St. Charles, IL · Updated Oct 2026

What a St. Charles 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 St. Charles house

$12,894a year · $1,074 a month

Starts at $125,800 of value before exemptions. Typical use.

Property tax$8,262
7.013% of $125,800, less $8,000 general homestead exemption
Electricity and gas$1,944
668 kWh a month $1,123 · 74.87 therms $821
Water and sewer$2,375
7,000 gallons a month on City of St. Charles: water $106, sewer $88, epa mandate fee $4 a month
Trash$312
65-gallon refuse cart (recycling toter included), $26 a month
Home insuranceNot included
We don't have a typical premium for this city yet. Add yours with Adjust.

A typical St. Charles house costs about $12,900 a year: $8,260 property tax and charges, $2,380 water and sewer, $310 trash, $1,940 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:

Switch to the 35-gallon refuse cart (recycling toter included) cartUp to $16 a year
Your cart costs $26 a month; the smallest costs $25. Worth it if you rarely fill it.
How: Contact Lakeshore Recycling at 630-581-8650 or StCharles@LRSrecycles.com; a $25 exchange/delivery fee applies.
General homestead exemption
This exemption reduces the Equalized Assessed Value (EAV) by the amount of the exemption. For the current tax assessment year, the reduction is $8,000.
How: Apply with the Kane County Assessment Office.

Adjust to match your bills

What you knowTrash cartResidents can instead use the sticker program, $4.05 per refuse sticker.

Value before exemptionsThis is Kane County tax code SC005 (City, District 303 school, Elgin College 509, park and library). Parcels in DuPage County, other school districts, fire districts or special service areas pay different rates.

I live here and have the General homestead exemption

Home insurance, a yearFrom your policy's declarations page.

Your use

Water, thousands of gallons a month

On your water bill. A typical house uses 5,000–8,000 gallons.

Electricity, kWh a month

On your City of St. Charles Electric bill. An electric car adds about 300 kWh.

Gas, therms a month (yearly average)

Who serves this house

Water: City of St. Charles; Monthly customer charge for a 3/4-inch meter plus $11.70 per 1000 gallons, for bills issued after June 1, 2026.
Property tax: 7.01% of value; 2025 tax year (payable 2026), Kane County
Garbage: Lakeshore Recycling Systems (LRS); For a monthly fee that is billed quarterly by LRS, City of St. Charles residents can choose from a 95-gallon, 65-gallon or 35-gallon trash container
Sewer: City of St. Charles; The residential sewer user charge shall be as follows:
Electricity: City of St. Charles electric utility; 13.08.230 Rate 1 - Residential - Rates, Charges and Service Requirements.
Gas: Nicor Gas; This rate is available to any single-family residential Customer using the Company's gas service primarily for residential purposes.

Pay or manage your bills

Your water

Source: The city’s source of water is ground water from two different aquifers.
Wells: Wells number 7, 9, 11, and 13 are drilled into the St. Charles sand and gravel aquifer.

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How these numbers are made

Property tax uses Kane County's 2025 rates (payable 2026) for tax code SC005, the most common St. Charles combination: county, forest preserve, township, road district, cemetery, city, School District 303, Elgin College, park district and library, total 7.013428 per $100.
The starting value is one third of the Census median market value ($377,400 / 3) because Illinois taxes equalized assessed value at 33.33%. The $8,000 general homestead exemption comes off it.
Water is the 3/4-inch meter charge $27.17 plus $11.70 per 1,000 gallons; sewer is $28.13 plus $8.83 per 1,000 gallons, with the $4.45 EPA Mandate Fee added. The sewer charge is capped at 130% of winter-quarter water use, which the calculator does not model.
Electricity is the City's own Rate 1 (customer charge $16.86, 11.48 cents per kWh; the summer 1,200+ kWh tier is ignored). Gas is Nicor Rate 1 with the 33-cent October 2026 gas cost, plus Nicor's current residential riders: per therm Environmental Cost Recovery 0.47¢, Volume Balancing 1.43¢, Invested Capital Tax -0.05¢, Energy Efficiency 0.98¢ and Storage 0.08¢; per month public utility assessment $0.10, low-income assistance $0.80, low-income discount $0.88, uncollectible adjustment -$0.11 and St. Charles franchise cost $0.29. St. Charles is not listed in Nicor's Rider 8 municipal gas tax schedule, so no city gas tax is added; state-level gas taxes are not modelled.
Typical use is EIA's 2024 average for the City of St Charles electric utility (668 kWh) and the Illinois residential average for gas. Home insurance is not included: no official St. Charles or Illinois premium survey was found.
Nothing here is legal, tax or insurance advice.

Sources

How St. Charles compares

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

Per year	St. Charles	Median	Where it falls
Property tax rate	7.01%	8.23%	lower than 110 of the other 131 Illinois cities we cover
Water	$1,271	$872	higher than 110 of the other 131 Illinois cities we cover
Sewer and utility-bill fees	$1,104	$535	higher than 118 of the other 123 Illinois cities we cover
Trash	$312	$283	higher than 82 of the other 127 Illinois cities we cover
Electricity and gas	$1,944	$2,163	lower than 90 of the other 131 Illinois cities we cover
Total	$12,894	$11,701	higher than 88 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: St. Charles's property tax rate is 7.01%, lower than 110 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 St. Charles is 7.01%, lower than 110 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. Water

The fact: Water here costs about $1,271 a year at typical use, higher than 110 of the other 131 Illinois cities we cover.

Ask: "Water here costs about $1,271 a year at typical use, higher than 110 of the other 131 Illinois cities we cover. What drives that cost, and would you change anything?"

3. Sewer and utility-bill fees

The fact: Sewer and flat utility-bill charges here come to about $1,104 a year, higher than 118 of the other 123 Illinois 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 $1,104 a year, higher than 118 of the other 123 Illinois cities we cover. What drives that cost, and would you change anything?"

Common questions about St. Charles house costs

What is the property tax rate in St. Charles?

About 7.01% of the value before exemptions a year (2025 tax year (payable 2026), Kane County), plus flat charges on the same bill.

How much is property tax on a $500,000 house in St. Charles?

About $34,506 a year on $500,000 of the value before exemptions with the general homestead exemption.

How much is the water bill in St. Charles?

About $198 a month for water and sewer at typical use (7,000 gallons a month) on City of St. Charles.

How much does trash pickup cost in St. Charles?

$25 to $27 a month, depending on the trash cart size (35-gallon refuse cart (recycling toter included), 65-gallon refuse cart (recycling toter included), 95-gallon refuse cart (recycling toter included)).

How much does a house in St. Charles cost to run each year?

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