Garden Grove, CA · Updated Oct 2026

What a Garden Grove house pays

Q: What is the property tax rate in Garden Grove?

About 1.18% of the value before exemptions a year (2026-27 tax year, Orange County (tax rate area 18-001)), plus flat charges on the same bill (OC San regional sewer service fee $397, Garden Grove Street Lighting District $29, Garden Grove Park Maintenance District $14).

Q: How much is property tax on a $500,000 house in Garden Grove?

About $6,262 a year on $500,000 of the value before exemptions with the homeowners' exemption, including $439 of flat charges.

Q: How much is the water bill in Garden Grove?

About $83 a month for water and sewer at typical use (11 units, or 8,228 gallons a month) on City of Garden Grove.

Q: When is property tax due in Garden Grove?

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.

Q: Can seniors lower their property tax or bills in Garden Grove?

Yes. Seniors 65+ (low income) or disabled: reduced trash rate: Garden Grove's trash rate for disabled or low-income seniors 65+ is $26.76 a month from July 1, 2026, against $33.75 for the basic residential rate.

Q: Where can I get help paying utility bills in Garden Grove?

Seniors 65+ (low income) or disabled: reduced trash rate: Garden Grove's trash rate for disabled or low-income seniors 65+ is $26.76 a month from July 1, 2026, against $33.75 for the basic residential rate. For trash services, contact Republic Services at (714) 238-3300.

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 Garden Grove house

$16,418a year · $1,368 a month

Starts at the typical market value, $814,100; your assessed value is often lower. Typical use.

Property tax$9,532
1.181% of $814,100, less $7,000 homeowners' exemption
Flat charges on the tax bill$439
OC San regional sewer service fee $397 · Garden Grove Street Lighting District $29 · Garden Grove Park Maintenance District $14
Electricity and gas$3,556
523 kWh a month $2,729 · 35 therms $827
Water and sewer$993
11 units (CCF) a month on City of Garden Grove: water $69, sewer $13 a month
Trash$405
Basic residential (35-, 64- or 96-gallon trash cart, plus recycling and green waste carts), $34 a month
Home insurance$1,492
Typical premium $1,492

A Garden Grove house at the typical market value ($814,100) pays about $16,400 a year: $9,970 property tax and charges, $990 water and sewer, $410 trash, $3,560 electricity and gas, $1,490 home insurance. Estimated from public rates, not anyone's actual bill.

Rates checked Oct 21, 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:

Seniors 65+ (low income) or disabled: reduced trash rate$26.76 instead of $33.75 a month
Garden Grove's trash rate for disabled or low-income seniors 65+ is $26.76 a month from July 1, 2026, against $33.75 for the basic residential rate.
How: For trash services, contact Republic Services at (714) 238-3300.
Seniors 65+ on SCE CARE: water bill discountDiscount on each water bill
Water customers 65 or older who live at the billing address, have the water bill in their name and are enrolled in SCE's CARE program can get the City's Low Income Senior Discount. It began at $10 per billing period and is reassessed each fiscal year.
How: Fill out the CARE Senior Discount Application on the City's CARE Senior Discount page (ggcity.org/pw/care-senior-discount).
Water-saving rebatesWasher, toilet, rain barrel and irrigation rebates
Through the Municipal Water District of Orange County, Garden Grove residents can get water conservation rebates, such as $35 per rain barrel (up to 2 per home), plus clothes washer, toilet, cistern and irrigation rebates.
How: See socalwatersmart.com or call (888) 376-3314.
Free bulky item pickup
Republic Services picks up old appliances and furniture from single-family homes at no cost; items containing CFCs/Freon carry a disposal fee.
How: Call Republic Services Customer Service at (714) 238-2444 to schedule.
Free sharps disposal kits
Garden Grove residents can request up to four sharps disposal mail-back kits a year at no cost.
How: Call Republic Services at (855) 737-7871, or order online with the coupon code GARDENGROVE.
Low income: SCE CARE rate$122.79 instead of $203.26 a month at 523 kWh
On SCE's D-CARE rate with SCE generation, the average monthly bill at 523 kWh is $122.79; on the standard Domestic rate it is $203.26.
How: Apply with SCE online, or by phone through its automated telephone system at 1-800-798-5723.
Low income: SoCalGas CARE20% off the gas bill
Customers enrolled in the CARE program receive a 20% discount on their monthly natural gas bill.
How: Apply online with SoCalGas; for more information call 1-800-427-2200.

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 Garden Grove 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.
Feb 15in 115 daysLast day for a first-time homeowners' exemption claim to get the full exemption for the year.
Apr 10Second property tax installment (due Feb 1) is delinquent after Apr 10: 10% penalty plus $23 per bill.

Who serves this house

Water: City of Garden Grove; City of Garden Grove, billed every two months: a bi-monthly minimum charge and capital improvement charge by meter size, plus $4.09 per hcf in Tier 1 (first 33 hcf per billing period for a 5/8 x 3/4-inch meter) and $6.10 per hcf in Tier 2, from January 1, 2026.
Property tax: 1.18% of value; 2026-27 tax year, Orange County (tax rate area 18-001)
Garbage: Republic Services; Republic Services collects solid waste for the Garden Grove Sanitary District under a private contract; all three residential barrels (black for trash, green for recyclables, brown for yard waste) are picked up every week on the same day.
Sewer: Garden Grove Sanitary District + OC San; Most Garden Grove Sanitary District customers pay their sewer service charges through the City's water bill; once wastewater passes through the City's sewer system, the Orange County Sanitation District (OC San) treats it.
Electricity: Southern California Edison; Electrical service in Garden Grove is provided by Southern California Edison.
Schools: Garden Grove Unified; Garden Grove Unified School District schools serve most of Garden Grove, plus portions of six surrounding cities.

Pay or manage your bills

Your water

Source: A blend of mostly groundwater from 11 wells in the Orange County groundwater basin and surface water imported by MWDSC from the State Water Project and the Colorado River.
Hardness: Groundwater hardness averaged 18 grains per gallon (316 ppm as CaCO3), range 11 to 22 grains, in 2024 testing.
Lead: Lead at household taps: 90th percentile below 5 ppb (ND<5), 0 of 50 sites over the 15 ppb action level; the most recent samples were collected in 2022.
Service lines: No lead service lines, and no galvanized service lines requiring replacement, were identified in the City's lead service line inventory, which includes customer-owned lines.

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 (City of Garden Grove rates from January 1, 2026): the bi-monthly minimum charge ($40.47) plus capital improvement charge ($8.43) for a 5/8 x 3/4-inch meter, shown as $24.45 a month, plus $4.09 per hcf up to 16.5 hcf a month (33 per two-month bill) and $6.10 per hcf above that. The page starts at 11 hcf a month, the typical single-family use in the City's 2023 water rate study. Water facts come from the 2025 water quality report (2024 data); the 2026 report is published only as an image.
Sewer: the Garden Grove Sanitary District publishes no current rate table. Its fee is a base rate plus a usage charge, capped per customer class; we use $13.34 a month, which is $160.08 a year, the most common and highest single-family charge on the District's FY 2025-26 list of sewer charges for parcels outside the city (the FY 2026-27 list, published as an image, shows the same $160.08). Homes with low winter water use pay less.
Trash: Republic Services' basic residential rate of $33.75 a month from July 1, 2026, for a 35-, 64- or 96-gallon trash cart with recycling and green waste barrels, billed by Republic. Homes in the District's Improvement District No. 1 pay the same service through the property tax bill instead.
Property tax: tax rate area 18-001 (City paramedic override, Garden Grove Unified, Coast Community College District and Metropolitan Water District), 1.18101% in total for 2026-27 from the Orange County tax rate book, less the $7,000 homeowners' exemption, applied to the value you enter. Rancho Santiago CCD areas total 1.20115%, and a few areas in other school districts differ. Flat charges: OC San's $397 single-family sewer fee, the City Street Lighting District ($17.74 local plus $10.97 arterial lighting for a home on a street with local lights), and the Park Maintenance District ($13.75). The starting value is the Census median market value; under Prop 13 a home's assessed value can be far lower. Not included: Mello-Roos or other special assessments that only some parcels carry.
Electricity: 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.
Not included: the Metropolitan Water District standby charge and the vector control assessment, which we could not confirm for Garden Grove parcels for 2026-27.
Nothing here is legal, tax or insurance advice.

Sources

How Garden Grove compares

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

Per year	Garden Grove	Median	Where it falls
Property tax rate	1.18%	1.13%	higher than 77 of the other 109 California cities we cover
Water	$833	$955	lower than 78 of the other 109 California cities we cover
Sewer and utility-bill fees	$160	$584	lower than 65 of the other 76 California cities we cover
Trash	$405	$438	lower than 64 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	$16,418	$15,240	higher than 66 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. Sewer and utility-bill fees

The fact: Sewer and flat utility-bill charges here come to about $160 a year, lower than 65 of the other 76 California cities we cover. Some cities bill sewer on the property tax bill instead, which is not counted here.

Ask: "Sewer and flat utility-bill charges here cost about $160 a year, lower than 65 of the other 76 California cities we cover. What drives that cost, and would you change anything?"

See who is running in your city →

Common questions about Garden Grove house costs

What is the property tax rate in Garden Grove?

About 1.18% of the value before exemptions a year (2026-27 tax year, Orange County (tax rate area 18-001)), plus flat charges on the same bill (OC San regional sewer service fee $397, Garden Grove Street Lighting District $29, Garden Grove Park Maintenance District $14).

How much is property tax on a $500,000 house in Garden Grove?

About $6,262 a year on $500,000 of the value before exemptions with the homeowners' exemption, including $439 of flat charges.

How much is the water bill in Garden Grove?

About $83 a month for water and sewer at typical use (11 units, or 8,228 gallons a month) on City of Garden Grove.

How much does trash pickup cost in Garden Grove?

$34 a month for a house.

When is property tax due in Garden Grove?

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 Garden Grove?

Yes. Seniors 65+ (low income) or disabled: reduced trash rate: Garden Grove's trash rate for disabled or low-income seniors 65+ is $26.76 a month from July 1, 2026, against $33.75 for the basic residential rate.

Where can I get help paying utility bills in Garden Grove?

Seniors 65+ (low income) or disabled: reduced trash rate: Garden Grove's trash rate for disabled or low-income seniors 65+ is $26.76 a month from July 1, 2026, against $33.75 for the basic residential rate. For trash services, contact Republic Services at (714) 238-3300.

How much does a house in Garden Grove cost to run each year?

All California cities All cities