Mission San Jose, Fremont vs Vacaville
Mission San Jose, Fremont carries an effective property tax rate of 1.15% of assessed value and Vacaville carries 1.09%, both for fiscal year 2025-26. On one identical reference loan the monthly carrying costs are $9,817 and $9,737 — $80 apart, with Vacaville lower. To Sunnyvale / Mountain View at AM peak the fastest published commutes are 35 min by car from Mission San Jose, Fremont and 105 min by car from Vacaville. Every figure is an objective public metric or arithmetic on one, and names its source.
Mission San Jose, Fremont (Alameda County) · Vacaville (Solano County)
| Metric | Mission San Jose, Fremont | Vacaville | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median $/sqft (SFR) | $1,050 | $360 | +$690 |
| Effective tax rate | 1.15% | 1.09% | +0.060% |
| Monthly cost, reference loan | $9,817 | $9,737 | +$80 |
| FiDi SF (Montgomery St BART) — BART | 65 min | 95 min | −30 min |
| FiDi SF (Montgomery St BART) — Drive | 65 min | 85 min | −20 min |
| Oakland City Center (12th St BART) — BART | 45 min | 80 min | −35 min |
| Oakland City Center (12th St BART) — Drive | 45 min | 70 min | −25 min |
| Sunnyvale / Mountain View (Sunnyvale Caltrain) — Drive | 35 min | 105 min | −70 min |
Difference is Mission San Jose, Fremont minus Vacaville. Sources are cited on each submarket page.
Vacaville is the cheaper foot by $690, 66% below Fremont (Mission San Jose). What that buys is a different house, not a different bill: at $1,600,000 the two are $80 apart a month at 1.15% and 1.09%.
Square footage per dollar
Updated four-bedrooms in the Mission hills start at $2.2M, with the Weibel area in between. Vacaville comps run $330-$380 per square foot, the lowest in this set. At $1,050 and $360 per foot respectively, a fixed budget buys about 192% more floor area in Vacaville.
The monthly, matched
Against an identical $1,600,000 note at 6.5% with 20% down and $2,400 a year of coverage, Fremont (Mission San Jose) totals $9,817 a month at 1.15% and Vacaville $9,737 at 1.09% — tax lines of $1,527 and $1,447. No Mello-Roos in Mission San Jose. Vacaville's newer south and east tracts carry Mello-Roos of $1,000-$2,500 a year.
The trip each morning
To Sunnyvale / Mountain View (Sunnyvale Caltrain): 35 minutes by driving from Fremont (Mission San Jose), 105 by driving from Vacaville — a 70-minute edge to Fremont (Mission San Jose), or 11.7 hours across a ten-trip week. To Oakland City Center (12th St BART): 45 minutes by BART from Fremont (Mission San Jose), 70 by driving from Vacaville — a 25-minute edge to Fremont (Mission San Jose), or 4.2 hours across a ten-trip week. The Dumbarton Bridge puts Menlo Park 20 minutes from Mission San Jose at 6 a.m. and 50 at 8. The Fairfield-Vacaville Capitol Corridor station is 10 minutes from most of Vacaville, then 65 minutes to Emeryville.
Fire, flood and the premium
Slope stability on the Mission San Jose hill lots is an inspection item. Browns Valley, Pleasants Valley and the English Hills are mapped High fire hazard. 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.
Choosing between them
Mission San Jose works for a buyer who wants a detached house east of the Dumbarton. Vacaville is the answer when land is the requirement and rail is not. The decision is which requirement is load-bearing, because neither submarket satisfies both lists.
Sources. Tax figures come from Alameda County Tax Rates by TRA 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 | Mission San Jose, Fremont | Vacaville |
|---|---|---|
| Median $/sqft (SFR) | $1,050 | $360 |
| Effective tax rate | 1.15% | 1.09% |
| Monthly cost, reference loan | $9,817 | $9,737 |
| Fastest to FiDi SF (Montgomery St BART) | 65 min | 85 min |
| Fastest to Oakland City Center (12th St BART) | 45 min | 70 min |
| Fastest to Sunnyvale / Mountain View (Sunnyvale Caltrain) | 35 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.
Mission San Jose, Fremont detail
| Component | Rate of assessed value |
|---|---|
| Prop 13 general levy | 1.000% |
| County / city voter-approved bonds | 0.042% |
| School district measures | 0.103% |
| Effective rate | 1.15% |
| Mello-Roos / CFD | None recorded |
Source: Alameda County Tax Rates by TRA FY 2025-26 (Alameda 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.
Mission San Jose, Fremont vs Vacaville: questions and answers
- Which has the lower effective property tax rate, Mission San Jose, Fremont or Vacaville?
- Vacaville, at 1.09% of assessed value against 1.15% for fiscal year 2025-26 — a gap of 0.060%. Rates are composited from county tax rate books; each parcel bill governs.
- How much do monthly carrying costs differ between Mission San Jose, Fremont and Vacaville?
- $80 per month on the identical reference loan: Mission San Jose, Fremont $9,817, 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, Mission San Jose, Fremont or Vacaville?
- Mission San Jose, Fremont. Mission San Jose, Fremont is 35 min by car; 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 Mission San Jose, Fremont and Vacaville?
- $690 per square foot: Mission San Jose, Fremont $1,050, Vacaville $360. Single-family medians, trailing twelve months. A median is not a valuation of any specific property.