Blog > San Jose Transfer Tax Calculator (2026): Measure E, City and County Rates
San Jose Transfer Tax Calculator (2026): Measure E, City and County Rates
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Selling or buying in San Jose? When the deed records, up to three transfer taxes come due: Santa Clara County’s, the city’s own, and Measure E on sales over $2.3 million. Here’s what each one costs at common prices, how many San Jose sales crossed the Measure E line, and who usually pays. To try your own price, open our transfer tax calculator.
The short answer
- County tax: $1.10 per $1,000 of the price ($0.55 per $500).
- San Jose city tax: $3.30 per $1,000.
- Measure E: on sales over $2.3 million (since July 1, 2025; before that, $2 million or more): 0.75% of the whole price up to $5 million, 1% from $5 million to $10 million and 1.5% above $10 million.
- Examples: $6,600 on a $1.5 million sale, $10,120 on $2.3 million and $29,750 on $2.5 million.
- Who usually pays: by local custom, per a 2024 Bay Area title-company chart, the seller pays the county tax and the buyer and seller split any city tax 50/50. All of it is negotiable, and the purchase contract decides.
Run your own numbers
- Our transfer tax calculator figures the total and the usual split at any price for San Francisco and the 31 Silicon Valley and Peninsula cities we cover.
- The seller net sheet adds commission, escrow and title to see what you’d walk away with.
- Talk to a Property Nerd about your sale or purchase.
San Jose transfer tax at common prices
| Sale price | County tax | City tax | Measure E | Total | Buyer’s share* | Seller’s share* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $750,000 | $825 | $2,475 | $0 | $3,300 | $1,238 | $2,062 |
| $1,000,000 | $1,100 | $3,300 | $0 | $4,400 | $1,650 | $2,750 |
| $1,250,000 | $1,375 | $4,125 | $0 | $5,500 | $2,063 | $3,437 |
| $1,500,000 | $1,650 | $4,950 | $0 | $6,600 | $2,475 | $4,125 |
| $1,750,000 | $1,925 | $5,775 | $0 | $7,700 | $2,888 | $4,812 |
| $2,000,000 | $2,200 | $6,600 | $0 | $8,800 | $3,300 | $5,500 |
| $2,250,000 | $2,475 | $7,425 | $0 | $9,900 | $3,713 | $6,187 |
| $2,300,000 | $2,530 | $7,590 | $0 | $10,120 | $3,795 | $6,325 |
| $2,350,000 | $2,585 | $7,755 | $17,625 | $27,965 | $12,690 | $15,275 |
| $2,500,000 | $2,750 | $8,250 | $18,750 | $29,750 | $13,500 | $16,250 |
| $3,000,000 | $3,300 | $9,900 | $22,500 | $35,700 | $16,200 | $19,500 |
| $3,500,000 | $3,850 | $11,550 | $26,250 | $41,650 | $18,900 | $22,750 |
| $4,000,000 | $4,400 | $13,200 | $30,000 | $47,600 | $21,600 | $26,000 |
| $4,500,000 | $4,950 | $14,850 | $33,750 | $53,550 | $24,300 | $29,250 |
| $6,000,000 | $6,600 | $19,800 | $60,000 | $86,400 | $39,900 | $46,500 |
| $8,000,000 | $8,800 | $26,400 | $80,000 | $115,200 | $53,200 | $62,000 |
| $12,000,000 | $13,200 | $39,600 | $180,000 | $232,800 | $109,800 | $123,000 |
*By local custom; negotiable.
The $2.3 million line
Measure E is charged on the whole price, not just the part over the line. A sale at exactly $2,300,000 owes $10,120 in transfer tax; at $2,300,001 it owes $27,372, so the last dollar costs $17,252.
- How often it applies: 915 of the 7,150 San Jose sales from July 1, 2025 to October 27, 2026 closed over $2.3 million (13%), all but one of them houses.
- Sales bunch just below it: 109 sales closed between $2,250,001 and $2,300,000 (26 of them at exactly $2,300,000), and 42 between $2,300,001 and $2,350,000.
- Over $5 million: 14 sales, where the rate steps up to 1%.
- For a typical San Jose house (the median of the past 12 months, $1.65M), the total is $7,260; Measure E doesn’t apply.
If your price lands just over the line, talk through it with your agent and escrow officer before you set the price or sign: who pays Measure E is up to the contract.
Good to know
- Check the city limits. A mailing address isn’t always the city: some homes with a San Jose address sit in unincorporated county land, where only the county tax applies. Your escrow officer confirms it from the parcel’s tax rate area.
- It’s paid at closing. Escrow collects the taxes from the buyer’s and seller’s funds and pays them when the deed records.
- Other cities differ. Most of Santa Clara County charges only the county tax; Palo Alto and Mountain View add their own. See the Santa Clara County transfer tax by city.
How we figured it
Each tax is computed the way county and city tables state it: the county tax is $0.55 for each $500 of price or part of $500, and the city rates apply to the price as shown above. Sale counts are closed sales of houses, condos and townhomes reported to the MLS and read through the IDX feeds that power our home search, with repeat records removed (same MLS number and sale date); a sale is placed by the city in its MLS address. This is general information, not tax or legal advice; your escrow officer’s figures are the ones that count.
Sources
- Santa Clara County Clerk-Recorder: documentary transfer tax
- City of San Jose: Measure E, Real Property Transfer Tax
Go deeper
See the transfer tax calculator, transfer tax for every city we cover, San Jose housing market by the numbers and San Jose houses under $1.5 million.
Buying or selling? Ask a Property Nerd
We’ll walk you through every closing cost before you sign, including who pays which transfer tax in your contract. Call (408) 373-1660 or (650) 383-8606, or book a strategy call. Commissions are negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what’s included.