Lake Forest, CA · Updated Oct 2026

What a Lake Forest 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 Lake Forest house

$15,044a year · $1,254 a month

Starts at the typical market value, $937,000; your assessed value is often lower. Typical use.

Property tax$9,553
1.027% of $937,000, less $7,000 homeowners' exemption
Flat charges on the tax bill$21
Metropolitan Water District water standby charge $10 · OC Mosquito and Vector Control District: assessment district No. 2 $9 · OC Mosquito and Vector Control District: assessment district No. 1 $2
Electricity$2,729
523 kWh a month $2,729
Water and sewer$931
9 units (CCF) a month on Irvine Ranch Water District: water $40, sewer $38 a month
Trash$318
65-gallon cart set, $26 a month
Home insurance$1,492
Typical premium $1,492

A Lake Forest house at the typical market value ($937,000) pays about $15,000 a year: $9,570 property tax and charges, $930 water and sewer, $320 trash, $2,730 electricity, $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 $53 a year:

Bring water use down to 3 units
$53 a year
Above 3 units a month, Irvine Ranch Water District charges $2.92 a unit instead of $2.18.
How: Most of the top tier is outdoor watering: fix leaks and water less often in summer.

Worth checking

Switch to the 35-gallon cart set cartUp to $28 a year
Your cart costs $26 a month; the smallest costs $24. Worth it if you rarely fill it.
How: Call your garbage hauler.
Homeowners' exemption$7,000 off taxable value
Owner-occupied homes get a $7,000 reduction in taxable value if the home was the owner's principal residence on January 1.
How: File a claim with the county assessor where the property is located.
Three residential bulky item pickups
The City's agreement with CR&R includes three residential bulky item pickups.

Adjust to match your bills

What you knowTrash cartRates effective July 1, 2026.

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 house uses 7–12.

Electricity, kWh a month

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

Money dates

Nov 30, 2026in 38 daysRegular assessment appeals: July 2 to November 30 at 5:00 p.m.
Dec 10in 48 daysFirst installment (due Nov 1) is delinquent after Dec 10; a 10% penalty is added.
Feb 15in 115 daysLast day for a first-time homeowners' exemption claim to get the full exemption that year.
Apr 10Second installment (due Feb 1) is delinquent after Apr 10; a 10% penalty plus $23 per bill is added.

Who serves this house

Water: Irvine Ranch Water District; Irvine Ranch Water District publishes residential rates for detached, condo and apartment dwelling units in its FY26-27 rate schedule.
Property tax: 1.03% of value; 2026-27 tax year, Orange County (Saddleback Valley USD tax rate areas)
Garbage: CR&R; The City's solid waste agreement with CR&R began on July 1, 2025.

Pay or manage your bills

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: by our count of 2020 Census housing units in blocks whose centroids fall inside the city, 24,794 of 30,571 (81%) lie in the EPA boundary of Irvine Ranch Water District, 4,938 (16%) in El Toro Water District; El Toro's rates are not modeled. IRWD charges are budget-based: Low Volume is 0-40% and Base 41-100% of each home's budget; we take the 4-resident indoor budget (50 gallons a day each, 30 days) and ignore outdoor budgets, so higher use costs more than shown (Inefficient $8.03 per ccf and a $19.32 top tier above budget). Sewer is IRWD's $38.10 tier (5.01-10.0 ccf average monthly use, set from the lowest three months of the prior year, matching the 9 ccf default); use over 10 ccf pays $44.60 and under 5 ccf pays $29.85.
Trash: CR&R rates effective July 1, 2026 from the City's page, taken as monthly charges.
Property tax: rates of Saddleback Valley USD tax rate areas of the 2026-27 Orange County rate book (1% general levy + 0.0187% school bonds + 0.0085% MWDOC = 1.0272%). Parcels in Irvine Ranch Water District improvement districts 125/225 also pay land-only rates (about 2.8% of land value) and Capistrano USD areas differ; these are not included. Mello-Roos taxes on newer neighborhoods are not included. The starting value is the Census median market value; assessed values are often lower.
Electricity: SCE Domestic with SCE generation plus the $24.15 Base Services Charge; Lake Forest is not in a community-choice program in this table. Gas: SoCalGas August 2026 average non-CARE bill less the $0.16-a-day fixed charge, divided by 35 therms. Insurance is the 2022 California average.
Modelling: SCE Domestic rate $0.38865/kWh with SCE generation as of June 1, 2026; SoCalGas non-CARE fixed charge $0.16/day as of September 2025; IRWD rates effective July 1, 2026: $15.60/month for 5/8x3/4 meter, $2.18/ccf Low Volume, $2.92/ccf Base; sample ETWD rates not modeled; water tiers, counts by Census blocks (81% IRWD, 16% ETWD).
Gas: SoCalGas service to Lake Forest not confirmed from an official list; gas omitted. Draft values were fixed $4.8667/mo, $1.82981/therm.
Nothing here is legal, tax or insurance advice.

Sources

Common questions about Lake Forest house costs

What is the property tax rate in Lake Forest?

About 1.03% of the value before exemptions a year (2026-27 tax year, Orange County (Saddleback Valley USD tax rate areas)), plus flat charges on the same bill (Metropolitan Water District water standby charge $10, OC Mosquito and Vector Control District: assessment district No. 2 $9, OC Mosquito and Vector Control District: assessment district No. 1 $2).

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

About $5,085 a year on $500,000 of the value before exemptions with the homeowners' exemption, including $21 of flat charges.

How much is the water bill in Lake Forest?

About $78 a month for water and sewer at typical use (9 units, or 6,732 gallons a month) on Irvine Ranch Water District.

How much does trash pickup cost in Lake Forest?

$24 to $28 a month, depending on the trash cart size (35-gallon cart set, 65-gallon cart set, 95-gallon cart set).

When is property tax due in Lake Forest?

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

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

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