Sales tax across Los Angeles County ticks up to 10.25 percent on October 1, 2026, a half-point increase from the current 9.75 percent rate, under a countywide measure voters approved earlier this year. The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration’s own rate-change notice attributes the increase to Measure ER, approved in the June 2, 2026 election, which adds a new 0.5 percent countywide tax layered on top of the existing rate. For a county of roughly ten million residents, the change touches nearly every retail purchase, from groceries that remain exempt to the taxable goods and services that make up the rest of a household’s spending.
Measure ER, and what the CDTFA’s own notice confirms
The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration’s rate-change explanation states that Measure ER, approved by voters in the June 2, 2026 election, added a new 0.500 percent countywide tax, moving the Los Angeles County rate from 9.750 percent to 10.250 percent. The agency’s notice sets the effective date at October 1, 2026, the standard quarterly start date the state uses for most local sales-tax changes statewide rather than a date specific to this one measure.
Because California’s sales tax is layered, a county-level increase like Measure ER’s applies on top of the state’s own base rate and any district taxes a specific city inside the county has separately adopted. The 10.25 percent figure is the rate that applies broadly across incorporated cities and unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County that have not layered on their own additional district tax, meaning it functions as the county’s new floor rather than the ceiling every resident will actually pay.
A tax at the register, relief that waits to be asked for: Measure ER’s increase applies at checkout without any action, but property-tax exemptions and freezes for Los Angeles County homeowners take an application. The five kinds of property-tax relief are listed in The Senior Property Tax & Home-Cost Relief Kit.
Why some cities inside the county pay even more
The CDTFA’s same rate-change notice lists several Los Angeles County cities where the total combined rate rises above the new 10.25 percent countywide figure because of separate, city-specific district taxes stacking on top of Measure ER. Calabasas and San Marino both move to 11.250 percent, and Temple City rises to 11.000 percent under its own locally approved Measure TC, meaning a shopper’s actual rate depends on the specific city where a purchase happens, not only on the countywide Measure ER increase alone…