California · Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA metro area

Buying a home in Rancho Cucamonga, California

In Rancho Cucamonga, the median value of owner-occupied homes is $740,200, San Bernardino County's effective property tax rate is 0.7%, and a purchase mortgage carried a median $11,854 in total loan costs in 2025.

Data as of : Census ACS 2020-2024, Census Vintage 2024, HMDA 2025, HUD FY 2027. Sources

Rancho Cucamonga home costs, fact by fact

About Rancho Cucamonga

Buyers in Rancho Cucamonga will find that 62.3% of homes are owner-occupied, with a median home value of $740,200, the median value of owner-occupied homes as estimated by owners, not a sale price. Rancho Cucamonga is part of the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA metro area, ranked 12th in the country.

Reading the Rancho Cucamonga figures

Rancho Cucamonga sits far above its county on value. Owners estimate their homes at $740,200, a little under California's $770,700, while San Bernardino County's median value is only $505,000. Anyone using county averages to budget here will under-count. On the covered list, Downey is higher with $796,600, as is Inglewood with $792,800. Santa Clarita ranks above with $784,700, West Covina with $779,800, Oceanside with $770,300. Chula Vista, at $758,700, is closer. Escondido stands lower at $714,500. Santa Rosa reads $713,900 and Santa Ana $713,000. Corona trails with $700,700, Tracy with $699,000 and El Cajon with $681,700. Los Angeles stands at $921,200.

Rent is $2,357 a month. That tops Chula Vista, which asks $2,229, and Corona, which asks $2,228. West Covina asks $2,245, Escondido $2,046. Santa Clarita charges more, at $2,544, as does Tracy, at $2,478. Inglewood, Downey and El Cajon rent for less, with $1,787, $1,937 and $1,856. The ownership share, 62.3%, is close to Corona's 63.8% or West Covina's 60.3%. Santa Clarita (71.8%) and Tracy (65%) go higher. Los Angeles, Inglewood and El Cajon lean toward renting, at 36%, 36.2% and 41.5% owners.

In practical terms, Rancho Cucamonga behaves like a coastal-priced city inside an inland county. A budget built from San Bernardino County's $505,000 value would miss the $740,200 that owners here report, and the tax and rent figures should be read the same way. The county supplies the tax and lending figures. Its effective rate is 0.70%, which produces a median bill of $3,538, but that bill is tied to the county's $505,000 median value, not to a $740,200 home. If you want to estimate a purchase here, apply the 0.70% rate to the price you have in mind rather than copying the dollar figure. At that rate, the result would land well above $3,538.

Turning to loan costs, a typical borrower paid $11,854 in 2025 on the county's 12,896 loans, with the bottom quartile at $6,762 and the top at $16,923. Lenders vary a great deal, so the spread is as useful as the median. Federal rent benchmarks tell another story: HUD lists $2,103 for a smaller home and $2,771 for a larger one in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario area. Neither is a market median. The city's own median rent of $2,357 is above the smaller benchmark, which hints that local rents run higher than the metro-wide guide.

Rancho Cucamonga counts 176,675 residents. The Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metro area around it holds 4,744,214 people and ranks 12th nationally. Its metro area, Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, holds 4,744,214 people and ranks 12th nationally. Compare that scale with Santa Ana, which has 316,184 residents, and Oceanside, which has 170,941.

Calculate for California

If you buy

California state transfer tax

California has no state transfer tax; counties and cities may charge one.

Price$770,700
State transfer taxnot computed
Who paysSet by the purchase contract

Default price: the California median value of owner-occupied homes, $770,700 (Census ACS 2025). Not computed: No state tax. The tax is set by county and city, so it cannot be computed from the state alone. Who pays: Neither the state statute nor the City of Los Angeles FAQ assigns the tax; the purchase contract and escrow instructions decide. Not included: county and city transfer taxes, recording fees, title insurance and lender charges. California transfer tax guide · all 50 states.

If you sell

Capital gain and the federal tax on it

Same federal rule in every state: Section 121 of the Internal Revenue Code excludes up to $250,000 of gain on a main home ($500,000 for a married couple filing jointly).

Capital gain$350,000
Section 121 exclusion$250,000 (limit $250,000)
Taxable gain$100,000
Type of gainLong-term (owned over 1 year), 15% chosen
Federal tax on the gain$15,000

Section 121 excludes $250,000; the rest is taxable.

Gain = sale price minus your adjusted basis (purchase price, buying costs and improvements); selling expenses reduce it (IRS Publication 523). Long-term rates for sales in 2026, by taxable income including the gain (IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32, section 4.03): 0% up to $49,450 single or $98,900 married filing jointly, 15% up to $545,500 single or $613,700 jointly, 20% above. Not included: California state income tax on the gain (not computed), the net investment income tax, depreciation recapture on a rental or home office, and the reduced exclusion for an early sale. Agent commissions are negotiated and never set by law. Capital gains on a home sale.

Questions about buying a home in Rancho Cucamonga

How much is property tax in Rancho Cucamonga?

Homeowners in San Bernardino County pay a median $3,538 a year in property tax, 0.7% of the county median home value of $505,000 (Census ACS 2020-2024). Your bill depends on your assessed value and local rates.

What are closing costs on a mortgage in Rancho Cucamonga?

Home-purchase mortgages in San Bernardino County carried median total loan costs of $11,854 in 2025; half of the 12,896 loans fell between $6,762 and $16,923 (HMDA). Total loan costs are the lender and settlement-service charges of the Closing Disclosure; transfer taxes and prepaid items come on top.

Is there a transfer tax when you buy a home in Rancho Cucamonga?

California has no state transfer tax. Counties may charge $0.55 per $500 of value under the Documentary Transfer Tax Act, and cities such as Los Angeles add their own, with Measure ULA adding 4% or 5.5% on very high-priced sales.

Is it cheaper to rent or buy in Rancho Cucamonga?

It depends on your mortgage rate, down payment and how long you stay. As a benchmark, the median value of owner-occupied homes in Rancho Cucamonga ($740,200) equals 26.2 years of the median gross rent ($2,357 a month), both from Census ACS 2020-2024.

What natural hazards affect home insurance in Rancho Cucamonga?

Across California, the main hazards for home insurance are earthquake, wildfire, flood and landslide, and the insurer of last resort is California FAIR Plan. A standard California homeowners policy does not cover earthquake damage; insurers must offer earthquake coverage (Insurance Code 10081), and the FAIR Plan sells limited fire coverage up to $3 million for residential policyholders.

Run your own numbers: rent vs buy calculator · closing costs calculator.

California rules that apply in Rancho Cucamonga

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Sources

California · All states · Federal guides