Property Tax 101

The median property tax (also known as real estate tax) in Santa Cruz County is $3,661.00 per year, based on a median home value of $648,700.00 and a median effective property tax rate of 0.56% of property value.

Santa Cruz County collects relatively high property taxes, and is ranked in the top half of all counties in the United States by property tax collections. Of the fifty-eight counties in California, Santa Cruz County is ranked 8th by median property taxes, and 42nd by median tax as percentage of home value.

Santa Cruz County's higher property taxes are partially due to property values, as the median home value in Santa Cruz County is $648,700.00. For comparison, the state-wide median property value is $384,200.00

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8th out of 58 By median yearly property tax

42nd out of 58 By percentage of median home value

3rd out of 58 By percentage of median income

You can see how Santa Cruz County (highlighted in green) compares to the fifty-eight other counties in California with the bar chart above, sorted by median property tax in dollars. For a visual map of county property tax rates in California, see our California county property tax map.

Remember: Real estate prices also play a large part in which California counties have the highest and lowest median property taxes. Higher-valued properties will generally have higher taxes, even if the median percentage of home value levied as property tax is different. For comparisons, you can also use Percentage Of Home Value.

Property tax assessments in Santa Cruz County are the responsibility of the Santa Cruz County Tax Assessor, whose office is located in Santa Cruz, California.

If you need to pay your property tax bill, ask about a property tax assessment, look up the Santa Cruz County property tax due date, or find property tax records, visit the Santa Cruz County Tax Assessor's page. Applications for the Santa Cruz County homestead exemption, any property tax appeals, and applications for a current use tax reduction must also be submitted to the Santa Cruz County Assessor's Office.

For some properties, you can easily find the most recent tax assessment by looking up the property address with our property records search. You can also use our Santa Cruz County Property Tax Calculator to estimate your property tax based on median tax values (results open in new page).