Hawthorne, CA · Updated Oct 2026

What a Hawthorne 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 Hawthorne house

$12,152a year · $1,013 a month

Starts at $414,727 of value before exemptions. Typical use.

Property tax$4,991
1.224% of $414,727, less $7,000 homeowners' exemption
Flat charges on the tax bill$362
Sewer $216 · LA County Measure W Safe Clean Water tax (median single-family parcel) $88 · LA County West Vector Control assessment $10 · City street lighting assessment (Zone 1 rate, 50-ft lot) (estimate) $29 · West Basin MWD water standby charge (single-family parcel under 1 acre) $19
Electricity and gas$3,854
523 kWh a month $2,801 · 35 therms $869 · city utility tax $184
Water$1,079
8 units (CCF) a month on Golden State Water (Southwest system): water $86, city utility tax $4 a month
Trash$375
65 gallon (standard), $31 a month
Home insurance$1,492
Typical premium $1,492

A typical Hawthorne house pays about $12,200 a year: $5,350 property tax and charges, $1,080 water, $380 trash, $3,850 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:

Switch to the 35 gallon cartUp to $53 a year
Your cart costs $31 a month; the smallest costs $27. Worth it if you rarely fill it.
How: Ask Republic Services, (888) 742-5234: under the City's franchise agreement Republic provides larger or smaller carts at the customer's direction, at the charges in the rate schedule. A Republic online account also lets customers schedule services and request a repair or replacement container.
Seniors on City of Hawthorne water: ask about a 20% discount20% off water
The City's 2025 Urban Water Management Plan, prepared while Cal Water was the system operator, says the system operator offers a 20 percent senior discount on quantity rates and the 5/8 x 3/4-inch or 3/4-inch meter service charge.
How: These were Cal Water's 2026 terms. A new operator took over on September 1, 2026, so confirm with the City's Public Works (310-349-2980) whether the discount continues.
Low income: Golden State Water bill creditMonthly bill credit
Golden State Water's Customer Assistance Program gives low-income households a monthly credit on their water bill; for June 2025 to May 2026 the income limit was $42,300 for a 1-2 person household.
How: Apply to Golden State Water with its CAP application and eligibility declaration.
Low income: SoCalGas CARE20% off the gas bill
Customers enrolled in CARE get a 20% discount on their SoCalGas bill.
How: See SoCalGas assistance programs at socalgas.com.
Free bulky item pickups
Properties that use trash carts get four free special pickups a year for bulky items, up to 64 cubic feet of material each time.
How: Call Republic Services at (888) 742-5234 to set up a pickup; place items at the curb only after arranging it.
Low-income seniors over 62: Safe, Clean Water parcel tax exemptionNo Safe, Clean Water tax
Owners over 62 who live in the home and head a low-income household can apply for an exemption from the Safe, Clean Water Program special parcel tax; the FY 2027-28 limit is $106,600 for a 2-person household.
How: Submit the claim form to the Safe, Clean Water Program by May 1 each year; call 833-275-7297.
Low water use: sewer charge rebate
If your actual water use is significantly less than the Sanitation Districts' estimate, you may be eligible for a rebate this year and a lower charge in future years.
How: Apply to the Sanitation Districts' Low-Water Rebate Program with your water bills from the last fiscal year (lacsd.org/lowwaterrebate, 855-240-9506).

Adjust to match your bills

What you knowTrash cartMonthly price for one gray trash cart; one 65-gallon recycling cart and one 65-gallon green waste cart come at no extra charge. Estimated from Republic's July 2022 rates plus the franchise agreement's fixed 4.2% yearly increases.

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. These rates are for the Hawthorne School District area; homes in the Wiseburn, Lawndale, Lennox or Los Angeles Unified parts of the city pay different school bond rates.

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 Hawthorne house uses about 8.

Electricity, kWh a month

On your Southern California Edison (delivery) + Clean Power Alliance (generation) 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 LA County (filing runs July 2 to November 30).
Dec 10in 48 daysFirst property tax installment (due Nov 1) is late 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 late after Apr 10: 10% penalty plus $10.

Who serves this house

Water: Depends on your address; 2 water systems serve Hawthorne
Property tax: 1.22% of value; 2026-27 tax year, Los Angeles County
Garbage: Republic Services; Republic Services (Allied Waste Services) is the City's franchise hauler for residential trash, recycling and green waste, and invoices each residential customer bi-monthly in advance.
Sewer: LA County Sanitation District No. 5; County Sanitation District No. 5 encompasses all or portions of Hawthorne and collects its wastewater service charge as a separate line item on the property tax roll.
Electricity: Southern California Edison + Clean Power Alliance; SCE delivers the power and sends the monthly bill; Clean Power Alliance supplies it. Hawthorne changed its CPA default rate to 100% Green Power; customers can switch to Lean Power or Clean Power, or opt out to SCE.
Gas: SoCalGas; Southern California Gas Company lists Hawthorne among the cities it serves.
Schools: Hawthorne School District + Centinela Valley Union High; Hawthorne School District and Centinela Valley Union High School District bonds are on the 2026-27 LA County tax rate resolution; the City's financial report also lists Lawndale, Lennox, Wiseburn and Los Angeles Unified school districts among the overlapping rates.

Pay or manage your bills

Your water

Source: Southwest System water is a blend of treated groundwater from the West Coast and Central basins and imported Colorado River and State Water Project water from the Metropolitan Water District.
Hardness: Hardness averaged 190 mg/L (11 grains per gallon) in 2025 testing, with a range of 137-280 mg/L.
Lead: In 2023 tap sampling the lead 90th-percentile result was not detected; 1 of 107 samples exceeded the action level. GSWC found no lead or galvanized service lines needing replacement.

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: about 55% of Hawthorne's single-family parcels fall inside Golden State Water's Southwest system and about 38% inside the City of Hawthorne system (EPA water system boundaries against county parcel centroids), so the page starts on Golden State Water. Its Metropolitan District residential schedule effective January 1, 2026: $37.81 a month for a 5/8 x 3/4-inch meter and $5.657, $6.505 and $7.481 per Ccf for the first 9, next 12 and over 21 Ccf a month, each plus the $0.242 per Ccf CAP surcharge, all times 1.007 for the 0.7% CPUC reimbursement fee surcharge. Time-limited surcharges in the tariff that began in October 2023 and May 2025 have ended and are left out. The page starts at 8 Ccf a month, Golden State Water's average Southwest residential use. City of Hawthorne water customers can switch systems: $25.64 a month plus $6.2468 per CCF (January 1, 2026 rates, as reported in the City's 2025 Urban Water Management Plan). Cal Water stopped running and billing the City system on August 31, 2026; from September 1, 2026 the City's announcement says bills come from Hawthorne Utility Management, the City's new system operator, and that monthly rates and fees stay the same. Not included: the temporary $1.4801 per CCF surcharge that Cal Water's Hawthorne tariff sheet effective May 29, 2026 added for 12 months (to about May 28, 2027) under City Resolution No. 8422 to pay down a cost balancing account; that tariff sheet is no longer online, so we could not check it, and City water bills through May 2027 may be about $1.48 per CCF higher than shown.
Trash: Republic Services' residential rates adopted for July 2022 ($22.74, $26.51 and $30.73 a month for one 35-, 65- or 95-gallon trash cart, recycling and green waste carts included) raised by the franchise agreement's fixed 4.2% each July 1 for 2023 through 2026. We did not find a published current rate sheet, so the page's trash figure is our estimate and the real bill may differ by small rounding.
Property tax: 1% plus the 2026-27 Hawthorne School District, Centinela Valley Union High School District and El Camino Community College District bond rates from the LA County tax rate resolution and the Metropolitan Water District's 0.0085% (about 1.224% in total), less the $7,000 homeowners' exemption, applied to the value you enter. This is the rate for tax rate area 04260, the most common one for Hawthorne single-family parcels (2,423 of 6,039); Wiseburn, Lawndale, Lennox and Los Angeles Unified areas of the city have different school bond rates. The starting value is the median 2026 roll value of Hawthorne's 6,039 single-family parcels; long-held homes are often assessed far below market.
Flat charges on the tax bill for 2026-27: LA County Sanitation District No. 5's sewer service charge ($216 per single-family home, the District's adopted 2026-27 rate), Measure W at 2.5 cents per square foot of impermeable area, where we use the median for Hawthorne single-family parcels in the county's Safe Clean Water tax layer ($87.72), the LA County West Vector Control District assessment ($9.74 per parcel), West Basin Municipal Water District's water standby charge ($19.20 for a single-family parcel under one acre, continued unchanged for 2026-27) and the City's street lighting assessment, levied per front foot ($0.58 in Zone 1, $1.33 in Zone 2, $2.97 in Zone 3), which we figure for a 50-foot lot at the Zone 1 rate ($29). Not included: the City's own sewer and storm drain assessment (the budget shows about $1.2 million a year citywide, but we found no per-home rate), the LA County flood control assessment, the trauma and emergency services tax and the county park district assessment (they vary by parcel), and Community Facilities District No. 2006-1, which covers only one development.
Electricity: the SCE/CPA joint rate comparison's Domestic rate with CPA 100% Green Power, Hawthorne's default ($0.40019 per kWh in total, which equals its $209.30 average bill at 523 kWh), plus SCE's $24.15 monthly Base Services Charge. Gas: SoCalGas's March 2026 average non-CARE bill ($72.39 at 35 therms), taken as including the $0.16-a-day customer charge (about $4.87 a month), so $4.87 a month plus $1.929 per therm. Both are averages; real bills vary by season. Hawthorne's 5% utility users tax on electricity, gas and water is added. Insurance starts at the 2022 California average.
Nothing here is legal, tax or insurance advice.

Sources

How Hawthorne compares

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

Per year	Hawthorne	Median	Where it falls
Property tax rate	1.22%	1.13%	higher than 93 of the other 109 California cities we cover
Water	$1,027	$955	higher than 64 of the other 109 California cities we cover
Sewer and utility-bill fees	$51	$584	lower than 71 of the other 76 California cities we cover
Trash	$375	$438	lower than 80 of the other 101 California cities we cover
Electricity and gas	$3,854	$3,556	higher than 91 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	$12,152	$15,240	lower than 89 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: Hawthorne's property tax rate is 1.22%, higher than 93 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 Hawthorne is 1.22%, higher than 93 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?"

2. Sewer and utility-bill fees

The fact: Sewer and flat utility-bill charges here come to about $51 a year, lower than 71 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 $51 a year, lower than 71 of the other 76 California cities we cover. What drives that cost, and would you change anything?"

3. Trash

The fact: Trash pickup here costs about $375 a year for the standard cart, lower than 80 of the other 101 California cities we cover. Where trash is billed through the tax bill or a separate hauler, it is not counted here.

Ask: "Trash pickup here costs about $375 a year for the standard cart, lower than 80 of the other 101 California cities we cover. What drives that cost, and would you change anything about the service or the price?"

4. Electricity and gas

The fact: Electricity and gas for a typical house here cost about $3,854 a year, higher than 91 of the other 109 California cities we cover. Rates are set mostly by the utility and the state.

Ask: "Electricity and gas here cost about $3,854 a year for a typical house, higher than 91 of the other 109 California cities we cover. Which parts of that can the city influence, and what would you do about them?"

See who is running in your city →

Common questions about Hawthorne house costs

What is the property tax rate in Hawthorne?

About 1.22% of the value before exemptions a year (2026-27 tax year, Los Angeles County), plus flat charges on the same bill (Sewer $216, LA County Measure W Safe Clean Water tax (median single-family parcel) $88, LA County West Vector Control assessment $10, City street lighting assessment (Zone 1 rate, 50-ft lot) (estimate) $29).

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

About $6,397 a year on $500,000 of the value before exemptions with the homeowners' exemption, including $362 of flat charges.

How much is the water bill in Hawthorne?

About $86 a month for water at typical use (8 units, or 5,984 gallons a month) on Golden State Water (Southwest system).

How much does trash pickup cost in Hawthorne?

$27 to $36 a month, depending on the trash cart size (35 gallon, 65 gallon (standard), 95 gallon).

When is property tax due in Hawthorne?

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

Can seniors lower their property tax or bills in Hawthorne?

Yes. Seniors on City of Hawthorne water: ask about a 20% discount: The City's 2025 Urban Water Management Plan, prepared while Cal Water was the system operator, says the system operator offers a 20 percent senior discount on quantity rates and the 5/8 x 3/4-inch or 3/4-inch meter service charge.

Where can I get help paying utility bills in Hawthorne?

Low income: Golden State Water bill credit: Golden State Water's Customer Assistance Program gives low-income households a monthly credit on their water bill; for June 2025 to May 2026 the income limit was $42,300 for a 1-2 person household. Apply to Golden State Water with its CAP application and eligibility declaration.

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

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