Boulder, CO · Updated Oct 2026

What a Boulder 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 Boulder house

$12,018a year · $1,001 a month

Starts at the typical market value, $1,039,500; your assessed value is often lower. Typical use.

Property tax$6,195
0.596% of $1,039,500
Electricity and gas$1,876
599.9 kWh a month $1,133 · 57.44 therms $742
Water and sewer$1,868
7,000 gallons a month on City of Boulder: water $64, sewer $62, stormwater and flood management (in-city single-family lot up to 15,000 sq ft) $30 a month
TrashNot included
Residential trash service is provided by private haulers; the city does not provide hauling or set rates
Home insurance$2,079
Typical premium $2,079

A Boulder house at the typical market value ($1,039,500) pays about $12,000 a year: $6,190 property tax and charges, $1,870 water and sewer, $1,880 electricity and gas, $2,080 home insurance; trash is billed separately. Estimated from public rates, not anyone's actual bill.

Rates checked Oct 20, 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+ who have owned and lived in the home 10+ years: senior property tax exemption50% of the first $200,000 of value
Colorado exempts 50% of the first $200,000 of a primary residence's actual value (up to $100,000 of value) for qualifying owners 65 or older who have owned and lived in it for at least 10 consecutive years. The state pays the tax on the exempted value.
How: Apply to the Boulder County Assessor between January 1 and July 15; 2027 applications open after Jan. 1, 2027.
Seniors: state property tax deferral
The State of Colorado's senior tax deferral program lets you postpone your property tax payments until you sell the property or your estate is settled.
How: See Boulder County's Property and Tax Help for Seniors page.
Had a leak? Ask for a water leak adjustment within 90 days
After a repaired leak, the excess water is generally billed at the lower Block 2 rate. The request and proof of repair must arrive within 90 days of the due date on the bill for the leak period.
How: Submit the city's water leak adjustment request online, or contact Utility Billing at UTB@bouldercolorado.gov or 303-441-3260.

Money dates

Apr 30Deadline to pay the whole year's property tax in one payment.
May 1-Jun 8Window to appeal your property value to the Boulder County Assessor.
Jun 15Second half of property tax is due.
Jul 15Senior property tax exemption application period ends (it opens January 1).

Who serves this house

Water: City of Boulder; City of Boulder, read and billed monthly: $21.51 service charge for a 3/4-inch meter inside the city, plus a price per 1,000 gallons set by your monthly water budget: $5.65 up to 60% of budget, $7.53 to 100%, $15.06 to 150%, $22.58 to 200% and $37.64 above 200%. Single-family accounts are allocated 7,000 gallons a month in winter (December-February).
Property tax: 0.60% of value; 2025 tax year, payable 2026 (Boulder County tax area 0010, City of Boulder)
Garbage: Private haulers; The city does not provide trash hauling; Western Disposal Services and One Way offer residential trash, recycling and compost collection
Sewer: City of Boulder; Wastewater is billed as a fixed service charge plus a quantity charge
Electricity: Xcel Energy; Electric service in Boulder
Gas: Xcel Energy; Natural gas service in Boulder

Pay or manage your bills

Your water

Source: Barker Reservoir, North Boulder Creek, Carter Lake and Boulder Reservoir; which one reaches your home depends on the season
Lead: No lead service lines were found in the city's inventory; the 90th-percentile lead result in the 2024 tap tests was 2.0 ppb (action level 15)
PFAS: The city tested for six PFAS chemicals, including PFOS and PFOA, and none were detected
Violations: None in 2025

Other CO cities

What a Castle Rock house pays What a Denver house pays What a Erie house pays What a Firestone house pays What a Monument house pays What a Parker house pays What a Evans house pays

How these numbers are made

Property tax: Colorado taxes a home on its actual value times an assessment rate times the mill levy. For 2025 taxes (paid in 2026), Boulder County tax area 0010 (the base City of Boulder area) applies 6.25% to the local levies, Boulder County 24.046 + City of Boulder 11.648 + Northern Colorado Water 1.000 + Urban Drainage & Flood Control 0.900 + Boulder Public Library District 3.562 mills, and 7.05% to Boulder Valley School District's 48.044 mills (89.2 mills in all), with no value reduction in 2025. On actual value that is about 0.596%, or about $6,195 on the $1,039,500 Census median.
Some Boulder neighborhoods are in other tax areas that add general improvement, business improvement, metropolitan district or Boulder Rural Fire levies; those are not included. For 2026 taxes (billed January 2027) the local-government rate becomes 6.8% after removing 10% of the first $700,000 of actual value, while schools stay at 7.05%; the 2026 mill levies are set in December, so the 2025 levies are shown. Senior and disabled-veteran exemptions are listed as tips, not applied.
Water: City of Boulder 2026 rates (in effect since January), $21.51 a month for a 3/4-inch meter plus block rates per 1,000 gallons. Real water budgets are set per account and are larger in summer for outdoor watering; we model a year-round budget equal to the 7,000-gallon single-family winter allocation, so Block 1 covers the first 4,200 gallons, Block 2 to 7,000, Block 3 to 10,500, Block 4 to 14,000 and Block 5 above. Heavy summer use is therefore priced higher here than on a real summer bill.
Wastewater: $17.20 a month plus $8.86 per 1,000 gallons, billed on your December-March average or actual use, whichever is less; we approximate that by capping billed sewer volume at 5,000 gallons, the city's figure for average single-family winter use. Stormwater and flood management is the $29.88 monthly fee for a single-family lot up to 15,000 square feet.
Garbage: Boulder has no city trash service or contracted hauler, and we could not read a hauler's published price list, so the hauler subscription is not counted (add your own bill); the city's $3.50 monthly household trash tax, which most haulers pass on to customers, is not counted either.
Electricity and gas: Xcel's current Colorado rate summaries are not published as plain documents we can check and most homes are on time-of-use pricing, so we use averages that cover every season and plan instead of Schedule R: Public Service Co of Colorado's 2024 average residential price of 15.05 cents per kWh (monthly charge included) at its average use of 600 kWh a month, and Colorado's 2025 average residential gas price of $11.17 per thousand cubic feet ($1.077 a therm) at the state's 2024 average use of 57.4 therms a month. Boulder's Climate Tax (the city's 2022 estimate of $49.66 a year for an average home) is added as $4.14 a month on the electric line; Xcel franchise fees, sales taxes and rate changes since those averages are not included. Insurance is the 2022 Colorado statewide average.
Not included: the city trash tax ($3.50 a month per household, which most haulers pass on) and the hauler's own bill.
Insurance is Colorado's 2022 statewide average; the Division of Insurance's 2026 county data doesn't cover Boulder County, and a higher-value Boulder home likely pays more.
Nothing here is legal, tax or insurance advice.

Sources

How Boulder compares

A typical Boulder house against the 8 Colorado cities we cover, using the same default numbers as the total above.

Per year	Boulder	Median	Where it falls
Property tax rate	0.60%	0.60%	lower than 4 of the other 7 Colorado cities we cover
Water	$772	$903	lower than 5 of the other 7 Colorado cities we cover
Sewer and utility-bill fees	$1,097	$713	higher than 7 of the other 7 Colorado cities we cover
Electricity and gas	$1,876	$2,274	lower than 6 of the other 7 Colorado cities we cover
Home insurance	$2,079	$2,079	lower than 1 of the other 7 Colorado cities we cover
Total	$12,018	$9,880	higher than 7 of the other 7 Colorado 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 $1,097 a year, higher than 7 of the other 7 Colorado 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 $1,097 a year, higher than 7 of the other 7 Colorado cities we cover. What drives that cost, and would you change anything?"

2. Electricity and gas

The fact: Electricity and gas for a typical house here cost about $1,876 a year, lower than 6 of the other 7 Colorado cities we cover. Rates are set mostly by the utility and the state.

Ask: "Electricity and gas here cost about $1,876 a year for a typical house, lower than 6 of the other 7 Colorado 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 Boulder house costs

What is the property tax rate in Boulder?

About 0.60% of the value before exemptions a year (2025 tax year, payable 2026 (Boulder County tax area 0010, City of Boulder)), plus flat charges on the same bill.

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

About $2,980 a year on $500,000 of the value before exemptions.

How much is the water bill in Boulder?

About $156 a month for water and sewer at typical use (7,000 gallons a month) on City of Boulder.

How much does trash pickup cost in Boulder?

Residential trash service is provided by private haulers; the city does not provide hauling or set rates

When is property tax due in Boulder?

Jun 15: Second half of property tax is due. End of Feb: First half of property tax is due by the last day of February (bills are mailed in January).

Can seniors lower their property tax or bills in Boulder?

Yes. Seniors 65+ who have owned and lived in the home 10+ years: senior property tax exemption: Colorado exempts 50% of the first $200,000 of a primary residence's actual value (up to $100,000 of value) for qualifying owners 65 or older who have owned and lived in it for at least 10 consecutive years. The state pays the tax on the exempted value.

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

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