What a Central 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.
Starts at the typical market value, $288,700; your assessed value is often lower. Typical use.
- Property tax$2,697
1.262% of $288,700, less $75,000 homestead exemption
- Electricity$2,115
1223.8004279100985 kWh a month $2,115
- Water and sewer$946
8.9 units (CCF) a month on Baton Rouge Water Company: water $21, sewer $57 a month
- Trash$423
Monthly garbage fee, $35 a month
- Home insuranceNot included
We don't have a typical premium for this city yet. Add yours with Adjust.
A Central house at the typical market value ($288,700) costs about $6,200 a year: $2,700 property tax and charges, $950 water and sewer, $420 trash, $2,110 electricity; home insurance is not included (no typical premium yet). Estimated from public rates, not anyone's actual bill.
Rates checked Oct 28, 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:
Homestead exemption
$7,500 off the assessed value of your home.
How: The East Baton Rouge Parish Assessor explains it on its assessments and millages page.
Who serves this house
- Water
- Baton Rouge Water Company
- Monthly rates for water used per 100 cubic feet: first 3 hundred cu. ft. $3.851, next 197 hundred cu. ft. $1.657, additional hundred cu. ft. $1.209.
- Property tax
- 1.26% of value
- 2025 tax year, East Baton Rouge Parish
- Garbage
- East Baton Rouge Parish
- The monthly garbage fee is $35.23.
Other LA cities
Shreveport home costsThibodaux home costsAlexandria home costsBroussard home costs
How these numbers are made
- Property tax: Louisiana assesses homes at 10% of fair market value, so each mill is 0.01% of market value. Rates are the 2025 East Baton Rouge Assessor sheet: total parish tax 50.6 mills, Central school 56.34, Central Fire District #4 19.25. The sheet lists no City of Central millage.
- The $7,500 homestead exemption ($75,000 of market value) is applied to all three taxes. Some Central homes lie in other special districts on the sheet (for example road lighting); they are not included.
- Water: Baton Rouge Water Company 5/8" meter rates per 100 cubic feet ($11.55 monthly minimum for the first 3 CCF, next 197 CCF at $1.657; the minimum is stored as $6.579 plus $1.657 per CCF, which is identical from 3 CCF up), using 8.9 CCF, the parish example of average monthly consumption. Sewer is the parish Sewer User Fee ($31.21 covering the first 4 CCF, then $5.36 per CCF); homes on septic or other water companies pay differently. The sewer fee rises each January; these are the 1/1/2026 rates.
- Garbage is the parish monthly fee of $35.23; the parish contracts have escalated each March, so it may rise. Electricity is the Entergy Louisiana Schedule RS October 2026 bill sample: $11.99 in fixed charges plus about 13.42 cents per kWh (the $146.19 total for 1,000 kWh, before local taxes, less the fixed charges, spread over the kWh; riders and fuel are folded in at the sample's level and change monthly). Part of Central may be served by DEMCO instead; its rates are not modelled. Gas is not included.
- Nothing here is legal, tax or insurance advice.
- City of Central public works
- EBR Assessor 2025 millage rates
- EBR Assessor assessments and millages
- Baton Rouge sewer and garbage user fee FAQ
- Baton Rouge Water Company tariff
- Census ACS 2024 median home value
- Entergy Louisiana Schedule RS bill sample, October 2026
- EIA 2024 residential sales by utility (average use per customer)
How Central compares
A typical Central house against the 1000 cities we cover nationwide, using the same default numbers as the total above.
| Per year | Central | Median | Where it falls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property tax rate | 1.26% | 1.36% | lower than 542 of the other 982 cities we cover nationwide |
| Water | $256 | $681 | lower than 981 of the other 999 cities we cover nationwide |
| Sewer and utility-bill fees | $690 | $692 | lower than 443 of the other 882 cities we cover nationwide |
| Trash | $423 | $336 | higher than 593 of the other 819 cities we cover nationwide |
| Electricity and gas | $2,115 | $2,439 | lower than 699 of the other 999 cities we cover nationwide |
| Total | $6,180 | $10,827 | lower than 954 of the other 999 cities we cover nationwide |
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. Water
The fact: Water here costs about $256 a year at typical use, lower than 981 of the other 999 cities we cover nationwide.
Ask: "Water here costs about $256 a year at typical use, lower than 981 of the other 999 cities we cover nationwide. What drives that cost, and would you change anything?"
Common questions about Central house costs
What is the property tax rate in Central?
About 1.26% of the value before exemptions a year (2025 tax year, East Baton Rouge Parish), plus flat charges on the same bill.
How much is property tax on a $500,000 house in Central?
About $5,363 a year on $500,000 of the value before exemptions with the homestead exemption.
How much is the water bill in Central?
About $79 a month for water and sewer at typical use (8.9 units, or 6,657 gallons a month) on Baton Rouge Water Company.
How much does trash pickup cost in Central?
$35 a month for a house.
How much does a house in Central cost to run each year?
A Central house at the typical market value ($288,700) costs about $6,200 a year: $2,700 property tax and charges, $950 water and sewer, $420 trash, $2,110 electricity; home insurance is not included (no typical premium yet). Estimated from public rates, not anyone's actual bill.