Cordelia, Fairfield vs Foster City
Cordelia, Fairfield carries an effective property tax rate of 1.18% of assessed value and Foster City carries 1.10%, both for fiscal year 2025-26. On one identical reference loan the monthly carrying costs are $9,864 and $9,760 — $104 apart, with Foster City lower. To Sunnyvale / Mountain View at AM peak the fastest published commutes are 95 min by car from Cordelia, Fairfield and 30 min by car from Foster City. Every figure is an objective public metric or arithmetic on one, and names its source.
Cordelia, Fairfield (Solano County) · Foster City (San Mateo County)
| Metric | Cordelia, Fairfield | Foster City | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median $/sqft (SFR) | $380 | $1,000 | −$620 |
| Effective tax rate | 1.18% | 1.10% | +0.078% |
| Monthly cost, reference loan | $9,864 | $9,760 | +$104 |
| FiDi SF (Montgomery St BART) — BART | 85 min | 58 min | +27 min |
| FiDi SF (Montgomery St BART) — Drive | 75 min | 45 min | +30 min |
| Oakland City Center (12th St BART) — BART | 70 min | 70 min | 0 min |
| Oakland City Center (12th St BART) — Drive | 60 min | 40 min | +20 min |
| Sunnyvale / Mountain View (Sunnyvale Caltrain) — Drive | 95 min | 30 min | +65 min |
Difference is Cordelia, Fairfield minus Foster City. Sources are cited on each submarket page.
Foster City carries $620 more per square foot than Fairfield (Cordelia) — 163% — and that single spread decides most searches that start with both names on the list. The tax rates land 1.18% in Fairfield (Cordelia) against 1.10% in Foster City, close enough that price per foot, not the levy, is what moves the payment.
What the same money buys
$1.4M in Foster City is a 1,600-1,900 sq ft townhome or a small 1970s three-bedroom detached of roughly 1,400 sq ft. Against that, $1.4M in Cordelia is a 3,500-4,200 sq ft home in Green Valley, Rancho Solano or Paradise Valley with a three-car garage and pool. Posted medians are $380 per square foot in Fairfield (Cordelia) and $1,000 in Foster City, a $620 spread.
Carrying $1,600,000 in each
Modelled the same way in both ($1,600,000 purchase, 20% down, 6.5% fixed, $2,400 insurance, dues excluded), Fairfield (Cordelia) totals $9,864 a month at 1.18% and Foster City $9,760 at 1.10% — tax lines of $1,573 and $1,469. The 1990s Green Valley core in Cordelia largely carries no Mello-Roos. Foster City's 2018 levee improvement assessment shows as its own line at $200-$400.
Getting to work
To Sunnyvale / Mountain View (Sunnyvale Caltrain): 95 minutes by driving from Fairfield (Cordelia), 30 by driving from Foster City — a 65-minute edge to Foster City, or 10.8 hours across a ten-trip week. The Fairfield-Vacaville Capitol Corridor station is 15 minutes from Cordelia, then 65 minutes to Emeryville. Foster City has no Caltrain; Hillsdale station is a 10-12 minute drive, then a 30-35 minute Baby Bullet.
What the disclosure stack holds
Green Valley and the hills west of I-680 are mapped High fire hazard. Lenders still sometimes ask for Foster City flood coverage; $500-$1,200 a year is the conservative quote. Pull the parcel's own mapping — CAL FIRE severity zone, FEMA flood panel, CGS liquefaction zone — and get a written quote before the contingency date.
The housing need each answers
Cordelia works for remote work with two Bay drive days a week. Foster City is the answer when lagoon townhome living beats a fixer.
Sources. Rate and payment figures: Solano County Tax Rate Book FY 2025-26; City of Fairfield CFD reports; San Mateo County Tax Rate Book FY 2025-26, as composited in build/assets/metrics.json — unverified at tax-rate-area level, so read the bill. Minutes shown are AM-peak and door to door, from data/commute/static.csv. The per-foot medians are trailing and carry no appraisal weight; the neighborhood detail is first-hand broker observation.
Compare any two submarkets
| Metric | Cordelia, Fairfield | Foster City |
|---|---|---|
| Median $/sqft (SFR) | $380 | $1,000 |
| Effective tax rate | 1.18% | 1.10% |
| Monthly cost, reference loan | $9,864 | $9,760 |
| Fastest to FiDi SF (Montgomery St BART) | 75 min | 45 min |
| Fastest to Oakland City Center (12th St BART) | 60 min | 40 min |
| Fastest to Sunnyvale / Mountain View (Sunnyvale Caltrain) | 95 min | 30 min |
Same reference loan on both sides; the tax line is the only variable. Commute figures are door-to-door AM-peak estimates. Sources are listed on each submarket page.
Cordelia, Fairfield detail
| Component | Rate of assessed value |
|---|---|
| Prop 13 general levy | 1.000% |
| County / city voter-approved bonds | 0.010% |
| School district measures | 0.090% |
| Mello-Roos / CFD assessment | 0.080% |
| Effective rate | 1.18% |
| Mello-Roos / CFD | Yes |
Source: Solano County Tax Rate Book FY 2025-26; City of Fairfield CFD reports (Solano County), composited in
build/assets/metrics.json.
Tax Rate Area not yet verified parcel-by-parcel — confirm the rate on the parcel’s own tax bill.
Foster City detail
| Component | Rate of assessed value |
|---|---|
| Prop 13 general levy | 1.000% |
| County / city voter-approved bonds | 0.010% |
| School district measures | 0.092% |
| Effective rate | 1.10% |
| Mello-Roos / CFD | None recorded |
Source: San Mateo County Tax Rate Book FY 2025-26 (San Mateo County), composited in
build/assets/metrics.json.
Tax Rate Area not yet verified parcel-by-parcel — confirm the rate on the parcel’s own tax bill.
Cordelia, Fairfield vs Foster City: questions and answers
- Which has the lower effective property tax rate, Cordelia, Fairfield or Foster City?
- Foster City, at 1.10% of assessed value against 1.18% for fiscal year 2025-26 — a gap of 0.080%. Rates are composited from county tax rate books; each parcel bill governs.
- How much do monthly carrying costs differ between Cordelia, Fairfield and Foster City?
- $104 per month on the identical reference loan: Cordelia, Fairfield $9,864, Foster City $9,760. Foster City is lower. Principal and interest are held constant, so the difference is the tax line. Arithmetic only.
- Which has the shorter commute to Sunnyvale / Mountain View, Cordelia, Fairfield or Foster City?
- Foster City. Cordelia, Fairfield is 95 min by car; Foster City is 30 min by car. Door-to-door, AM peak. Source: data/commute/static.csv.
- What is the price per square foot difference between Cordelia, Fairfield and Foster City?
- $620 per square foot: Cordelia, Fairfield $380, Foster City $1,000. Single-family medians, trailing twelve months. A median is not a valuation of any specific property.