San Diego County properties now valued at record $845 billion – San Diego Union-Tribune

San Diego County’s land value has continued to reach new heights despite economic strains.

The county’s assessed value of all taxable property — including residential, commercial and industrial land — is now at a record $845 billion, the Assessor’s Office said Thursday. It rose by 4.86%, or $39 billion, from Jan. 1, 2025, to Jan. 1, 2026. That was down from 4.95% growth last year, 5.58% in 2024 and 7.1% in 2023.

Much of the slowed growth was tied to a sluggish home market, which has seen prices rise 1.05% annually. Also, the homeownership rate has showed signs of pressure, which means less property tax revenue.

The number of San Diego County residents asking for a homeowner exemption — a moderate tax savings for declaring a property as a primary residence — has fallen every year since 2019, said data from the Assessor’s Office. As of January, 450,209 had applied for the exemption, down 1.2% in a year and a drop of 8% since 2019.

It’s up to homeowners to fill out the exemption, but the Assessor’s Office often reaches out to property owners that may have not applied yet (with multiple mailings in case there isn’t a response). It is an early indicator that the homeownership rate in San Diego County is decreasing because Census data often lags by a year or more.

Even with slower growth, an increase in tax revenue is a boon for county services. Taxes are used to pay for schools, libraries, parks, public safety and other government services. It’s also been consistent for county planners because the value of San Diego County land has climbed almost every year for more than 30 years, except for three decreases during the Great Recession in the late 2000s.

The $845 billion assessed value of San Diego County is one of the largest in the United States. Looking at property tax rolls, San Diego County would rank third behind only Los Angeles and Orange counties. (The way assessed value is calculated throughout the U.S. varies so a true comparison with other states is difficult.)

Residential properties make up the vast majority of taxable land in the county with 1,021,998 parcels. They are followed by 54,454 business properties, 15,033 boats and 1,576 aircraft. A troubling sign for economic watchers: The county lost 1,024 business properties in a year.

San Diego County has yet to match its pre-pandemic tax rolls for businesses. There were 57,699 business accounts in 2019, dropping 2% in 2020 and 5% in 2021. The number had been steadily increasing 1% to 2% each year before a drop of 2.5% in 2025 and 1.9% this year.

There were tax savings for most homeowners. Californians benefit for Proposition 13, which limits annual property tax increases to 2%. The 1978 law covered 93%, or 950,652, of county properties this year.

There were other opportunities for limited taxes in San Diego County. A program to reduce property taxes for 22,817 disabled veterans (or surviving spouses) saved them $40.8 million, and other programs for seniors, small businesses, affordable and homeless housing projects, museums, arts, and other charitable organizations equaled $270 million in property tax savings.

Aggressive outreach since 2018 to disabled veterans in San Diego County meant there were more veterans in the program than Los Angeles and Orange counties combined, even though they have more veterans, said Assessor Jordan Marks. The program does reduce San Diego County coffers, but savings for families often go directly into the care of injured veterans. For its efforts, the Assessor’s Office has received awards from the San Diego County Taxpayers Association and the California State Board of Equalization.

“Thanks to my assessor team’s award-winning proactive outreach,” Marks said, “we were able to deliver more housing affordability than ever before for over 22,000 of our disabled veteran homeowners here in San Diego County.”

In terms of specific areas, the city of San Diego had the highest assessed land value at $402.8 billion. It was followed by Carlsbad at $50.8 billion, Chula Vista at $48.8 billion and Oceanside at $38.4 billion. The lowest assessed values were in Imperial Beach and Lemon Grove, both at $3.8 billion.

Poway, at $17.2 billion, saw the biggest growth in land value, increasing 8.7% in a year as of Jan. 1. The lowest was National City, at $6.5 billion, up 3.5% in a year.