Cordelia, Fairfield vs Midtown, Palo Alto
Cordelia, Fairfield carries an effective property tax rate of 1.18% of assessed value and Midtown, Palo Alto carries 1.17%, both for fiscal year 2025-26. On one identical reference loan the monthly carrying costs are $9,864 and $9,853 — $11 apart, with Midtown, Palo Alto lower. To Sunnyvale / Mountain View at AM peak the fastest published commutes are 95 min by car from Cordelia, Fairfield and 18 min by Caltrain from Midtown, Palo Alto. Every figure is an objective public metric or arithmetic on one, and names its source.
Cordelia, Fairfield (Solano County) · Midtown, Palo Alto (Santa Clara County)
| Metric | Cordelia, Fairfield | Midtown, Palo Alto | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median $/sqft (SFR) | $380 | $1,900 | −$1,520 |
| Effective tax rate | 1.18% | 1.17% | +0.008% |
| Monthly cost, reference loan | $9,864 | $9,853 | +$11 |
| FiDi SF (Montgomery St BART) — Drive | 75 min | 65 min | +10 min |
| Oakland City Center (12th St BART) — BART | 70 min | 90 min | −20 min |
| Oakland City Center (12th St BART) — Drive | 60 min | 50 min | +10 min |
| Sunnyvale / Mountain View (Sunnyvale Caltrain) — Drive | 95 min | 18 min | +77 min |
Difference is Cordelia, Fairfield minus Midtown, Palo Alto. Sources are cited on each submarket page.
Palo Alto (Midtown) carries $1,520 more per square foot than Fairfield (Cordelia) — 400% — 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 1.17% in Palo Alto (Midtown), close enough that price per foot, not the levy, is what moves the payment.
What the same money buys
$1.4M in Midtown Palo Alto does not buy detached; it buys a 1,000-1,200 sq ft condo, townhome or duplex share. Against that, cordelia offers the most square footage per dollar on I-80 west of Vacaville. Posted medians are $380 per square foot in Fairfield (Cordelia) and $1,900 in Palo Alto (Midtown), a $1,520 spread.
Carrying $1,600,000 in each
Against an identical $1,600,000 note at 6.5% with 20% down and $2,400 a year of coverage, Fairfield (Cordelia) totals $9,864 a month at 1.18% and Palo Alto (Midtown) $9,853 at 1.17% — tax lines of $1,573 and $1,563. Newer Cordelia tracts including Gold Ridge and recent Green Valley phases carry Mello-Roos of $1,000-$3,000 a year. Palo Alto runs its own municipal utility, so utility rates are set locally.
Getting to work
To Sunnyvale / Mountain View (Sunnyvale Caltrain): 95 minutes by driving from Fairfield (Cordelia), 18 by Caltrain from Palo Alto (Midtown) — a 77-minute edge to Palo Alto (Midtown), or 12.8 hours across a ten-trip week. The Fairfield-Vacaville Capitol Corridor station is 15 minutes from Cordelia, then 65 minutes to Emeryville. Palo Alto Caltrain is 10 minutes from Midtown by bike or car; the Baby Bullet is 33 minutes to 4th and King.
Fire, flood and the premium
The 2020 LNU Lightning Complex burned to the edge of Cordelia's developed area. Standard fire carriers write Midtown; the Foothill and Palo Alto Hills homes west of 280 are mapped High instead. Run the address through CAL FIRE's severity-zone viewer, the FEMA Flood Map Service Center and the CGS seismic hazard maps, and treat the premium quote as a contingency item.
Choosing between them
Cordelia is the answer when square footage per dollar is the governing constraint. Midtown is the answer when the bike commute is the point.
Sources. Tax figures come from Solano County Tax Rate Book FY 2025-26; City of Fairfield CFD reports; Santa Clara County Tax Rate Book FY 2025-26, composited in build/assets/metrics.json. They are county-level and not yet verified at the TRA, so the parcel's bill governs. Travel times are AM-peak door-to-door estimates 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 | Midtown, Palo Alto |
|---|---|---|
| Median $/sqft (SFR) | $380 | $1,900 |
| Effective tax rate | 1.18% | 1.17% |
| Monthly cost, reference loan | $9,864 | $9,853 |
| Fastest to FiDi SF (Montgomery St BART) | 75 min | 65 min |
| Fastest to Oakland City Center (12th St BART) | 60 min | 50 min |
| Fastest to Sunnyvale / Mountain View (Sunnyvale Caltrain) | 95 min | 18 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.
Midtown, Palo Alto detail
| Component | Rate of assessed value |
|---|---|
| Prop 13 general levy | 1.000% |
| County / city voter-approved bonds | 0.045% |
| School district measures | 0.127% |
| Effective rate | 1.17% |
| Mello-Roos / CFD | None recorded |
Source: Santa Clara County Tax Rate Book FY 2025-26 (Santa Clara 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 Midtown, Palo Alto: questions and answers
- Which has the lower effective property tax rate, Cordelia, Fairfield or Midtown, Palo Alto?
- Midtown, Palo Alto, at 1.17% of assessed value against 1.18% for fiscal year 2025-26 — a gap of 0.010%. Rates are composited from county tax rate books; each parcel bill governs.
- How much do monthly carrying costs differ between Cordelia, Fairfield and Midtown, Palo Alto?
- $11 per month on the identical reference loan: Cordelia, Fairfield $9,864, Midtown, Palo Alto $9,853. Midtown, Palo Alto 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 Midtown, Palo Alto?
- Midtown, Palo Alto. Cordelia, Fairfield is 95 min by car; Midtown, Palo Alto is 18 min by Caltrain. Door-to-door, AM peak. Source: data/commute/static.csv.
- What is the price per square foot difference between Cordelia, Fairfield and Midtown, Palo Alto?
- $1,520 per square foot: Cordelia, Fairfield $380, Midtown, Palo Alto $1,900. Single-family medians, trailing twelve months. A median is not a valuation of any specific property.