Greater Boston Property Tax Rates

The average single-family property tax bill in Massachusetts in 2021 is $6,372, up $197 from the previous year, according to a recent report conducted by the Division of Local Services, Massachusetts Department of Revenue. The average tax rate in Massachusetts is now $15.24 for every $1,000 in assessed property value.

Towns and cities with the highest tax rates are not necessarily those with the highest tax bills. The assessed value of the homes is also part of the equation. The highest tax rate in the state goes to Longmeadow, a town near Springfield, which has an annual tax rate of $24.74, but the average home value is $379,456, putting the average tax bill at $9,388.

The highest tax bills in Massachusetts are in many communities outside of Boston within the 495 beltway. Weston, which has an average home value of $1,667,828, has an average tax bill of $21,648 the highest in the state. The town of Lincoln comes in second, with an average tax bill of $18,333 and an average home value of $1,181,244.

Most towns in western Massachusetts with assessed home values lower than the state average have the lowest tax bills in the state, such as the town of Hancock, with an average annual tax bill of just $764

and the average home value of $256,432. The town of Rowe, in northwestern Massachusetts near Vermont, has an annual tax bill of $1,166

and an average home value of $218,683.

Towns in the Cape and the Islands have high property values yet very low tax rates and thus have relatively low tax bills. This is because many of these properties are vacation properties so they don’t require taxes to pay for services and amenities off-season.

For home buyers looking for reasonable tax rates but who still want to live in the metro Boston area, there are several cities or towns where the combination of reasonable tax rates and home values put their tax bills below the state average. Towns and cities in the Greater Boston area with the lowest tax bills are:

Thirteen cities and towns on this list don’t show average tax bill numbers because they have adopted a residential exemption, and detailed data used to determine their average tax bills is unavailable. They are: Barnstable, Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Nantucket, Somerset, Somerville, Tisbury, Waltham and Watertown. The tax rates for these towns, however, are listed at the end of this article.

The residential exemption is a dollar value that is exempt for taxation on a principal residence that you own. This exemption reduces the taxable valuation of a taxpayer’s principal residence. For instance, in Waltham, the residential exemption reduces the assessed value of a primary residence by $78,317. So a home in Waltham assessed at $450,000 would be taxed at the reduced valuation of $371,683.

Municipality Single Family Tax Bill* Residential Property Tax Rate
Abington 6,506 16.48
Acton 12,500 20.23
Acushnet 4,360 13.83
Adams 3,381 22.62
Agawam 4,194 16.80
Alford 4,045 5.55
Amesbury 7,682 18.25
Amherst 8,190 21.82
Andover   15.29
Arlington 9,405 11.34
Ashburnham 5,348 20.55
Ashby 5,028 18.55
Ashfield 4,433 16.55
Ashland 7,834 15.93
Athol 3,185 17.66
Attleboro 4,918 14.80
Auburn 5,114 18.14
Avon 5,679 16.78
Ayer 5,202 14.14
Barnstable   9.10
Barre 4,070 18.00
Becket 2,892 11.62
Bedford 10,171 13.53
Belchertown 5,250 18.13
Bellingham 4,884 14.41
Belmont 15,305 11.54
Berkley 5,592 14.28
Berlin 6,913 15.58
Bernardston 4,288 18.57
Beverly 7,174 12.70
Billerica 5,663 13.00
Blackstone 5,618 18.72
Blandford 3,988 17.76
Bolton 11,456 20.86
Boston   10.67
Bourne 5,132 10.77
Boxborough 10,607 17.17
Boxford 10,938 16.01
Boylston 7,125 16.98
Braintree 5,348 9.95
Brewster 4,838 8.58
Bridgewater 5,983 14.48
Brimfield 4,603 17.55
Brockton 4,503 14.50
Brookfield 4,365 17.99
Brookline   9.80
Buckland 4,374 17.84
Burlington 5,711 9.95
Cambridge   5.85
Canton 7,227 12.20
Carlisle 15,164 16.28
Carver 5,942 16.94
Charlemont 4,501 20.48
Charlton 4,348 15.01
Chatham 5,030 4.98
Chelmsford 7,411 15.74
Chelsea   13.62
Cheshire 2,977 13.37
Chester 3,667 20.49
Chesterfield 4,854 20.20
Chicopee 3,490 17.61
Chilmark 5,924 2.91
Clarksburg 2,914 15.82
Clinton 4,546 15.94
Cohasset 13,435 13.04
Colrain 3,974 21.16
Concord   14.72
Conway 5,542 18.73
Cummington 3,681 15.24
Dalton 4,830 21.51
Danvers 6,664 13.35
Dartmouth 4,331 9.90
Dedham 7,520 13.67
Deerfield 4,994 15.85
Dennis 3,140 6.03
Dighton 5,212 14.83
Douglas 5,673 16.72
Dover 15,923 12.89
Dracut 5,028 13.01
Dudley 3,461 12.30
Dunstable 8,010 16.41
Duxbury 11,259 14.48
East Bridgewater 6,370 17.05
East Brookfield 3,859 14.83
East Longmeadow 6,116 21.06
Eastham 4,787 9.18
Easthampton 4,822 17.54
Easton 7,614 15.48
Edgartown 5,546 3.28
Egremont 4,146 9.35
Erving 1,602 7.59
Essex 10,070 15.80
Everett   9.87
Fairhaven 3,608 11.29
Fall River 3,481 13.83
Falmouth 4,899 8.50
Fitchburg 4,342 19.03
Florida 1,433 8.51
Foxborough 7,162 14.74
Framingham 6,565 14.05
Franklin 6,934 14.65
Freetown 4,617 12.70
Gardner 4,253 20.04
Aquinnah 9,152 6.39
Georgetown 7,322 15.89
Gill 3,898 17.29
Gloucester 7,807 12.44
Goshen 4,092 16.61
Gosnold 2,230 2.72
Grafton 7,295 17.18
Granby 5,420 19.85
Granville 3,927 15.70
Great Barrington 6,404 15.99
Greenfield 4,735 23.22
Groton 8,907 17.60
Groveland 6,823 14.72
Hadley 4,203 12.00
Halifax 6,289 17.39
Hamilton 10,914 17.51
Hampden 5,667 19.67
Hancock 764 2.98
Hanover 8,880 16.33
Hanson 5,552 15.10
Hardwick 3,929 15.73
Harvard   18.78
Harwich 5,029 8.60
Hatfield 4,674 14.19
Haverhill 4,791 13.44
Hawley 4,057 17.88
Heath 4,099 22.52
Hingham 10,355 11.80
Hinsdale 3,444 14.33
Holbrook 5,863 17.22
Holden 6,186 17.40
Holland 3,816 16.62
Holliston 8,915 17.85
Holyoke 4,005 19.27
Hopedale 6,704 17.87
Hopkinton   17.08
Hubbardston 4,244 14.81
Hudson 6,733 16.59
Hull 6,403 12.68
Huntington 3,992 19.99
Ipswich 7,750 13.22
Kingston 7,037 16.08
Lakeville 5,210 12.77
Lancaster 7,325 19.98
Lanesborough 4,885 20.28
Lawrence 3,457 12.27
Lee 3,766 14.68
Leicester 3,972 15.13
Lenox 4,969 11.65
Leominster 5,344 18.13
Leverett 6,368 19.73
Lexington 16,241 14.39
Leyden 4,218 16.69
Lincoln 18,333 15.52
Littleton 8,617 17.70
Longmeadow 9,388 24.74
Lowell 4,404 13.46
Ludlow 4,991 21.08
Lunenburg 6,233 17.74
Lynn 4,882 13.03
Lynnfield 9,283 13.27
Malden   12.29
Manchester By The Sea 13,896 10.99
Mansfield 7,451 15.36
Marblehead 9,424 10.42
Marion 7,499 11.32
Marlborough 5,585 13.80
Marshfield 6,453 13.19
Mashpee 5,016 8.91
Mattapoisett 6,945 12.96
Maynard 8,217 20.15
Medfield 12,297 17.76
Medford 5,768 9.41
Medway 7,877 17.46
Melrose 7,195 10.95
Mendon 7,489 16.79
Merrimac 7,033 16.30
Methuen 4,825 13.19
Middleborough 5,548 16.27
Middlefield 3,693 17.70
Middleton 8,781 13.72
Milford 5,573 15.98
Millbury 4,794 15.43
Millis 8,505 19.62
Millville 4,936 15.93
Milton 9,968 13.13
Monroe 1,567 13.91
Monson 4,262 18.12
Montague 3,772 17.44
Monterey 4,159 7.27
Montgomery 3,821 13.90
Mount Washington 2,996 6.55
Nahant 7,971 10.51
Nantucket   3.63
Natick 8,699 13.61
Needham 12,989 13.03
New Ashford 3,349 11.77
New Bedford 3,910 15.59
New Braintree 4,747 17.47
New Marlborough 4,253 9.94
New Salem 4,282 19.63
Newbury 6,021 10.66
Newburyport 8,099 12.64
Newton 13,386 10.76
Norfolk 9,349 17.99
North Adams 2,890 18.61
North Andover 7,945 14.17
North Attleborough 5,915 14.27
North Brookfield 3,725 15.74
North Reading 9,622 15.63
Northampton 5,803 17.37
Northborough 7,900 17.12
Northbridge 4,938 14.49
Northfield 3,651 16.12
Norton 5,718 14.93
Norwell 11,312 16.94
Norwood 5,567 11.34
Oak Bluffs 5,939 7.37
Oakham 3,777 13.02
Orange 3,686 20.05
Orleans 6,593 7.84
Otis 2,766 8.47
Oxford 4,352 16.53
Palmer 4,045 21.12
Paxton 6,813 19.73
Peabody 4,812 10.49
Pelham 6,796 21.42
Pembroke 6,169 14.58
Pepperell 6,357 17.92
Peru 3,918 19.21
Petersham 4,179 15.31
Phillipston 3,886 16.11
Pittsfield 3,925 19.25
Plainfield 3,874 19.24
Plainville 5,906 14.70
Plymouth 6,287 16.16
Plympton 6,634 17.49
Princeton 6,371 16.12
Provincetown   7.08
Quincy 6,281 12.14
Randolph 5,321 14.78
Raynham 6,070 14.69
Reading   13.81
Rehoboth 5,601 13.24
Revere 4,655 11.06
Richmond 5,166 12.72
Rochester 5,774 13.37
Rockland 6,056 17.28
Rockport 6,850 9.74
Rowe 1,166 5.33
Rowley 7,515 15.58
Royalston 2,861 12.86
Russell 4,809 21.71
Rutland 5,355 16.70
Salem 6,071 13.80
Salisbury 4,915 11.26
Sandisfield 3,603 13.35
Sandwich 6,194 13.77
Saugus 5,772 12.34
Savoy 2,487 14.17
Scituate 8,415 13.33
Seekonk 5,023 13.57
Sharon 11,841 20.43
Sheffield 4,707 13.88
Shelburne 4,226 14.47
Sherborn 16,593 19.63
Shirley 5,373 16.53
Shrewsbury 6,355 13.19
Shutesbury 5,662 22.61
Somerset 4,625 14.68
Somerville   10.19
South Hadley 4,824 17.22
Southampton 5,206 15.97
Southborough 10,709 16.21
Southbridge 4,175 19.44
Southwick 4,819 17.59
Spencer 3,797 14.04
Springfield 3,267 18.90
Sterling 6,241 16.52
Stockbridge 5,528 9.78
Stoneham 6,245 10.82
Stoughton 5,905 15.10
Stow 10,618 19.98
Sturbridge 5,975 19.02
Sudbury   18.83
Sunderland 4,646 15.49
Sutton 6,342 16.00
Swampscott 8,999 13.80
Swansea 4,317 14.21
Taunton 4,241 14.20
Templeton 3,927 16.11
Tewksbury 7,152 15.72
Tisbury   9.17
Tolland 2,889 9.24
Topsfield 10,963 17.92
Townsend 5,676 18.33
Truro   7.38
Tyngsborough 6,644 16.07
Tyringham 3,689 6.90
Upton 7,596 16.60
Uxbridge 5,475 15.82
Wakefield   12.73
Wales 3,829 20.29
Walpole 8,254 14.84
Waltham   11.32
Ware 4,061 20.18
Wareham 3,403 11.16
Warren 3,395 15.96
Warwick 3,481 19.63
Washington 4,029 16.69
Watertown   12.25
Wayland 14,818 18.52
Webster 4,354 15.10
Wellesley 16,284 11.75
Wellfleet   7.86
Wendell 4,288 24.54
Wenham 13,713 19.68
West Boylston 6,254 18.46
West Bridgewater 6,015 16.71
West Brookfield 3,781 14.03
West Newbury 8,717 14.88
West Springfield 3,987 16.90
West Stockbridge 5,714 13.91
West Tisbury 6,780 6.10
Westborough 10,003 18.54
Westfield 4,854 18.88
Westford 9,414 16.64
Westhampton 6,099 20.64
Westminster 5,275 16.76
Weston 21,648 12.98
Westport 3,905 8.62
Westwood 12,375 14.78
Weymouth 5,000 11.74
Whately 4,854 14.92
Whitman 5,412 15.50
Wilbraham 6,880 22.96
Williamsburg 5,859 20.97
Williamstown 6,611 17.30
Wilmington 7,017 13.84
Winchendon 3,452 15.72
Winchester 15,035 12.83
Windsor 2,821 13.05
Winthrop 6,356 12.68
Woburn 4,872 9.33
Worcester 4,372 16.28
Worthington 4,046 16.41
Wrentham 6,854 14.07
Yarmouth 3,939 9.56

Sources:

Massachusetts Department of Revenue

Massachusetts Department of Revenue