Tax Rates by Town

Local residential and commercial tax rates vary considerably by town.

With the 2008 recession, town equalized valuations took a hit. As a result, town tax rates increased to provide the steady Proposition 2 1/2 increase each year.

However, as some towns saw real estate increases post-2010, their tax rates again began to decline. Other towns were not so fortunate, and either continued spending expansion at rates beyond real estate growth, or did not see as much economic recovery. Those towns have tax rates which continued to increase after the economy stabilized.

Select a town and see how it’s tax rate has changed over 15 years.

(Warning: 15 cities & towns have residential tax exemptions; so the tax rates and estimated tax costs are not correct for these municipalities. We are working to correct this but there is not a straigtforward data source on the exemption amount. These include: Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Somerville, Waltham, Watertown, Barnstable, Nantucket, Provincetown, Somerset, Tisbury and Truro. Tax rates in these jurisdictions are well below figures represented here.)

The figure below shows tax rates applied to an example property, set at $1,000,000 assessed value to have a round working figure. While these charts may give the impression of falling tax rates, it should be noted that property values increased significantly in many municipalities and therefore the average single family tax has increased (shown on a separate page). This figure is shown to provide a perspective on how total tax bills differ by location when buying a comparable property.

Abington Acton Acushnet Adams Agawam Alford Amesbury Amherst Andover Aquinnah Arlington Ashburnham Ashby Ashfield Ashland Athol Attleboro Auburn Avon Ayer Barnstable Barre Becket Bedford Belchertown Bellingham Belmont Berkley Berlin Bernardston Beverly Billerica Blackstone Blandford Bolton Boston Bourne Boxborough Boxford Boylston Braintree Brewster Bridgewater Brimfield Brockton Brookfield Brookline Buckland Burlington Cambridge Canton Carlisle Carver Charlemont Charlton Chatham Chelmsford Chelsea Cheshire Chester Chesterfield Chicopee Chilmark Clarksburg Clinton Cohasset Colrain Concord Conway Cummington Dalton Danvers Dartmouth Dedham Deerfield Dennis Devens Dighton Douglas Dover Dracut Dudley Dunstable Duxbury East Bridgewater East Brookfield East Longmeadow Eastham Easthampton Easton Edgartown Egremont Erving Essex Everett Fairhaven Fall River Falmouth Fitchburg Florida Foxborough Framingham Franklin Freetown Gardner Georgetown Gill Gloucester Goshen Gosnold Grafton Granby Granville Great Barrington Greenfield Groton Groveland Hadley Halifax Hamilton Hampden Hancock Hanover Hanson Hardwick Harvard Harwich Hatfield Haverhill Hawley Heath Hingham Hinsdale Holbrook Holden Holland Holliston Holyoke Hopedale Hopkinton Hubbardston Hudson Hull Huntington Ipswich Kingston Lakeville Lancaster Lanesborough Lawrence Lee Leicester Lenox Leominster Leverett Lexington Leyden Lincoln Littleton Longmeadow Lowell Ludlow Lunenburg Lynn Lynnfield Malden Manchester By The Sea Mansfield Marblehead Marion Marlborough Marshfield Mashpee Mattapoisett Maynard Medfield Medford Medway Melrose Mendon Merrimac Methuen Middleborough Middlefield Middleton Milford Millbury Millis Millville Milton Monroe Monson Montague Monterey Montgomery Mount Washington Nahant Nantucket Natick Needham New Ashford New Bedford New Braintree New Marlborough New Salem Newbury Newburyport Newton Norfolk North Adams North Andover North Attleborough North Brookfield North Reading Northampton Northborough Northbridge Northfield Norton Norwell Norwood Oak Bluffs Oakham Orange Orleans Otis Oxford Palmer Paxton Peabody Pelham Pembroke Pepperell Peru Petersham Phillipston Pittsfield Plainfield Plainville Plymouth Plympton Princeton Provincetown Quincy Randolph Raynham Reading Rehoboth Revere Richmond Rochester Rockland Rockport Rowe Rowley Royalston Russell Rutland Salem Salisbury Sandisfield Sandwich Saugus Savoy Scituate Seekonk Sharon Sheffield Shelburne Sherborn Shirley Shrewsbury Shutesbury Somerset Somerville South Hadley Southampton Southborough Southbridge Southwick Spencer Springfield Sterling Stockbridge Stoneham Stoughton Stow Sturbridge Sudbury Sunderland Sutton Swampscott Swansea Taunton Templeton Tewksbury Tisbury Tolland Topsfield Townsend Truro Tyngsborough Tyringham Upton Uxbridge Wakefield Wales Walpole Waltham Ware Wareham Warren Warwick Washington Watertown Wayland Webster Wellesley Wellfleet Wendell Wenham West Boylston West Bridgewater West Brookfield West Newbury West Springfield West Stockbridge West Tisbury Westborough Westfield Westford Westhampton Westminster Weston Westport Westwood Weymouth Whately Whitman Wilbraham Williamsburg Williamstown Wilmington Winchendon Winchester Windsor Winthrop Woburn Worcester Worthington Wrentham Yarmouth Abington Acton Acushnet Adams Agawam Alford Amesbury Amherst Andover Aquinnah Arlington Ashburnham Ashby Ashfield Ashland Athol Attleboro Auburn Avon Ayer Barnstable Barre Becket Bedford Belchertown Bellingham Belmont Berkley Berlin Bernardston Beverly Billerica Blackstone Blandford Bolton Boston Bourne Boxborough Boxford Boylston Braintree Brewster Bridgewater Brimfield Brockton Brookfield Brookline Buckland Burlington Cambridge Canton Carlisle Carver Charlemont Charlton Chatham Chelmsford Chelsea Cheshire Chester Chesterfield Chicopee Chilmark Clarksburg Clinton Cohasset Colrain Concord Conway Cummington Dalton Danvers Dartmouth Dedham Deerfield Dennis Devens Dighton Douglas Dover Dracut Dudley Dunstable Duxbury East Bridgewater East Brookfield East Longmeadow Eastham Easthampton Easton Edgartown Egremont Erving Essex Everett Fairhaven Fall River Falmouth Fitchburg Florida Foxborough Framingham Franklin Freetown Gardner Georgetown Gill Gloucester Goshen Gosnold Grafton Granby Granville Great Barrington Greenfield Groton Groveland Hadley Halifax Hamilton Hampden Hancock Hanover Hanson Hardwick Harvard Harwich Hatfield Haverhill Hawley Heath Hingham Hinsdale Holbrook Holden Holland Holliston Holyoke Hopedale Hopkinton Hubbardston Hudson Hull Huntington Ipswich Kingston Lakeville Lancaster Lanesborough Lawrence Lee Leicester Lenox Leominster Leverett Lexington Leyden Lincoln Littleton Longmeadow Lowell Ludlow Lunenburg Lynn Lynnfield Malden Manchester By The Sea Mansfield Marblehead Marion Marlborough Marshfield Mashpee Mattapoisett Maynard Medfield Medford Medway Melrose Mendon Merrimac Methuen Middleborough Middlefield Middleton Milford Millbury Millis Millville Milton Monroe Monson Montague Monterey Montgomery Mount Washington Nahant Nantucket Natick Needham New Ashford New Bedford New Braintree New Marlborough New Salem Newbury Newburyport Newton Norfolk North Adams North Andover North Attleborough North Brookfield North Reading Northampton Northborough Northbridge Northfield Norton Norwell Norwood Oak Bluffs Oakham Orange Orleans Otis Oxford Palmer Paxton Peabody Pelham Pembroke Pepperell Peru Petersham Phillipston Pittsfield Plainfield Plainville Plymouth Plympton Princeton Provincetown Quincy Randolph Raynham Reading Rehoboth Revere Richmond Rochester Rockland Rockport Rowe Rowley Royalston Russell Rutland Salem Salisbury Sandisfield Sandwich Saugus Savoy Scituate Seekonk Sharon Sheffield Shelburne Sherborn Shirley Shrewsbury Shutesbury Somerset Somerville South Hadley Southampton Southborough Southbridge Southwick Spencer Springfield Sterling Stockbridge Stoneham Stoughton Stow Sturbridge Sudbury Sunderland Sutton Swampscott Swansea Taunton Templeton Tewksbury Tisbury Tolland Topsfield Townsend Truro Tyngsborough Tyringham Upton Uxbridge Wakefield Wales Walpole Waltham Ware Wareham Warren Warwick Washington Watertown Wayland Webster Wellesley Wellfleet Wendell Wenham West Boylston West Bridgewater West Brookfield West Newbury West Springfield West Stockbridge West Tisbury Westborough Westfield Westford Westhampton Westminster Weston Westport Westwood Weymouth Whately Whitman Wilbraham Williamsburg Williamstown Wilmington Winchendon Winchester Windsor Winthrop Woburn Worcester Worthington Wrentham Yarmouth

Some towns (such as Arlington) set commercial and residential taxes at similar levels, while other towns (such as Lexington) have significantly higher commercial tax rates.

State law limits the extent to which commercial tax rates can exceed residential tax rates. The CIP “factor” has a limit of 1.5 or 1.75 depending on characteristics of the town’s tax base. This factor determines the extent to which the commercial tax rate can exceed the residential tax rate. Each town has an annual tax classification exercise where this rate is set.