ER ACCRA data set. For Q1 2026, MERIC ranks California composite at 140.5 (rank 50 of 51, with the United States average set at 100), with housing at 189.5. That state-level composite masks the metro-level variation the BEA RPPs capture.

Two cautions apply. The BEA RPP is a general price level measure; a specific retiree's basket (medical, groceries, utilities) can differ from the all-items index. The Eureka-Arcata MSA (Humboldt County) is not published in the BEA metro series, so a Humboldt comparison should use the state RPP or an adjacent published metro as a proxy, with the limitation stated.

Prop 19: keeping your base-year value when you move

Proposition 19 became effective for base-year-value transfers on April 1, 2021. It replaced the earlier Propositions 60 and 90 rules, which limited base-year-value transfers to the same county or to counties that had opted in. The statute is codified at Revenue and Taxation Code section 69.6.

Under Proposition 19, a homeowner age 55 or older, a severely disabled homeowner, or a victim of a wildfire or Governor-declared disaster can transfer the base-year value of the principal residence to a replacement principal residence located anywhere in California. Three lifetime uses of the age-55 or severely-disabled transfer are allowed under section 69.6. Disaster-related transfers do not count against the three-use cap.

The sale of the original residence and the purchase of the replacement residence must occur within two years of each other. The claim is filed on Board of Equalization form BOE-19-B with the county assessor of the replacement residence. If the replacement is more expensive than the sale of the original, the base-year value is adjusted upward by the difference, per the section 69.6 formula.

Proposition 19 changes the property tax math of a within-California move. Without the transfer, a retiree who buys a $1,200,000 replacement home pays property tax on $1,200,000 of newly assessed value. With the transfer, the retiree pays property tax on the transferred base-year value of the original home, plus any upward adjustment. See the sibling Prop 19 explainer linked in the chooser above for the formula and the filing steps.

Worked example: a move from Los Angeles to Sacramento

How to compute your own county-to-county delta

The steps below let a California retiree build a personal county-to-county cost comparison using primary agency data. Each step names the source and the artifact to pull.

1. Confirm the destination county and city. Cost differences are county-wide for property tax, but sales tax and utility district add-ons can vary by city and even by district.
2. Pull the BOE average property tax rate for the destination county. Open California State Board of Equalization Publication 306 (Annual Report) or the BOE data portal Table 14/15, and record the average rate for the current fiscal year.
3. Pull the CDTFA county-wide and city sales tax rate. Use the CDTFA rate lookup at cdtfa.ca.gov to record the current combined rate for the destination city.
4. Pull the CAR median single-family home price for the destination county. Use the current monthly county sales activity series at car.org and record the most recent month.
5. Pull the BEA Regional Price Parity for the destination metro. Open the BEA Regional Price Parities dataset at bea.gov and record the most recent all-items RPP for the destination MSA.
6. Compute your annual ongoing cost delta. Estimate ongoing property tax as the destination average rate times the replacement home assessed value (using Prop 19 base-year-value transfer where applicable). Estimate annual sales tax delta as the difference in county rates times your annual taxable consumption.
7. Add one-time transaction costs. Estimate transfer tax, escrow, and title costs at the destination. In cities with a city documentary transfer tax (San Francisco, Los Angeles Measure ULA, Berkeley, Oakland), add that layer as published by the city.
8. Model insurance and Mello-Roos separately. Homeowners insurance premiums and Mello-Roos community facilities district assessments are parcel-specific and can move an effective annual cost above the county averages.
9. Review with a licensed California CPA or attorney. Every retiree's income mix, filing status, and asset picture is different, and the delta between two counties is only one input to a move decision.

Costs the county averages do not capture

Four categories of cost are not in the county averages, and each can meaningfully change the effective annual cost of a California retirement destination.

The first is homeowners insurance. California insurance premiums vary heavily by wildfire exposure. Rates in high-fire-zone ZIP codes have shifted upward during 2023-2025 as several carriers reduced California appetite. The California Department of Insurance publishes premium data and rate filings.

The second is the California FAIR Plan surcharge. Where admitted carriers decline coverage in a high-fire-zone area, the homeowner may need a FAIR Plan policy for the dwelling paired with a wrap policy for liability and other perils. The combined premium is often higher than a standard policy.

The third is Mello-Roos and other special assessment districts. A new-construction neighborhood in Placer, Riverside, or Sacramento County can carry a Mello-Roos community facilities district assessment that adds several thousand dollars per year to the property tax bill for the duration of the bond.

The fourth is utility and water district costs. Water rates in coastal and drought-affected counties can run materially above rates in Sacramento Valley or Central Valley districts. County-level averages do not surface this parcel-level variation.

When this comparison is a bad idea or not for you

A county-to-county cost comparison is not the whole picture, and there are situations where the four measurable variables above are the wrong lens for a move decision.

A retiree whose primary need is proximity to a specialty medical provider should weight access to that provider before optimizing on property tax basis points. A retiree with a working spouse should weight commute distance and employer location before optimizing on sales tax.

A retiree with an in-state adult child or grandchildren caregiving role should weight distance to family. A retiree considering a leave-California decision should evaluate the state-level differences (income tax, income tax on Social Security, and residency rules), not the county-level differences. See the sibling explainer on staying in California versus leaving in retirement, linked in the chooser above.

A retiree considering a Prop 19 base-year-value transfer should confirm the three-use lifetime cap and the two-year sale-purchase window with the county assessor before committing to the sale of the original residence.

Frequently asked questions

Which California county has the lowest average property tax rate?

Among the thirteen counties in this comparison, Nevada County posts the lowest 2024-25 average tax rate at 1.052 percent, per the California State Board of Equalization Publication 306 Annual Report 2024-25. Orange County posts 1.064 percent and Placer County posts 1.068 percent. The average rate reflects the local voter-approved bonded debt stacking on top of the 1 percent Proposition 13 base, not a difference in the base cap itself.

Which California county has the lowest sales tax rate?

Placer County and Shasta County both post the statewide floor of 7.250 percent as the county-wide rate, per the CDTFA California City and County Sales and Use Tax Rates effective July 1, 2026. City rates inside those counties may layer additional district tax. Nevada County posts 7.500 percent, and San Diego, Orange, Sacramento, Riverside, and San Bernardino all post 7.750 percent. Alameda County posts the highest county-wide rate at 10.250 percent.

Does moving within California trigger reassessment of my home?

A purchase of a replacement principal residence is a change in ownership event that ordinarily triggers reassessment at the purchase price. Under Proposition 19, a homeowner age 55 or older, a severely disabled homeowner, or a victim of a wildfire or Governor-declared disaster can file form BOE-19-B to transfer the original base-year value to the replacement. The three lifetime uses and the two-year sale-purchase window under Revenue and Taxation Code section 69.6 apply.

Do county rankings for retirees change month to month?

Median home prices change month to month, and the CAR county series is refreshed monthly. Property tax rates are set annually by the county tax rate hearing and appear in the BOE Publication 306 for that fiscal year. CDTFA county sales tax rates change only when a district tax is added or expires, generally on January 1, April 1, July 1, or October 1. BEA Regional Price Parities are published annually with a two-year lag.

Is Proposition 19 the same as Proposition 60 or 90?

No. Proposition 19 replaced Propositions 60 and 90 for base-year-value transfers effective April 1, 2021. Under the old Propositions 60 and 90, a homeowner age 55 or older could transfer the base-year value only within the same county or into a county that had opted in. Proposition 19 makes the transfer statewide, allows three lifetime uses, and applies the $1,000,000 upward-adjustment formula when the replacement is more expensive than the sale of the original.

How do Mello-Roos assessments affect the county average tax rate?

Mello-Roos community facilities district assessments are not included in the BOE average property tax rate. They appear as separate fixed-charge line items on the county tax bill. A homeowner in a Mello-Roos district can face an effective annual property cost several tenths of a percentage point above the BOE average, for the duration of the community facilities bond, per Government Code section 53311.

What primary source publishes California county property tax rates?

The California State Board of Equalization publishes county property tax rates in the Average Property Tax Rate table of its Annual Report, currently Publication 306. The BOE also exposes the underlying data through Table 14/15 of the BOE data portal, catalogued as "General Property Tax Levies as Compiled for Computation of the Average Tax Rate, by County." County assessors publish their own tax rate books each fall for the fiscal year.

Where can I find current sales tax rates for a California city?

The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration publishes current city and county sales and use tax rates at cdtfa.ca.gov under "California City and County Sales and Use Tax Rates". CDTFA publishes updated rates quarterly, with effective dates on the first of January, April, July, or October. The CDTFA-105 rate publication is available as a downloadable PDF.