Property Tax in El Dorado County, California
In El Dorado County, California, the typical homeowner pays $4,510 a year in property taxes on a home worth a median of $640,500. The figures on this page are the Census Bureau's published medians (US Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, 2023), shown exactly as released.
What the El Dorado County numbers mean
Read the two medians together: $4,510 is the middle tax bill among owner-occupied households in El Dorado County, and $640,500 is the middle home value. Neither figure describes a specific property — together they describe the typical homeowner's situation in the county.
The derived effective rate for El Dorado County is 0.70% (median tax ÷ median value). Treat it as an estimate for comparison only: it comes from survey medians of different households, not from the county's rate schedule.
The key figures for El Dorado County
| Measure | El Dorado County |
|---|---|
| Median real estate taxes paid per year | $4,510 |
| Median home value | $640,500 |
| Derived effective rate* | 0.70% |
| Equivalent monthly tax | $376 |
| Tax per $100,000 of value (derived) | $704 |
| Illustrative tax on a $400,000 home (derived rate) | $2,816 |
For context, the California medians are $4,926 of tax on $695,400 of value, and the US medians are $2,969 on $303,400. *Derived figures are estimates from Census medians, not official rates.
El Dorado County at a glance
- Median tax rank in California: #20 of 58 counties
- Median home value rank in California: #19 of 58
- Population rank in California: #29 of 58 (192,299 residents)
- Population density rank: #28 of 58 (113 people per square mile)
- Land area rank in California: #27 of 58 (1,707 sq mi, 1.1% of the combined county land area)
- Median tax as a monthly figure: $376; per $1,000 of home value: $0.70
How El Dorado County compares
Set against its state, El Dorado County's median bill of $4,510 is about 8% lower than the California median ($4,926). Against the country as a whole it is about 52% higher than the US median ($2,969). That places the county #20 of 58 California counties ranked by median taxes paid.
Remember what drives the ranking: bills follow home values as much as rates. El Dorado County's median home, at $640,500, ranks #19 by value in California, while its derived rate of 0.70% compares with a derived US figure of 0.98%.
Some extra context for El Dorado County: the median bill works out to about $376 a month, and the derived rate equals roughly $704 of tax per $100,000 of home value. The county is home to 192,299 people — the #29 most populous county in California, spread over 1,707 square miles, a density of about 113 people per square mile. Its median home value, $640,500, ranks #19 among the state's 58 counties with data.
Zooming out: of 3133 counties nationwide with published Census figures, only 164 record a higher median tax bill than El Dorado County — it sits in the top 5% nationally. The county holds roughly 0.5% of California's people. Its homes are worth less than the state norm (median $640,500 versus $695,400), and a decade at the derived rate of 0.70% adds up to about 7.04% of the median home's value in tax. The cheapest county in the state, Modoc County, medians $1,445 — $3,065 less than El Dorado County per year.
Counties nearest El Dorado County in the California ranking
| County | Median tax paid | Median home value | Derived rate* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monterey County, CA | $4,782 | $723,100 | 0.66% |
| Yolo County, CA | $4,567 | $593,800 | 0.77% |
| Nevada County, CA | $4,468 | $602,800 | 0.74% |
| Solano County, CA | $4,408 | $589,600 | 0.75% |
El Dorado County and its population peers
For a like-for-like sense of scale, compare El Dorado County with its national population peers: the counties nearest to its 192,299 residents, listed in the table below with their own Census medians. Of the 9 counties in that group, El Dorado County's median bill of $4,510 is #2 of 9.
| County | Population | Median tax paid | Median home value | Derived rate* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Livingston County, MI | 195,143 | $3,269 | $331,100 | 0.99% |
| Charlotte County, FL | 195,083 | $2,581 | $291,000 | 0.89% |
| Sarpy County, NE | 194,051 | $5,157 | $287,600 | 1.79% |
| Santa Rosa County, FL | 193,719 | $1,809 | $302,100 | 0.60% |
| Beaufort County, SC | 192,123 | $2,022 | $407,600 | 0.50% |
| Iredell County, NC | 191,800 | $1,843 | $292,300 | 0.63% |
| Outagamie County, WI | 191,537 | $3,580 | $244,100 | 1.47% |
| Washington County, UT | 189,827 | $2,076 | $465,600 | 0.45% |
The closest population match is Beaufort County, South Carolina (192,123 residents), where the median real estate tax paid is $2,022 on a median home value of $407,600 — $2,488 more than El Dorado County pays.
Inside California itself, the counties closest to El Dorado County in population are Yolo County (217,782 residents, median tax $4,567 on a median value of $593,800); Butte County (209,470 residents, median tax $2,819 on a median value of $408,700); Shasta County (181,554 residents, median tax $2,442 on a median value of $347,200); Imperial County (179,319 residents, median tax $2,348 on a median value of $279,500). Same state, same broad tax framework — yet the median bills still differ, because assessed values and the mix of county, municipal and school-district rates are set locally.
How the tax is worked out
Think of the final bill as three ingredients: the assessed value of the property, the exemptions subtracted from it, and the combined rate of every district the property sits in. El Dorado County's medians imply a derived rate of 0.70%; applied illustratively, a $400,000 home would owe about $2,816 a year, or around $235 a month spread evenly. Individual properties depart from the illustration in both directions.
Illustrative bills in El Dorado County at the derived rate
The derived rate of 0.70% is only an estimate built from medians, but applying it to different home values gives a sense of scale for El Dorado County — and a quick way to compare with the state derived rate of 0.71% and the US figure of 0.98%:
| Home value | Illustrative tax / year | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| $150,000 | $1,056 | $88 |
| $250,000 | $1,760 | $147 |
| $350,000 | $2,464 | $205 |
| $500,000 | $3,520 | $293 |
| $750,000 | $5,280 | $440 |
Illustration only: real bills are computed from the assessed value, exemptions, and the combined rates of the property's actual taxing districts.
Checking your assessment in El Dorado County
Most successful appeals are won on facts, not arguments. Start with the property record card held by the El Dorado County assessor: wrong square footage, an extra room, or a missing homestead exemption are common and fixable. Next, line your assessed value up against recent sales of genuinely similar homes nearby. Many disputes end at an informal conversation with the assessor's office; if yours does not, file the formal appeal with the review board named on your notice before its deadline, evidence attached, and keep paying the bill in the meantime so penalties do not build up.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the median property tax in El Dorado County, California?
The median real estate tax paid in El Dorado County, California is $4,510 per year, on a median home value of $640,500 (US Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, 2023).
What is the effective property tax rate in El Dorado County, California?
The derived effective rate is 0.70% — the median bill ($4,510) expressed as a share of the median home value ($640,500). No authority sets a rate this way; it exists to make counties with different home prices comparable.
How does El Dorado County compare with the rest of California?
El Dorado County ranks #20 of 58 California counties with published data by median taxes paid. Its median bill of $4,510 is about 8% lower than the California median of $4,926.
How are property taxes calculated in El Dorado County, California?
Three steps produce the bill: an assessment of market value by the local assessor, a reduction for exemptions you qualify for (a homestead exemption is the common one), and multiplication by the combined rates of the county, municipality, school district and any special districts covering the property. The median result in El Dorado County is $4,510 of tax on a $640,500 median home value.
Can I appeal my property tax assessment in El Dorado County, California?
You can. Pull your property record card from the El Dorado County assessor, verify its details, and compare the assessed value against similar homes that sold recently. If the value still seems too high, submit a formal appeal to the board named on your notice before the stated deadline — usually a 30-to-90-day window.