Costa Mesa, CA · Updated Oct 2026

What a Costa Mesa house pays

Property tax, water, trash and energy from public rates. Look up your address to make it yours, and see how to pay less.

Sent only to free public map services to find who serves it. Not stored unless you save your house.

Example · a Costa Mesa house

$18,931a year · $1,578 a month

Starts at the typical market value, $1,115,100; your assessed value is often lower. Typical use.

Property tax$11,649
1.051% of $1,115,100, less $7,000 homeowners' exemption
Flat charges on the tax bill$768
Sewer $118 · OC San regional sewer service fee $397 · Mesa Water District Capital Charge (5/8-inch meter) $231 · Metropolitan Water District water standby charge $10 · OC Mosquito and Vector Control District: mosquito, fire ant and disease control assessment (District No. 2) $9 · OC Mosquito and Vector Control District: vector surveillance and control assessment (District No. 1) $2
Electricity and gas$3,556
523 kWh a month $2,729 · 35 therms $827
Water$1,075
11 units (CCF) a month on Mesa Water District: water $90 a month
Trash$391
Standard service (one landfill cart, one recycling cart and up to two organics carts), $33 a month
Home insurance$1,492
Typical premium $1,492

A Costa Mesa house at the typical market value ($1,115,100) pays about $18,900 a year: $12,420 property tax and charges, $1,070 water, $390 trash, $3,560 electricity and gas, $1,490 home insurance. Estimated from public rates, not anyone's actual bill.

Rates checked Oct 22, 2026. Insurance: what you enter, or a typical premium until you do. Sources are listed at the bottom.

Ways to pay less

Nothing here applies to every house automatically. These are worth checking:

Free large item pickup
Costa Mesa Sanitary District solid waste customers get three complimentary curbside pickups of large or bulky items a year, with ten items collected each time.
How: Call CR&R Customer Service at (949) 646-4617 (Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.) or submit an online request.
Free household hazardous waste pickup
Costa Mesa Sanitary District sponsors a free curbside Household Hazardous Waste Collection Program for all its solid waste customers; sharps can be collected doorside the same way.
How: Call CR&R Customer Service at (949) 646-4617 or place a pickup request online.
Seniors and residents with disabilities: free cart roll-out
CR&R will move your carts to the curb and back on collection day for free if you are a senior or a resident with a disability, with written documentation from a medical doctor.
How: Call CR&R at (949) 646-4617 to enroll and submit the medical documentation.
Sewer lateral inspection rebateUp to $500 rebate
Costa Mesa Sanitary District rebates up to $200 for a CCTV video of your sewer lateral from a ground-level clean-out (up to $250 from a roof vent or toilet flange) or up to $500 for installing a ground-level clean-out. Approval is needed before any work, once every five years, and funding is limited.
How: Apply on CMSD's Sewer Inspection Rebate Program page and wait for a confirmation number before hiring a plumber.
Water-saving rebatesWasher, toilet and sprinkler rebates
Mesa Water offers residential rebates for high-efficiency clothes washers, high-efficiency toilets, water-saving sprinkler nozzles, smart sprinkler timers and more.
How: See the full list on Mesa Water's Rebates page.

Adjust to match your bills

What you know

Value before exemptionsUnder Prop 13 your assessed value starts at your purchase price and can rise at most 2% a year, so it is often far below market: use the assessed value on your tax bill.

I live here and have the Homeowners' exemption

Home insurance, a yearFrom your policy. We start at $1,492, NAIC data via the Insurance Information Institute; California figures from the California Department of Insurance.

Earthquake insurance, a yearSeparate from home insurance. Most owners don't have it.

Your use

Water, units a month

On your water bill. 1 unit (CCF) is 748 gallons. A typical Costa Mesa house uses about 11.

Electricity, kWh a month

On your Southern California Edison bill. An electric car adds about 300 kWh.

Gas, therms a month (yearly average)

Money dates

Nov 30, 2026in 38 daysLast day to file a 2026 regular assessment appeal in Orange County (filing runs July 2 to November 30 at 5:00 p.m.).
Dec 10in 48 daysFirst property tax installment (due Nov 1) is delinquent after Dec 10: 10% penalty.
Jan 1, 2027in 70 daysMesa Water rates rise: $41.47 bi-monthly Basic Charge for a 5/8-inch meter, $6.83 per unit of water, and a $284 yearly Capital Charge for a 5/8-inch meter.
Feb 15in 115 daysLast day for a first-time homeowners' exemption claim to get the full exemption for the year.

Who serves this house

Water: Mesa Water District; Mesa Water District (rates effective January 1, 2026): a bi-monthly Basic Charge of $38.75 for a 5/8-inch meter plus $6.38 per unit of potable water (1 unit = 100 cubic feet or 748 gallons). A separate Capital Charge based on meter size is collected on the property tax bill.
Property tax: 1.05% of value; 2026-27 tax year, Orange County (tax rate area 15-002)
Garbage: Costa Mesa Sanitary District; Costa Mesa Sanitary District collects residential trash from single-family homes and small multi-family residences (4 units or less); the fee is a special assessment on the property tax bill.
Sewer: Costa Mesa Sanitary District + OC San; Costa Mesa Sanitary District's system only collects wastewater; treatment takes place at OC San plants in Fountain Valley and Huntington Beach. CMSD's wastewater fee is on the property tax bill, and OC San's sewer service fee is an annual charge on the property tax bill.
Electricity: Southern California Edison; Costa Mesa is on SCE's list of service territory cities.
Gas: SoCalGas; Southern California Gas Company lists Costa Mesa among the cities it serves.

Pay or manage your bills

Your water

Source: 100% local groundwater from the Orange County Groundwater Basin, pumped from Mesa Water's nine wells, plus deep amber-tinted groundwater treated at the Mesa Water Reliability Facility. Imported water from MWDOC is a backup supply.
Hardness: Total hardness averaged 113 ppm as CaCO3 (6.6 grains per gallon) in Mesa Water's groundwater in 2025, with a range of 20.6 to 293 ppm.
Lead: In the 2023 at-the-tap testing of 50 homes, lead was detected in two samples; one exceeded the action level and its re-sample was not detected. Mesa Water's 2024 inventory found no lead or galvanized service lines requiring replacement.

About 8% of Costa Mesa homes, mostly on the city's east side, get water from Irvine Ranch Water District instead. Its rates and water quality differ and are not shown here; check the provider on your water bill.

Other CA cities

How these numbers are made

Individual bills are confidential in California, so we calculate yours from public rates and what you tell us.
Water (Mesa Water District rates effective January 1, 2026, Resolution No. 1584): the $38.75 bi-monthly Basic Charge for a 5/8-inch meter, shown as $19.38 a month, plus $6.38 per unit (CCF) for all water used. The page starts at 11 CCF a month: Mesa Water's rate study uses an average single-family customer with a 5/8-inch meter using 22 CCF per two-month bill. Newer homes with fire sprinklers usually have a 1-inch meter ($68.23 bi-monthly, $576 Capital Charge). Mesa Water's yearly Capital Charge ($231 for a 5/8-inch meter at the 2026 rate) is on the property tax bill and is counted there.
Trash and sewer: Costa Mesa Sanitary District's FY 2026-27 single-family charges, $390.79 a year for trash (shown as $32.57 a month) and $118.43 a year for sewer collection, both on the property tax bill, plus OC San's $397 regional sewer service fee.
Property tax: tax rate area 15-002 (the 1% levy, Newport-Mesa Unified bonds, Coast Community College District bonds and the Metropolitan Water District levy), 1.05129% for 2026-27 from the Orange County tax rate book, less the $7,000 homeowners' exemption. By our count of 2020 Census housing units, about 99% of Costa Mesa homes are in Newport-Mesa Unified; the Santa Ana Unified areas pay 1.14059%. Flat charges: the OC San fee, the Mesa Water Capital Charge, Metropolitan's $10.09 water standby charge for MWDOC parcels (tax rate areas the rate book labels 'MWDOC CMWD', former Coastal MWD territory, pay $11.60) and the two countywide Orange County Mosquito and Vector Control District assessments ($9.34 and $1.92). Assessment district or Mello-Roos charges that only some parcels carry are not included. The starting value is the Census median market value; under Prop 13 a home's assessed value can be far lower.
Other water systems: by our count of 2020 Census housing units in blocks whose centroids fall inside the city limits, about 92% of homes are inside Mesa Water District's EPA water-system boundary and about 8% inside Irvine Ranch Water District's; IRWD charges are not modeled.
Electricity: Costa Mesa is not one of the Orange County Power Authority's member communities, so we use SCE's standard Domestic rate with SCE generation from SCE's joint rate comparison with OCPA ($0.38865 per kWh in total, SCE rates as of June 1, 2026; its $203.26 average bill at 523 kWh is that rate times the usage), plus SCE's $24.15 monthly Base Services Charge. Gas: SoCalGas's August 2026 average non-CARE bill ($68.91 at 35 therms), taken as including the $0.16-a-day customer charge (about $4.87 a month), so $4.87 a month plus $1.830 per therm. Insurance starts at the 2022 California average; Costa Mesa homes are worth more than average, so quotes are likely higher.
Nothing here is legal, tax or insurance advice.

Sources

How Costa Mesa compares

A typical Costa Mesa house against the 110 California cities we cover, using the same default numbers as the total above.

Per year	Costa Mesa	Median	Where it falls
Property tax rate	1.05%	1.13%	lower than 101 of the other 109 California cities we cover
Water	$1,075	$955	higher than 76 of the other 109 California cities we cover
Trash	$391	$438	lower than 70 of the other 101 California cities we cover
Electricity and gas	$3,556	$3,556	lower than 54 of the other 109 California cities we cover
Home insurance	$1,492	$1,492	in the middle of 108 other California cities we cover
Total	$18,931	$15,240	higher than 84 of the other 109 California cities we cover

Cities bill differently (some put trash on the tax bill, some cover more services), so a higher number isn't necessarily worse. The property tax rate is compared instead of dollars because house values differ.

Questions to ask your candidates

Each one starts from a number above. Any candidate can answer them.

1. Property tax rate

The fact: Costa Mesa's property tax rate is 1.05%, lower than 101 of the other 109 California cities we cover. The rate adds up every agency on the bill, not only the city.

Ask: "Property tax in Costa Mesa is 1.05%, lower than 101 of the other 109 California cities we cover. What should that money pay for first, and would you change anything about how it is set?"

See who is running in your city →

Common questions about Costa Mesa house costs

What is the property tax rate in Costa Mesa?

About 1.05% of the value before exemptions a year (2026-27 tax year, Orange County (tax rate area 15-002)), plus flat charges on the same bill (Sewer $118, OC San regional sewer service fee $397, Mesa Water District Capital Charge (5/8-inch meter) $231, Metropolitan Water District water standby charge $10).

How much is property tax on a $500,000 house in Costa Mesa?

About $5,951 a year on $500,000 of the value before exemptions with the homeowners' exemption, including $768 of flat charges.

How much is the water bill in Costa Mesa?

About $90 a month for water at typical use (11 units, or 8,228 gallons a month) on Mesa Water District.

How much does trash pickup cost in Costa Mesa?

$33 a month for a house.

When is property tax due in Costa Mesa?

Dec 10: First property tax installment (due Nov 1) is delinquent after Dec 10: 10% penalty. Apr 10: Second property tax installment (due Feb 1) is delinquent after Apr 10: 10% penalty plus $23 per bill.

Can seniors lower their property tax or bills in Costa Mesa?

Yes. Seniors and residents with disabilities: free cart roll-out: CR&R will move your carts to the curb and back on collection day for free if you are a senior or a resident with a disability, with written documentation from a medical doctor.

How much does a house in Costa Mesa cost to run each year?

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