Columbia, IL · Updated Oct 2026

What a Columbia 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 Columbia house

$9,509a year · $792 a month

Starts at $97,667 of value before exemptions. Typical use.

Property tax$5,104
5.568% of $97,667, less $6,000 general homestead exemption
Electricity and gas$2,842
853.4 kWh a month $1,697 · 74.87 therms $1,145
Water and sewer$1,349
7,000 gallons a month on City of Columbia Water: water $66, sewer $47 a month
Trash$215
Residential garbage, recycling and yard waste, $18 a month
Home insuranceNot included
We don't have a typical premium for this city yet. Add yours with Adjust.

A typical Columbia house costs about $9,500 a year: $5,100 property tax and charges, $1,350 water and sewer, $210 trash, $2,840 electricity and gas; home insurance is not included (no typical premium yet). Estimated from public rates, not anyone's actual bill.

Rates checked Oct 30, 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+: senior citizens homestead exemption
The senior citizens homestead exemption provides an annual $5,000 reduction in the equalized assessed value of the property.
How: Application: Form PTAX-324.

Money dates

November 6, 2026in 2 daysSecond installment
15th of each monthCity water, sewer and trash bill due

Who serves this house

Water: City of Columbia Water; Within corporate limits: $31.90 for 3,000 gallons or less per month, then the per-1,000-gallon rates listed.
Property tax: 5.57% of value; 2025 tax year (payable 2026), Monroe County
Garbage: Reliable Sanitation (billed by the City); Curbside garbage, recycling and yard waste; billing and account set-up by the City of Columbia.
Water and sewer billing: City of Columbia; The City bills water, sewer and trash monthly, due on the 15th.
Electricity and gas: Ameren Illinois; Ameren is listed for electricity and gas service.

Pay or manage your bills

City of Columbia ↗

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How these numbers are made

Property tax uses Monroe County's 2025 rates (payable 2026) for tax code 04001, the Columbia code with the most taxable value: county, Columbia Fire District, Southwestern Illinois College, City of Columbia and Columbia School District 4, total 5.56758 per $100 of EAV. Parts of Columbia lie in St. Clair County and in other Monroe codes (levee district, no fire district) and are not modelled.
Starting value is one third of the Census median value ($293,000 / 3); the $6,000 general homestead exemption comes off it.
Water, sewer and trash use the City's fee ordinance for the fiscal year commencing May 1, 2026 (Ordinance 3739): water $31.90 for the first 3,000 gallons, sewer $15.49 + $4.64 per 1,000 gallons (the City bills sewer on the February-April average water use, with a 2,000-gallon minimum), trash $17.90 a month. The ordinance also lists a leaf and limb monthly service charge (18.20.003); on the scanned page of Ordinance 3739 it reads $3.86 (the FY26 ordinance 3694 had $3.12), but the figure is image-only, so it cannot be machine-verified and is not added to the trash figure.
Electric is Ameren Illinois default supply (the City ended its aggregation program in 2025) at the non-summer price to compare plus delivery (distribution 4.572 c/kWh to 800 kWh, 2.427 above, 0.12567 c/kWh distribution tax recovery), meter and customer charges as the fixed part, applied to all twelve months: Ameren's summer (June-September) 0-800 kWh price to compare was 11.326 cents, but no summer figure for usage above 800 kWh is published on the Plug In Illinois page, so no seasonal split is modelled. Typical kWh = EIA 2024 Ameren Illinois residential average. Gas (Ameren Illinois, Rate GDS-1): $23.33 customer charge plus 48.344 c/therm delivery, Rider GER 2.692 c/therm and the October 2026 system supply price 45.24 c/therm (sum 96.276 c/therm); typical use is the Illinois residential average from EIA (74.87 therms a month). Gas taxes and other riders on the bill are not modelled.
Nothing here is legal, tax or insurance advice.

Sources

How Columbia compares

A typical Columbia house against the 132 Illinois cities we cover, using the same default numbers as the total above.

Per year	Columbia	Median	Where it falls
Property tax rate	5.57%	8.23%	lower than 129 of the other 131 Illinois cities we cover
Water	$788	$872	lower than 76 of the other 131 Illinois cities we cover
Sewer and utility-bill fees	$561	$535	higher than 66 of the other 123 Illinois cities we cover
Trash	$215	$283	lower than 106 of the other 127 Illinois cities we cover
Electricity and gas	$2,842	$2,163	higher than 127 of the other 131 Illinois cities we cover
Total	$9,509	$11,701	lower than 102 of the other 131 Illinois 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: Columbia's property tax rate is 5.57%, lower than 129 of the other 131 Illinois cities we cover. The rate adds up every agency on the bill, not only the city.

Ask: "Property tax in Columbia is 5.57%, lower than 129 of the other 131 Illinois 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 $215 a year for the standard cart, lower than 106 of the other 127 Illinois 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 $215 a year for the standard cart, lower than 106 of the other 127 Illinois 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 $2,842 a year, higher than 127 of the other 131 Illinois cities we cover. Rates are set mostly by the utility and the state.

Ask: "Electricity and gas here cost about $2,842 a year for a typical house, higher than 127 of the other 131 Illinois cities we cover. Which parts of that can the city influence, and what would you do about them?"

Common questions about Columbia house costs

What is the property tax rate in Columbia?

About 5.57% of the value before exemptions a year (2025 tax year (payable 2026), Monroe County), plus flat charges on the same bill.

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

About $27,504 a year on $500,000 of the value before exemptions with the general homestead exemption.

How much is the water bill in Columbia?

About $112 a month for water and sewer at typical use (7,000 gallons a month) on City of Columbia Water.

How much does trash pickup cost in Columbia?

$18 a month for a house.

Can seniors lower their property tax or bills in Columbia?

Yes. Seniors 65+: senior citizens homestead exemption: The senior citizens homestead exemption provides an annual $5,000 reduction in the equalized assessed value of the property.

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

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