El Cajon, CA · Updated Oct 2026

What a El Cajon 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 El Cajon house

$15,182a year · $1,265 a month

Starts at the typical market value, $681,700; your assessed value is often lower. Typical use.

A El Cajon house at the typical market value ($681,700) pays about $15,200 a year: $7,910 property tax and charges, $2,300 water and sewer, $360 trash, $3,110 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

One change saves this house about $70 a year:

Homeowners' exemption: file by Feb 15
$70 a year
February 15 is the regular filing deadline to receive the full exemption of approximately $70; late filings from February 16 to December 10 receive 80% of the exemption.
How: File with the San Diego County Assessor.

Worth checking

FERA: 18% bill discount18% off electric
Customers enrolled in the Family Electric Rate Assistance (FERA) Program receive a line-item bill discount of 18% applied to the total bill, less any minimum bill amount or base services charge.
CARE households: 20% off gas20% off gas
Customers enrolled in the California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) program receive a 20% discount on their SDG&E natural gas bill.
How: See SDG&E discount programs at sdge.com/assistance.

Money dates

Dec 10in 48 daysFirst property tax installment delinquent after close of business; 10% penalty after that.
Feb 15in 115 daysHomeowners' exemption deadline for the full exemption (about $70); late filings through December 10 get 80%.
Apr 10Second property tax installment payment deadline; 10% penalty plus $10 cost added to payments made after this date.

Who serves this house

Water: Helix Water District; Rates on bills from July 1, 2026: a bimonthly fixed charge by meter size and a charge per unit (one unit is 748 gallons), each the Helix charge plus the San Diego County Water Authority charge; for the single-family class the tiers are 0-12, 13-26 and 27 or more units per bimonthly bill.
Property tax: 1.17% of value; 2025-26 tax year, San Diego County (tax rate area 03001)
Garbage: EDCO; Residential garbage, recyclable materials and organic waste collection under a franchise agreement with EDCO Disposal Corporation effective January 1, 2021
Sewer: City of El Cajon; Sewer service charges are paid with the County property tax bill
Electricity: SDG&E; San Diego Gas and Electric is listed among the utilities in El Cajon
Gas: SDG&E; Bundled residential average gas rate about $2.768 a therm (March 2026)

Pay or manage your bills

Your water

Service area: The district distributes water to 279,000 people in the cities of La Mesa, El Cajon and Lemon Grove, and unincorporated areas including Spring Valley, Mt. Helix and Lakeside.
Treatment: In 2025, 99.4% of the water Helix customers received was treated at the R.M. Levy Water Treatment Plant in Lakeside.
Lead: Helix does not have any lead pipes or service lines within its distribution system.

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How these numbers are made

Individual bills are not public, so we calculate yours from public rates and what you tell us.
Garbage (EDCO): $30.26 a month for standard single family cart service, from the City's rate sheet effective January 1, 2026 (a scanned image, so the number could not be machine-checked). The City collects a franchise fee inside this rate.
Water (Helix Water District, rates on bills from July 1, 2026): the bimonthly fixed charge of $79.15 (Helix $36.81 plus San Diego County Water Authority $42.34) for a 3/4-inch meter is halved to a monthly figure; per-unit charges add Helix and SDCWA ($3.78 + $3.91 = $7.69 for the first tier). Helix bills every two months, so its 12 and 26 unit tier limits are halved to 6 and 13 a month. A few El Cajon addresses may be served by others such as Padre Dam; we model Helix, which serves most of the city.
Sewer: the City's published single family rate is a $23.48 monthly base charge plus $6.51 per unit of water, capped at 42 units per bimonthly bill (21 a month). That table is dated July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2026; we could not read a 2026-27 table from the City, but a third-party summary of the July 2026 council meeting says the council adopted the 2026-27 sewer charge report with no rate increase. The City actually collects the charge on the County property tax bill, from average winter water use; check the sewer line on your tax bill (the City's lookup is at elcajon.gov/sewer).
Property tax: tax rate area 03001 in the County's FY 2025-26 rate book (total 1.17108, the same total as about 100 other El Cajon tax rate areas); some areas pay 1.18099 or 1.17129. The County rate book also lists an El Cajon Paramedic Benefit Fee on 18,577 parcels ($372,430.00 in total); the per-home amount is not published where we could read it (spread evenly that would be roughly $20 a parcel, but we could not confirm it applies to every El Cajon tax rate area), so it is not included. Mello-Roos or other special taxes are not included; check the direct charges on your bill.
Electricity and gas: 400 kWh and 24 therms a month. The electric rate is SDG&E's April 2026 TOU-DR1 bundled average bill ($194) less the $24.13 monthly base charge, divided by 400 kWh; SDG&E's rate table effective August 1, 2026 may differ from that April average. The gas rate is SDG&E's March 2026 typical non-CARE bill ($65.08) less the $0.13-a-day fixed charge, divided by 24 therms. El Cajon is not one of the cities we found in San Diego Community Power's service area, so we assume SDG&E bundled service. Water use of 9 units a month is our assumption; Helix publishes no typical figure. Insurance: $1,492 is the 2022 California average, the latest figure we found.
Gas: we assume SDG&E is the gas utility for El Cajon addresses (the City's utility list names San Diego Gas and Electric; SDG&E reports operating a natural gas system). Check your bill for your provider.
Nothing here is legal, tax or insurance advice.

Sources

Common questions about El Cajon house costs

What is the property tax rate in El Cajon?

About 1.17% of the value before exemptions a year (2025-26 tax year, San Diego County (tax rate area 03001)), plus flat charges on the same bill (County vector control assessment $13).

How much is property tax on a $500,000 house in El Cajon?

About $5,787 a year on $500,000 of the value before exemptions with the homeowners' exemption, including $13 of flat charges.

How much is the water bill in El Cajon?

About $192 a month for water and sewer at typical use (9 units, or 6,732 gallons a month) on Helix Water District.

How much does trash pickup cost in El Cajon?

$30 a month for a house.

When is property tax due in El Cajon?

Dec 10: First property tax installment delinquent after close of business; 10% penalty after that. Apr 10: Second property tax installment payment deadline; 10% penalty plus $10 cost added to payments made after this date.

Where can I get help paying utility bills in El Cajon?

FERA: 18% bill discount: Customers enrolled in the Family Electric Rate Assistance (FERA) Program receive a line-item bill discount of 18% applied to the total bill, less any minimum bill amount or base services charge.

How much does a house in El Cajon cost to run each year?

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