San Clemente, CA · Updated Oct 2026

What a San Clemente 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 San Clemente house

$20,795a year · $1,733 a month

Starts at the typical market value, $1,398,400; your assessed value is often lower. Typical use.

Property tax$14,032
1.008% of $1,398,400, less $7,000 homeowners' exemption
Flat charges on the tax bill$23
Metropolitan Water District water standby charge (former Coastal MWD area) $12 · 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$3,155
400 kWh a month $2,328 · 35 therms $827
Water and sewer$1,722
10 units (CCF) a month on City of San Clemente: water $86, sewer $57 a month
Trash$372
60-gallon cart set (trash, recycling, organics), $31 a month
Home insurance$1,492
Typical premium $1,492

A San Clemente house at the typical market value ($1,398,400) pays about $20,800 a year: $14,060 property tax and charges, $1,720 water and sewer, $370 trash, $3,160 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 cart set (trash, recycling, organics) cartUp to $16 a year
Your cart costs $31 a month; the smallest costs $30. Worth it if you rarely fill it.
How: Call CR&R at 877-728-0446; CR&R's rate sheet lists a cart size exchange at no charge.
Low income: CARE discount on SDG&E and SoCalGas30-35% off electric, 20% off gas
Low-income customers enrolled in CARE get a 30-35% discount on their electric bill and 20% on their natural gas bill.
How: Contact SDG&E or SoCalGas, or apply on their websites.
Income slightly above CARE limits: FERA electric discount18% off electric
Families whose income slightly exceeds the CARE limits may qualify for FERA, an 18% discount on electricity bills.
How: To request an application form, contact your utility company or visit its website.
Four free bulky item pickups a year
Each San Clemente residential customer can arrange a free bulky item pickup on the regular collection day four times per calendar year, for up to four large items or four bags of material; additional pickups cost a fee.
How: Schedule with CR&R's online scheduling service.
Free door-to-door household hazardous waste pickup
San Clemente residents can arrange free household hazardous waste pickups, such as batteries, from CR&R.
How: Call CR&R customer service at 877-728-0446.
Water-saving rebates with a City supplement$300 washer; $3 per sq ft of turf
For San Clemente single-family water customers from March 1, 2026, the City adds to the MWDOC/Metropolitan rebates: $150 in total for a premium high-efficiency toilet, $300 for a high-efficiency clothes washer, $160 per smart sprinkler timer and $3 per square foot of turf replacement. Rebates depend on available funding and are not guaranteed.
How: Turf replacement and spray-to-drip: apply on the MWDOC rebate portal and get approval before you start. Other rebates: SoCal WaterSmart, 888-376-3314.

Adjust to match your bills

What you knowTrash cartCR&R's single-family rates effective July 1, 2026, for a standard set of three carts (trash, recycling, organics) of the same size.

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. Homes in Talega, Marblehead Coastal and the Reassessment District 2016-1 area also pay Mello-Roos special taxes or assessments that are not included here (Marblehead Coastal: $6,287 to $13,121 a year in 2024-25, by home size). Talega homes also pay Capistrano Unified CFD 90-2 special taxes, often around $1,000 to $2,000 a year (2022-23 district totals), plus Santa Margarita Water District Talega charges; Forster Ranch Reassessment District 2016-1 bonds end by 2028. Your own amounts are 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 San Clemente house uses about 10.

Electricity, kWh a month

On your SDG&E 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 San Clemente; City of San Clemente water rates effective March 1, 2026, billed monthly: a water base fee of $33.10 a month for a meter up to 1 inch, plus a flat $5.31 per unit (one hundred cubic feet, or 748 gallons) of water used.
Property tax: 1.01% of value; 2026-27 tax year, Orange County (tax rate area 10-001)
Garbage: CR&R; San Clemente's franchise waste hauler; a standard set is three carts (trash, recycling, organics) in 35, 60 or 90 gallons.
Sewer: City of San Clemente; Billed monthly by the City on the same bill as water.
Electricity: San Diego Gas & Electric; The City lists SDG&E as the electric utility to contact about power lines in San Clemente.
Gas: Southern California Gas; The City's General Plan says the Southern California Gas Company provides natural gas for San Clemente.
Schools: Capistrano Unified School District; The City lists Capistrano Unified as its school district.

Pay or manage your bills

Your water

Source: A blend of surface water imported by the Metropolitan Water District (State Water Project and Colorado River) and local groundwater, plus water from Irvine Ranch Water District's Baker Water Treatment Plant; the City's groundwater treatment plant was offline in 2025 for a rehabilitation project.
Hardness: Total hardness averaged 236 ppm (14 grains per gallon) in Metropolitan's treated surface water and 293 ppm (17 grains per gallon) in water from the Baker Water Treatment Plant, tested in 2025.
Lead: In 2025, 30 homes were tested for lead and copper at the tap; lead was not detected in any of the 30 samples.
Standards: The City reports that the water delivered to homes meets or exceeds federal and state quality standards (2026 report on 2025).

About 15% of San Clemente homes, in Talega, get water and sewer from Santa Margarita Water District, and parts of north San Clemente get water from South Coast Water District. Their 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 and sewer: City of San Clemente rates (water from March 1, 2026; sewer from January 1, 2026), billed monthly. Water is $33.10 a month for a meter up to 1 inch plus a flat $5.31 per CCF. Sewer is $30.56 a month plus $3.56 per unit on 75% of the home's February-March average water use; we apply that 75% to the use you enter, so sewer adds $2.67 per CCF (a home that waters more in summer than in winter pays less than this). The page starts at 10 CCF a month, the City's typical single-family customer in its 2025-26 rate study. By our count of 2020 Census housing units, 21,759 of 26,647 (81.7%) lie inside the EPA boundary of the City's water system and 3,866 (14.5%, Talega) inside Santa Margarita Water District's, which also handles Talega's sewer; those rates are not included here. The City also charges every residential property a flat monthly storm drain fee that has not changed since 1993; we found no published amount, so it is not included. The City's Clean Ocean fee expired and is no longer charged.
Trash: CR&R's single-family rates effective July 1, 2026, for a standard set of three carts of the same size; the page starts at the 60-gallon set.
Property tax: tax rate area 10-001, 1.00850% for 2026-27 from the Orange County tax rate book (the 1% general levy plus the Metropolitan Water District's 0.0085%). Every San Clemente tax rate area in the rate book has this rate, except two (10-901 and 10-902) at 1.00000%. The $7,000 homeowners' exemption comes off the value you enter. Flat charges: Metropolitan's water standby charge and the two countywide Orange County Mosquito and Vector Control District assessments ($9.34 and $1.92 for a single-family home). The rate book labels Metropolitan's levy 'MWDOC CMWD' in tax rate area 10-001 and most lower-numbered San Clemente areas; we read that as former Coastal MWD territory, charged $11.60 a parcel in 2026/27 (other MWDOC parcels, such as the areas labelled only 'MWDOC', $10.09).
Not included, because only some parcels carry them: Capistrano Unified's CFD No. 90-2 (Talega), which reported $2.65 million of special taxes due a year, and its Improvement Area 2002-1, $3.58 million (2022-23 reports; per-home amounts vary and are not published); Santa Margarita Water District's Talega CFD bonds (maturing 2038); the City's CFD No. 2006-1 (Marblehead Coastal), $6,287.22 to $13,120.72 a year per home in 2024-25 depending on size, on 298 parcels; and Reassessment District No. 2016-1, 1,037 single-family parcels in the north of the city, whose refunding bonds mature by 2028. Check your own tax bill for these lines. The starting value is the Census median market value; under Prop 13 a home's assessed value can be far lower.
Electricity: San Clemente has no community choice program, so homes buy SDG&E's bundled service. We use SDG&E's published annual average bill for a typical bundled TOU-DR1 customer, $194 a month at 400 kWh (April 2026), split into the $0.79343 a day Base Services Charge averaged over the year ($24.13 a month) and $0.4247 per kWh for the rest ((194 - 24.13) / 400), which already averages seasons, time-of-use periods and the baseline credit. 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 premium; San Clemente homes are worth more than average, so quotes are likely higher.
The City's storm drain fee is a flat monthly charge per dwelling unit on the utility bill; we found no published amount (the 2026-27 budget expects about $1.18 million citywide, so likely a few dollars a month) and it is not included.
Nothing here is legal, tax or insurance advice.

Sources

How San Clemente compares

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

Per year	San Clemente	Median	Where it falls
Property tax rate	1.01%	1.13%	lower than 107 of the other 109 California cities we cover
Water	$1,034	$955	higher than 68 of the other 109 California cities we cover
Sewer and utility-bill fees	$687	$584	higher than 49 of the other 76 California cities we cover
Trash	$372	$438	lower than 81 of the other 101 California cities we cover
Electricity and gas	$3,155	$3,556	lower than 89 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	$20,795	$15,240	higher than 93 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: San Clemente's property tax rate is 1.01%, lower than 107 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 San Clemente is 1.01%, lower than 107 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. Trash

The fact: Trash pickup here costs about $372 a year for the standard cart, lower than 81 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 $372 a year for the standard cart, lower than 81 of the other 101 California cities we cover. What drives that cost, and would you change anything about the service or the price?"

3. Electricity and gas

The fact: Electricity and gas for a typical house here cost about $3,155 a year, lower than 89 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 $3,155 a year for a typical house, lower than 89 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 San Clemente house costs

What is the property tax rate in San Clemente?

About 1.01% of the value before exemptions a year (2026-27 tax year, Orange County (tax rate area 10-001)), plus flat charges on the same bill (Metropolitan Water District water standby charge (former Coastal MWD area) $12, 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).

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

About $4,995 a year on $500,000 of the value before exemptions with the homeowners' exemption, including $23 of flat charges.

How much is the water bill in San Clemente?

About $143 a month for water and sewer at typical use (10 units, or 7,480 gallons a month) on City of San Clemente.

How much does trash pickup cost in San Clemente?

$30 to $32 a month, depending on the trash cart size (35-gallon cart set (trash, recycling, organics), 60-gallon cart set (trash, recycling, organics), 90-gallon cart set (trash, recycling, organics)).

When is property tax due in San Clemente?

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.

Where can I get help paying utility bills in San Clemente?

Low income: CARE discount on SDG&E and SoCalGas: Low-income customers enrolled in CARE get a 30-35% discount on their electric bill and 20% on their natural gas bill. Contact SDG&E or SoCalGas, or apply on their websites.

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

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