Davis runs above the Yolo County median of about 1.32% and well above the California median near 1.21% (median bill divided by market value, April 2026). The spread inside the city is wider than the gap between cities: roughly 1.33% at the 25th percentile up to about 1.98% at the 90th. That is the fingerprint of flat charges, not of a high ad-valorem rate. Budget separately for the one-time supplemental bill that arrives about a year after closing.

A Davis tax bill can carry as many as six separate Davis Joint Unified charges — two bonds, two parcel taxes and two community facilities districts — on top of the city’s Measure O open-space special tax, which runs through June 2031. Measure N, the school parcel tax renewed by voters in March 2024, is about $768 a year; CFD No. 1 is about $327. Exemptions exist for Measures G and N and a 50% exemption for CFD No. 1, but there is no exemption for the 2000 bond, the 2018 bond, or CFD No. 2.

Because these are fixed dollars, a $400k Davis house pays the same school charges as an $900k one — and a much higher effective rate.

Davis sits on flat, irrigated valley floor with no wildland interface inside the city, so it is largely outside the High and Very High zones on CAL FIRE’s 2025 maps and most homes remain insurable on the standard admitted market. That is a real advantage over the foothill markets east and west of here — but still pull the parcel’s zone and get a written quote before removing your contingency.

Valley Clean Energy, the locally governed community choice aggregator, has been the default electricity provider in Davis since June 2018 and appears as a line item on the PG&E bill. It is worth understanding what that does and does not change: VCE buys the power, PG&E still owns the poles and does the billing, so a Davis bill tracks PG&E territory pricing rather than the far cheaper municipal utilities elsewhere in the region. Budget in the PG&E range — roughly $290/mo at 750 kWh as of June 2026 — not the SMUD or Roseville Electric range.