Your Sacramento utility budget is shaped by the address and the type of home, not the city name. Providers for water, sewer, and garbage change at the city-limits line, and a homeowners association can take several bills off your plate entirely.
That matters right now because condo and townhouse sellers are giving ground. The condo median sale price is down 4.2% over the past year to $340,054, with units taking a median 71 days to sell. Single-family homes still sell in a median 29 days, leaving buyers much less time to verify utility histories before writing an offer.
Key Takeaway
Budget Sacramento utilities by address, not by city. Most homes pay SMUD for power and PG&E for gas, plus a city or district bill for water, sewer, and garbage, and the providers on that last bill change at the city-limits line. If you want fewer accounts to manage, start with a condo or townhouse whose HOA covers water, sewer, and trash, where sellers are currently giving ground. Choose a single-family house if you want full control of every account.
Who This Guide Is For
You're buying or moving into a Sacramento home and need to know which utility accounts you'll open and what they'll add to your monthly costs before you commit to an address.
Who Provides Utilities in Sacramento, CA?
Electricity and gas service are fairly uniform across the region. The address dictates the provider, and homes don't shop around for different electric or gas companies.
For the bigger picture, see Pros and Cons of Living in Sacramento.
Water, sewer, storm drainage, and garbage depend entirely on whether the parcel sits inside Sacramento city limits. Many properties with a Sacramento mailing address are in unincorporated county areas, meaning two homes a few streets apart can have different water providers and different rate schedules. Always confirm providers for the exact address with the City of Sacramento's utility lookup and SacSewer's service search.
Electricity: SMUD
SMUD supplies power to nearly all Sacramento addresses. The utility is owned by its customers, who elect a seven-member board of directors to set electricity rates rather than relying on a state commission.
SMUD's standard residential rate is the Time-of-Day plan, so when you use power matters just as much as how much you use. For the summer months of June through September 2026, off-peak power costs $0.1550 per kilowatt-hour, mid-peak is $0.2139, and peak usage between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. on weekdays costs $0.3765 per kilowatt-hour. During the non-summer months, off-peak drops to $0.1285 and the peak rate falls to $0.1776.
The evening peak window overlaps the hottest summer evenings, when air conditioning runs hardest. That makes peak pricing difficult to avoid without pre-cooling the house or using a programmable thermostat. Check the local summer heat and climate to see how long those temperatures last.
Natural Gas: PG&E
PG&E supplies natural gas to Sacramento homes that have gas service. This fuel source mostly drives winter heating, water heating, and cooking appliances.
Some newer residential developments skip gas entirely, so confirm whether the home has gas service or is all-electric. Removing the gas account eliminates one monthly bill, though it shifts that heating load onto your SMUD account.
What you give up with PG&E is local control over rates, which are set by the state utilities commission rather than a local board. Winter gas bills can swing sharply from month to month, so ask sellers for winter-month bills specifically rather than just an annual average.
Water, Sewer and Storm Drainage
Inside city limits, the City of Sacramento Department of Utilities bills water, sewer, and storm drainage together on a single invoice. Outside the city limits, water comes from districts or private companies like Sacramento Suburban Water District, California American Water, or the Sacramento County Water Agency. Sacramento Suburban Water District, for example, charges a residential first-tier usage rate of $1.22 per hundred cubic feet for the first 15 units, plus a fixed meter charge starting at $39.04 a month.
The Sacramento County Water Agency serves urbanized unincorporated areas, charging a Capital Development Fee of $28.80 a month and a Stormwater Utility Fee of $5.84 a month in certain zones. SacSewer handles regional sewer treatment across the area, billing residential customers a Sewage Treatment and Resource Recovery charge of $47.00 a month for single-family homes under its 2026 rate schedule. Local sewage collection is billed either by the city or by SacSewer, which charges $27.35 a month for single-family collection.
A Sacramento mailing address does not guarantee city service, and summer irrigation on a metered account raises the water portion fast. On rural unincorporated parcels, confirm whether the home uses a private well or septic system and ask for recent test or pumping records.
Garbage, Recycling and Yard Waste
Inside city limits, the city's Recycling and Solid Waste division provides garbage, recycling, and green-waste service. The monthly charge depends on the garbage cart size: for the 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 seasons, a 96-gallon cart costs $30.51 a month, a 64-gallon cart is $25.07, and a 32-gallon cart is $19.04. Additional large containers cost $25.76 a month; extra medium containers cost $21.82.
Sacramento still collects loose yard waste piled in the street on scheduled weeks, picked up by a truck with a mechanical claw. The city's service guide states residents receive at least seven on-street collections during the November to February leaf season.
Extra or bulky pickups beyond the included allowance cost more, and a bigger garbage cart directly raises the monthly charge. Choose the correct cart size before the first bill arrives.
How to Estimate Utilities for a Sacramento Home
A single-family home inside city limits carries fixed baseline costs of about $166 a month before any power or water is used. For illustration only, the city's flat-rate water service for a six-to-nine room house runs $66.95 a month. Adding SacSewer's regional treatment charge, local collection at $27.35, and a medium 64-gallon garbage cart at $25.07 produces that baseline figure.
Summer electricity drives the biggest swing in the total. If you use 1,000 kilowatt-hours in July, shifting most of that usage into SMUD's $0.1550 off-peak hours and keeping peak 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. usage low will keep the power bill manageable. Shifting air conditioning and laundry out of the peak window is the biggest lever you have on the final number.
During winter, your PG&E natural gas bill will replace heavy summer electricity costs as your primary heating expense. Ask the seller for a 12-month bill history to see exactly how the home performs across both seasons. Review the full cost of living budget to see how utilities fit into your overall monthly expenses.
Utilities in a House vs. a Condo or Townhouse
In many condo and townhouse communities, the homeowners association pays for common-area power and often covers water, sewer, and trash for the whole complex. That reduces the number of accounts you manage to just SMUD and potentially PG&E.
Condos currently take a median 71 days to sell at 97.5% of list price, with 4.9 months of supply. Townhouses show a median price of $276 per square foot, down 5.8% year over year based on 32 townhouse sales. That market pace gives you time to confirm what the HOA dues cover and ask the seller for bill histories or credits.
Single-family homes put every account in your name, letting you size your own garbage cart and control your yard irrigation. With a median 29 days on market, request the utility bill history early in the process.
One catch with shared utilities: you can't shop around or control your own usage if the complex uses shared or sub-metered water. HOA dues can also rise when the association's own utility costs increase, so review the HOA fees and what dues cover before closing.
What to Check Before You Make an Offer
Your first step is determining whether the address sits inside Sacramento city limits, which dictates your water, sewer, and garbage providers. Confirm if an HOA will pay any of your utilities and whether the home is all-electric or relies on gas. Then consider whether you can shift heavy electricity use, like air conditioning and EV charging, away from evening peak hours.
Ask the seller for 12 months of SMUD and PG&E bills or usage history, including winter months. Check the property taxes and direct assessments to see if any local utility bonds are attached to the parcel. Ask who is responsible for the sewer lateral, since SacSewer splits responsibility between the customer and the district, and find out whether the line has been inspected recently.
If the home has solar, confirm whether the system is owned or leased, whether the lease transfers, and which SMUD rate it's on. Ask for the age and service records of the HVAC system and water heater, which drive the bulk of your energy use. Made 4 More Realty can request these bill histories and HOA documents on your behalf during the option period. Review the seller disclosures to see what the current owner is required to reveal about the property's systems.
At a Glance
- All homes: median sale price $597,628, up 2.2% year over year; 37 median days on market; 3 months of supply (30 days ending Sept. 30, 2026)
- Single-family homes: median sale price $603,555, up 1.4% year over year; 29 median days on market; 99.5% sale-to-list; 33.4% sold above list; 2.8 months of supply (30 days ending Sept. 30, 2026)
- Condos: median sale price $340,054, down 4.2% year over year; 71 median days on market; 97.5% sale-to-list; 12% sold above list; 4.9 months of supply; 103 sales (30 days ending Sept. 30, 2026)
- Townhouses: median sale price $376,961, down 5.8% year over year; 66 median days on market; 97.6% sale-to-list; 3.9 months of supply; based on 32 townhouse sales (30 days ending Sept. 30, 2026)
- Median price per square foot: single family $339, condo $306, townhouse $276 (30 days ending Sept. 30, 2026)
Sacramento Utilities FAQs
What Is the Average Utility Bill in Sacramento?
As of June 1, 2026, SMUD's average residential monthly bill for a customer using 750 kilowatt-hours per month is $149. City of Sacramento drinking-water and sewer collection rates have remained unchanged since 2020, with flat-rate water service for six to nine rooms costing $66.95 a month. The separate SacSewer regional treatment charge is $47.00 a month for a single-family home, and PG&E gas costs come on top of these figures for homes with gas service.
How Do I Set Up Utilities in Sacramento, CA?
New residential service with SMUD can be requested online up to 35 days in advance, requiring a Social Security number and government-issued ID. City of Sacramento Department of Utilities handles new water, sewer, and garbage accounts by phone or email, and the utilities director may require a security deposit based solely on the applicant's creditworthiness. Always confirm the exact providers for your address before initiating setup, since homes outside city limits use different water districts.
Is SMUD Cheaper than PG&E?
Yes, SMUD is generally less expensive for electricity. As of June 1, 2026, SMUD's own comparison shows a residential bill using 750 kilowatt-hours per month costs $149 at SMUD versus $290 at Pacific Gas & Electric. Sacramento homes don't choose between them for electricity, since the address determines the provider, and PG&E still supplies natural gas to the area.
Are Sacramento Homes on Water Meters?
Most homes are now metered. Under state law, the City of Sacramento was required to install water meters on all water service connections by January 1, 2025, and the city's accelerated program was designed to finish installation by the end of 2020. After a meter is installed, comparative billing runs for a period before the account converts fully to metered billing, though customers can request the switch immediately.
Who Picks Up Trash in Unincorporated Sacramento County?
Sacramento County's Department of Waste Management and Recycling provides service for unincorporated residential areas. The approved residential rate schedule effective through June 30, 2026, sets garbage cart rates at $36.63 a month for a 30-gallon cart, $41.03 for a 60-gallon cart, and $49.85 for a 90-gallon cart. County staff note that even with proposed future increases, county rates remain roughly $10 a month less than the City of Sacramento's cart charges.
Is There Help Paying Utility Bills in Sacramento?
SMUD offers the Energy Assistance Program Rate, a monthly bill discount for income-eligible low-income residential customers. Effective February 1, 2026, maximum monthly income limits are $3,607 for one to two persons, scaling up based on household size, with discount tiers ranging up to $105 a month. PG&E, Sacramento County, and SacSewer also offer their own separate financial assistance programs for qualifying accounts.
Does Solar Lower Utility Bills in Sacramento?
Solar can reduce your SMUD bill, but the savings depend on when the system was connected. SMUD's Solar and Storage Rate applies to customers approved to connect new systems on or after March 1, 2022, compensating excess exported electricity at 7.4 cents per kilowatt-hour. Existing customers approved before that date remain grandfathered on the legacy rate through December 31, 2030, so confirm which rate an existing system is on before buying a resale home.
Sources
- Redfin: Data Center
- SMUD: Residential rates
- SMUD: Board of Directors
- SMUD: Compare rates
- City of Sacramento: Water rates
- City of Sacramento: Accelerated Water Meter Program
- SacSewer: Residential rates and fees
- City of Sacramento: Residential service guide
- Sacramento County: Curbside collection rates
- Sacramento Suburban Water District: Rates and charges
- SMUD: Low income and nonprofits
- California Legislative Information: Public Utilities Code
- SMUD: Solar customers
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