The median commercial property tax rate in Carlsbad was 0.4% in fiscal year 2025, marking the lowest among San Diego County cities, BlockShopper.com reports.
The countywide median commercial property tax rate reached 0.7% during fiscal year 2025, making Carlsbad’s median 0.3 percentage points below the overall figure.
Across San Diego County’s 11 cities, commercial property tax rates spanned from 0.4% in Carlsbad to 1.1% in Escondido.
In fiscal year 2024, Carlsbad’s median commercial property tax rate was 0.9%, placing it fifth in the county rankings at that time.
The average commercial property tax rate was 1.76% among 53 major U.S. cities in 2024, according to data from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. The analysis found a $1 million property with $200,000 in fixtures saw an annual tax bill of approximately $21,060. Commercial rates in those cities ranged from well under 1% to as high as 4%.
In several states, classification systems may drive higher effective property tax rates for commercial, industrial and apartment buildings than for residential properties. In certain localities, businesses face tax rates many times greater than those paid by residential owners. As one example, Charleston’s commercial property tax rate can be up to six times as high.
| Rank | City | Tax Rate % |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Escondido | 1.1% |
| 2 | Santee | 1% |
| 3 | El Cajon | 0.8% |
| 4 | Encinitas | 0.7% |
| 4 | National City | 0.7% |
| 4 | La Mesa | 0.7% |
| 4 | San Diego | 0.7% |
| 8 | Oceanside | 0.6% |
| 9 | Buena | 0.5% |
| 9 | Poway | 0.5% |
| 11 | Carlsbad | 0.4% |
| Rank | Address | Tax Rate % |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2965 Roosevelt St. | 0.5% |
| 2 | 363 Carlsbad Village Drive | 0.3% |
Note: Some property addresses may be unavailable or incomplete due to limitations with county assessor data.
Data in this article comes from BlockShopper.com. Source data is available here.