San Luis Obispo, CA · Updated Oct 2026

What a San Luis Obispo home costs each year

Property tax, water, trash and energy from public rates. Look up your address to make it yours, and see how to pay less.

Suggestions as you type come from Google; the lookup uses free public map services to find who serves it. Not stored unless you save your house.

Example · a San Luis Obispo house

$17,590a year · $1,466 a month

Starts at the typical market value, $935,100; your assessed value is often lower. Typical use.

Property tax$10,230
1.102% of $935,100, less $7,000 homeowners' exemption
Electricity and gas$3,336
500 kWh a month $2,350 · 35 therms $827 · city utility tax $159
Water and sewer$1,892
5 units (CCF) a month on City of San Luis Obispo Utilities Department: water $85, sewer $72 a month
TrashIncluded
The bundled residential cart rate includes weekly pickup of one trash cart, one organics cart and one recycling cart.
Home insurance$1,492
Typical premium $1,492

A San Luis Obispo house at the typical market value ($935,100) costs about $17,000 a year: $10,230 property tax and charges, $1,890 water and sewer, $3,340 electricity and gas, $1,490 home insurance; trash is paid through property tax. 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

Nothing here applies to every house automatically. These are worth checking:

Switch to the 19-gallon cart set cartUp to $440 a year
Your cart costs $53 a month; the smallest costs $17. Worth it if you rarely fill it.
How: Call your garbage hauler.
Homeowners' exemption: $7,000 off taxable value
The California Constitution provides a $7,000 reduction in the taxable value for a qualifying owner-occupied home.
How: Make a one-time filing with the county assessor where the property is located (claim form BOE-266).
Income-qualified households: PG&E CARE or FERA30–35% off electricity
CARE takes 30–35% off electricity for income-qualified households; FERA takes 18% off for incomes slightly above the CARE limit.
How: Apply with PG&E; application forms are also available through community agencies.
Low-income households: City Customer Assistance Program20% off water and sewer
Eligible participants can receive a 20% discount on each monthly water and sewer bill.
How: Apply to the City's Utilities Department; eligibility includes household income under twice the federal poverty level.
Lower your sewer cap: cut winter irrigation
The 2026-2027 Sewer Cap period is December 1, 2026 - March 10, 2027; your water use then sets your cap starting July 1, 2027.
How: Turn off irrigation and reduce outdoor water use during this period.

Adjust to match your bills

What you know

Value before exemptionsProp 13 assessed values are often far below market. Some parcels may also have special-assessment or Mello-Roos charges on the tax bill that are not included; check your own bill.

I live here and have the Homeowners' exemption

Home insurance, a yearFrom your policy. We start at $1,492, California statewide average, NAIC data for 2022 as published by 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 Luis Obispo house uses about 5.

Electricity, kWh a month

On your PG&E bill. An electric car adds about 300 kWh.

Gas, therms a month (yearly average)

Money dates

Dec 10in 47 daysLast day to pay the first installment of secured property taxes (due Nov 1) without a 10% penalty.
Apr 10Last day to pay the second installment of secured property taxes without a 10% penalty plus a cost.
15th of each monthWater and sewer bills not paid in full by the due date, the 15th of every month, get a late fee of $15 or 1.5%, whichever is greater.

Who serves this house

Water: City of San Luis Obispo Utilities Department; Rates effective July 1, 2026; one unit of water is 1 CCF, or 748 gallons. A 5% Utility Users Tax is applied to the entire water portion of the bill.
Property tax: 1.10% of value; 2025–26 tax year, San Luis Obispo County (tax rate areas 003-000 to 003-026)
Garbage: San Luis Garbage; The City contracts with San Luis Garbage, a subsidiary of Waste Connections, through a franchise agreement.
Sewer: City of San Luis Obispo Utilities Department; Billed monthly with water; the residential usage charge applies up to a sewer cap.
Electricity: PG&E; Electricity in SLO is provided by Pacific Gas & Electric.
Gas: Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas); Natural Gas in SLO is provided by Southern California Gas Company.
Schools: San Luis Coastal Unified; San Luis Coastal Unified is the school district in the City of San Luis Obispo's tax rate area.

Pay or manage your bills

Your water

Source: The majority of the City's water comes from the three surface water reservoirs: Whale Rock Reservoir, Salinas Reservoir (Santa Margarita Lake), and Nacimiento Lake.
PFAS: The City's drinking water is not currently impacted by PFAS, based on recent water quality sampling.
Fluoride: The City adds fluoride to the treated water produced by the water treatment plant to help prevent dental caries in consumers.

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How these numbers are made

Tax: the county's 2025-26 rate for the City of San Luis Obispo / San Luis Coastal Unified tax rate areas is 1.10221%: 1% plus state water 0.00321%, San Luis Coastal USD bonds 0.035% and 0.049%, and Cuesta College 0.015%, less the $7,000 homeowners' exemption. The City has no bond rate of its own. The starting value is the Census median market value; Prop 13 assessed values are usually lower.
Water: July 1, 2026 single-family rates ($33.67 base plus $9.51, $10.95 and $18.88 per unit in the three tiers). The City's 5% utility users' tax on the water portion is folded into these figures (x 1.05); sewer is not taxed. Water starts at 5 units a month, the typical single-family use in the City's rate notice.
Sewer: $27.81 base plus $11.14 per unit up to a sewer cap, with a 4-unit cap, the typical cap in the City's rate notice; actual caps come from each home's winter use.
Garbage: San Luis Garbage's January 2026 monthly rates for bundled trash, recycling and organics carts; the 64-gallon cart set is the starting size. San Luis Garbage bills every two months.
Electricity: PG&E tier E-1 (June 2026) at 500 kWh, baseline territory R, with the $24.13 monthly base charge. This is PG&E's bundled rate. Many SLO homes buy generation from Central Coast Community Energy (3CE) instead, with PG&E delivering it, so their bill will differ from this figure; 3CE rates are not modelled. Gas: SoCalGas, 35 therms a month. The City taxes electricity and gas bills at 5%.
Insurance is the California statewide average (III/California Department of Insurance, 2022). The figure is from 2022; premiums have likely changed since.
Nothing here is legal, tax or insurance advice.

Sources

How San Luis Obispo compares

A typical San Luis Obispo house against the 207 California cities we cover, using the same default numbers as the total above.

Per year	San Luis Obispo	Median	Where it falls
Property tax rate	1.10%	1.13%	lower than 151 of the other 206 California cities we cover
Water	$1,023	$944	higher than 121 of the other 206 California cities we cover
Sewer and utility-bill fees	$868	$582	higher than 107 of the other 136 California cities we cover
Electricity and gas	$3,336	$3,463	lower than 147 of the other 206 California cities we cover
Home insurance	$1,492	$1,492	in the middle of 201 other California cities we cover
Total	$16,949	$14,973	higher than 143 of the other 206 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 $868 a year, higher than 107 of the other 136 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 $868 a year, higher than 107 of the other 136 California cities we cover. What drives that cost, and would you change anything?"

See who is running in your city →

Common questions about San Luis Obispo house costs

What is the property tax rate in San Luis Obispo?

About 1.10% of the value before exemptions a year (2025–26 tax year, San Luis Obispo County (tax rate areas 003-000 to 003-026)), plus flat charges on the same bill.

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

About $5,434 a year on $500,000 of the value before exemptions with the homeowners' exemption.

How much is the water bill in San Luis Obispo?

About $158 a month for water and sewer at typical use (5 units, or 3,740 gallons a month) on City of San Luis Obispo Utilities Department.

How much does trash pickup cost in San Luis Obispo?

The bundled residential cart rate includes weekly pickup of one trash cart, one organics cart and one recycling cart.

When is property tax due in San Luis Obispo?

Dec 10: Last day to pay the first installment of secured property taxes (due Nov 1) without a 10% penalty. Apr 10: Last day to pay the second installment of secured property taxes without a 10% penalty plus a cost.

Where can I get help paying utility bills in San Luis Obispo?

Income-qualified households: PG&E CARE or FERA: CARE takes 30–35% off electricity for income-qualified households; FERA takes 18% off for incomes slightly above the CARE limit. Apply with PG&E; application forms are also available through community agencies.

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

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