Piedmont vs Gale Ranch, San Ramon
Piedmont carries an effective property tax rate of 1.25% of assessed value and Gale Ranch, San Ramon carries 1.35%, both for fiscal year 2025-26. On one identical reference loan the monthly carrying costs are $9,960 and $10,086 — $127 apart, with Piedmont lower. To Oakland City Center at AM peak the fastest published commutes are 15 min by car from Piedmont and 45 min by BART from Gale Ranch, San Ramon. Every figure is an objective public metric or arithmetic on one, and names its source.
Piedmont (Alameda County) · Gale Ranch, San Ramon (Contra Costa County)
| Metric | Piedmont | Gale Ranch, San Ramon | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median $/sqft (SFR) | $1,200 | $700 | +$500 |
| Effective tax rate | 1.25% | 1.35% | −0.095% |
| Monthly cost, reference loan | $9,960 | $10,086 | −$127 |
| FiDi SF (Montgomery St BART) — BART | 35 min | 65 min | −30 min |
| FiDi SF (Montgomery St BART) — Drive | 35 min | 70 min | −35 min |
| Oakland City Center (12th St BART) — BART | 20 min | 45 min | −25 min |
| Oakland City Center (12th St BART) — Drive | 15 min | 45 min | −30 min |
| Sunnyvale / Mountain View (Sunnyvale Caltrain) — Drive | 65 min | 50 min | +15 min |
Difference is Piedmont minus Gale Ranch, San Ramon. Sources are cited on each submarket page.
Piedmont carries $500 more per square foot than San Ramon (Gale Ranch) — 71% — and that single spread decides most searches that start with both names on the list. The tax rates land 1.25% in Piedmont against 1.35% in San Ramon (Gale Ranch), close enough that price per foot, not the levy, is what moves the payment.
What the same money buys
Piedmont comps run $1,000-$1,150 per square foot; the Estates and Hampton sections start at $3M. $1.4M in Gale Ranch is a 2,400-2,800 sq ft four or five bedroom built 2000-2015 on a 4,500-6,000 sq ft lot. Posted medians are $1,200 per square foot in Piedmont and $700 in San Ramon (Gale Ranch), a $500 spread.
What the bill looks like
Modelled the same way in both ($1,600,000 purchase, 20% down, 6.5% fixed, $2,400 insurance, dues excluded), Piedmont totals $9,960 a month at 1.25% and San Ramon (Gale Ranch) $10,086 at 1.35% — tax lines of $1,669 and $1,796. No Mello-Roos and no HOA in Piedmont; the add-ons are all municipal. The San Ramon CFD pushes the all-in rate to 1.4-1.6 percent, with most districts running through the 2030s.
Getting to work
To FiDi SF (Montgomery St BART): 35 minutes by BART from Piedmont, 65 by BART from San Ramon (Gale Ranch) — a 30-minute edge to Piedmont, or 5.0 hours across a ten-trip week. Piedmont has no BART; Rockridge and MacArthur are each 8-10 minutes by car, then 15 minutes to Embarcadero. San Ramon has no BART; Dublin/Pleasanton is 12-15 minutes south, then 48-52 minutes to Embarcadero.
What the disclosure stack holds
Upper Piedmont non-renewals date to 2024. Calaveras Fault distance is the other San Ramon disclosure item. 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
Piedmont assumes a 1920s house and $5K-plus a year in parcel taxes. Gale Ranch only works with a $3K-plus CFD priced into the monthly payment.
Sources. Tax figures come from Alameda County Tax Rates by TRA FY 2025-26; Contra Costa TRA Book FY 2025-26; City of San Ramon CFD annual special tax reports, 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 | Piedmont | Gale Ranch, San Ramon |
|---|---|---|
| Median $/sqft (SFR) | $1,200 | $700 |
| Effective tax rate | 1.25% | 1.35% |
| Monthly cost, reference loan | $9,960 | $10,086 |
| Fastest to FiDi SF (Montgomery St BART) | 35 min | 65 min |
| Fastest to Oakland City Center (12th St BART) | 15 min | 45 min |
| Fastest to Sunnyvale / Mountain View (Sunnyvale Caltrain) | 65 min | 50 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.
Piedmont detail
| Component | Rate of assessed value |
|---|---|
| Prop 13 general levy | 1.000% |
| County / city voter-approved bonds | 0.042% |
| School district measures | 0.210% |
| Effective rate | 1.25% |
| 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.
Gale Ranch, San Ramon detail
| Component | Rate of assessed value |
|---|---|
| Prop 13 general levy | 1.000% |
| County / city voter-approved bonds | 0.012% |
| School district measures | 0.055% |
| Mello-Roos / CFD assessment | 0.280% |
| Effective rate | 1.35% |
| Mello-Roos / CFD | Yes |
Source: Contra Costa TRA Book FY 2025-26; City of San Ramon CFD annual special tax reports (Contra Costa 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.
Piedmont vs Gale Ranch, San Ramon: questions and answers
- Which has the lower effective property tax rate, Piedmont or Gale Ranch, San Ramon?
- Piedmont, at 1.25% of assessed value against 1.35% for fiscal year 2025-26 — a gap of 0.100%. Rates are composited from county tax rate books; each parcel bill governs.
- How much do monthly carrying costs differ between Piedmont and Gale Ranch, San Ramon?
- $127 per month on the identical reference loan: Piedmont $9,960, Gale Ranch, San Ramon $10,086. Piedmont is lower. Principal and interest are held constant, so the difference is the tax line. Arithmetic only.
- Which has the shorter commute to Oakland City Center, Piedmont or Gale Ranch, San Ramon?
- Piedmont. Piedmont is 15 min by car; Gale Ranch, San Ramon is 45 min by BART. Door-to-door, AM peak. Source: data/commute/static.csv.
- What is the price per square foot difference between Piedmont and Gale Ranch, San Ramon?
- $500 per square foot: Piedmont $1,200, Gale Ranch, San Ramon $700. Single-family medians, trailing twelve months. A median is not a valuation of any specific property.