Los Angeles has the steepest transfer tax cliff in California. Below its first threshold the rate is unremarkable; above it, the tax multiplies roughly eightfold. Whether a sale is a few thousand dollars either side of that line changes the bill by more than most people pay for a car.
Combined city and county rate, applied to the whole sale price.
| Sale price | Combined rate |
|---|---|
| Up to $5.3m | 0.56% |
| $5.3m – $10.6m | 4.56% |
| Over $10.6m | 6.06% |
Rates from California City Documentary and Property Transfer Tax Rates , CaliforniaCityFinance.com — California Local Government Finance Almanac, effective 1 December 2025. Rates change by local ballot measure — check that date before relying on a figure.
Every figure below is calculated from the rates above. The last column is what the same sale would owe in a California city with no transfer tax of its own, where only the county’s $1.10 per $1,000 applies.
| Sale price | Effective rate | Transfer tax in Los Angeles | Elsewhere in CA |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1,000,000 | 0.56% | $5,600 | $1,100 |
| $2,500,000 | 0.56% | $14,000 | $2,750 |
| $5,250,000 | 0.56% | $29,400 | $5,775 |
| $5,400,000 | 4.56% | $246,240 | $5,940 |
| $8,000,000 | 4.56% | $364,800 | $8,800 |
| $12,000,000 | 6.06% | $727,200 | $13,200 |
The additional tax above the thresholds comes from Measure ULA — United to House LA — approved by City of Los Angeles voters in November 2022 and in force since April 2023. It funds affordable housing and homelessness prevention, and it sits on top of the city’s existing documentary transfer tax rather than replacing it. The thresholds are adjusted annually, so the figures on this page carry the date of the rate table they come from.
The reason the jump is so severe is that ULA is a slab rate, not a marginal one. Crossing the threshold does not tax the excess at the higher rate — it re-rates the entire sale price. This is the single most misunderstood feature of the tax, and it is why sales cluster immediately below each threshold.
ULA applies to property inside the City of Los Angeles. It does not apply across Los Angeles County, and this catches people out constantly, because the county contains 88 cities. A property in Beverly Hills, Pasadena or Malibu is in Los Angeles County but not in the City of Los Angeles, and owes no ULA — those three levy no city transfer tax at all, so a sale there pays only the county’s $1.10 per $1,000.
Santa Monica and Culver City are also outside the City of Los Angeles, but both levy substantial transfer taxes of their own, on their own thresholds. The city line matters more than the postal address suggests, and on a high-value sale it is worth confirming which side of it a property sits on before anything is signed.
Transfer tax on a $1,000,000 sale, so the cities are directly comparable. At other prices the order can change — these are tiered taxes.
"Mansion tax" is the informal name for Measure ULA, the additional documentary transfer tax the City of Los Angeles applies above its thresholds. The name is misleading in two ways: it applies to commercial property as well as residential, and it is charged on the sale price rather than on any assessment of whether a property is a mansion.
No. It applies only within the City of Los Angeles. Beverly Hills, Pasadena and Malibu are in Los Angeles County but outside the city, and levy no city transfer tax at all. Santa Monica and Culver City are also outside the city but levy their own separate transfer taxes.
No, and this is the costly misunderstanding. It is a slab rate: once the sale price crosses a threshold, the higher rate applies to the whole price, not just to the portion above it. Two thousand dollars of extra sale price at the threshold can add more than two hundred thousand dollars of tax.
No statute assigns it. Across Southern California the seller customarily pays, but that is county custom rather than law, which means it is negotiable — and on a sale above the thresholds it is worth negotiating explicitly rather than assuming.
The calculator opens preset to Los Angeles and shows transfer tax alongside escrow, title, recording and the rest. Free, and no account.
KindHome is a technology platform operated by KCF LLC, not a licensed brokerage, law firm or tax adviser. This page explains published rates; it is not tax advice. Confirm anything consequential with your escrow officer.