Midtown, Palo Alto vs Vacaville
Midtown, Palo Alto carries an effective property tax rate of 1.17% of assessed value and Vacaville carries 1.09%, both for fiscal year 2025-26. On one identical reference loan the monthly carrying costs are $9,853 and $9,737 — $116 apart, with Vacaville lower. To Sunnyvale / Mountain View at AM peak the fastest published commutes are 18 min by Caltrain from Midtown, Palo Alto and 105 min by car from Vacaville. Every figure is an objective public metric or arithmetic on one, and names its source.
Midtown, Palo Alto (Santa Clara County) · Vacaville (Solano County)
| Metric | Midtown, Palo Alto | Vacaville | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median $/sqft (SFR) | $1,900 | $360 | +$1,540 |
| Effective tax rate | 1.17% | 1.09% | +0.087% |
| Monthly cost, reference loan | $9,853 | $9,737 | +$116 |
| FiDi SF (Montgomery St BART) — Drive | 65 min | 85 min | −20 min |
| Oakland City Center (12th St BART) — BART | 90 min | 80 min | +10 min |
| Oakland City Center (12th St BART) — Drive | 50 min | 70 min | −20 min |
| Sunnyvale / Mountain View (Sunnyvale Caltrain) — Drive | 18 min | 105 min | −87 min |
Difference is Midtown, Palo Alto minus Vacaville. Sources are cited on each submarket page.
Palo Alto (Midtown) carries $1,540 more per square foot than Vacaville — 428% — and that single spread decides most searches that start with both names on the list. The tax rates land 1.17% in Palo Alto (Midtown) against 1.09% in Vacaville, close enough that price per foot, not the levy, is what moves the payment.
What the same money buys
Midtown Palo Alto comps run $1,800-$2,200 per square foot for detached. $1.4M in Vacaville is 4,000-plus sq ft on a half-acre to two acres in Browns Valley or Pleasants Valley. The median foot costs $1,900 in Palo Alto (Midtown) against $360 in Vacaville; on a 2,000 sq ft house that is $3,080,000 of purchase price.
What the bill looks like
Against an identical $1,600,000 note at 6.5% with 20% down and $2,400 a year of coverage, Palo Alto (Midtown) totals $9,853 a month at 1.17% and Vacaville $9,737 at 1.09% — tax lines of $1,563 and $1,447. Palo Alto runs its own municipal utility, so utility rates are set locally. Vacaville HOAs run $50-$120 a month in newer tracts and are absent on acreage.
Commute, measured
To Sunnyvale / Mountain View (Sunnyvale Caltrain): 18 minutes by Caltrain from Palo Alto (Midtown), 105 by driving from Vacaville — a 87-minute edge to Palo Alto (Midtown), or 14.5 hours across a ten-trip week. Stanford is 10 minutes from Midtown, Google Mountain View 15, Apple Cupertino 25-35, and the Bryant Street bike boulevard carries a lot of it. The Fairfield-Vacaville Capitol Corridor station is 10 minutes from most of Vacaville, then 65 minutes to Emeryville.
Fire, flood and the premium
Standard fire carriers write Midtown; the Foothill and Palo Alto Hills homes west of 280 are mapped High instead. Browns Valley, Pleasants Valley and the English Hills are mapped High fire hazard. 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.
The housing need each answers
Midtown works for a buyer who will take attached housing to stay in the corridor. Vacaville answers a commute toward Sacramento, Davis, Travis or Genentech.
Sources. Tax figures come from Santa Clara County Tax Rate Book FY 2025-26; Solano 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. Median price per foot is a trailing figure, not a valuation, and the local detail comes from the broker's own transactions.
Compare any two submarkets
| Metric | Midtown, Palo Alto | Vacaville |
|---|---|---|
| Median $/sqft (SFR) | $1,900 | $360 |
| Effective tax rate | 1.17% | 1.09% |
| Monthly cost, reference loan | $9,853 | $9,737 |
| Fastest to FiDi SF (Montgomery St BART) | 65 min | 85 min |
| Fastest to Oakland City Center (12th St BART) | 50 min | 70 min |
| Fastest to Sunnyvale / Mountain View (Sunnyvale Caltrain) | 18 min | 105 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.
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.
Vacaville detail
| Component | Rate of assessed value |
|---|---|
| Prop 13 general levy | 1.000% |
| County / city voter-approved bonds | 0.010% |
| School district measures | 0.075% |
| Effective rate | 1.08% |
| Mello-Roos / CFD | None recorded |
Source: Solano County Tax Rate Book FY 2025-26 (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 vs Vacaville: questions and answers
- Which has the lower effective property tax rate, Midtown, Palo Alto or Vacaville?
- Vacaville, at 1.09% of assessed value against 1.17% 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 Midtown, Palo Alto and Vacaville?
- $116 per month on the identical reference loan: Midtown, Palo Alto $9,853, Vacaville $9,737. Vacaville 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, Midtown, Palo Alto or Vacaville?
- Midtown, Palo Alto. Midtown, Palo Alto is 18 min by Caltrain; Vacaville is 105 min by car. Door-to-door, AM peak. Source: data/commute/static.csv.
- What is the price per square foot difference between Midtown, Palo Alto and Vacaville?
- $1,540 per square foot: Midtown, Palo Alto $1,900, Vacaville $360. Single-family medians, trailing twelve months. A median is not a valuation of any specific property.