Sheet MA · 2026 rules

Massachusetts Property Tax Calculator

Massachusetts values every parcel at fair cash value as of January 1 for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Proposition 2½ limits the community’s total levy, not one bill, and the statewide personal exemptions in chapter 59 §5 come off the tax itself.

Rules verified Oct 3, 2026 12 primary sources Editorial policy

Estimate your 2026 Massachusetts bill

Massachusetts · 2026 residential assessment worksheet Needs inputs

Massachusetts estimated annual property tax —

Tax — Local ad valorem levies —
Credits subtracted —
Fixed charges added —

Per month (annual ÷ 12) —

What was applied Enter the approved residential assessment from the assessment notice.

Assessed value after ratio and cap —

Taxable value — Local ad valorem levies —

Effective rate on market value —

What this estimate leaves out

How Massachusetts turns value into a tax bill

Massachusetts statewide rules
Step	Massachusetts rule	Source
Value	Enter the current approved residential assessment, excluding any additional exemption you apply below. It need not equal an advertised home price.	[2]
Assessment	100% of approved residential assessment	[2]
Annual limit	No automatic parcel bill cap is inferred from a limit on a jurisdiction’s total levy.
Exemptions	Other relief is applied only from a recorded approval; the calculator does not decide qualification.
Rate	Local ad valorem levies: local rate — you enter it.Local ad valorem levies from the applicable taxing authority. The rate is not a Census ratio.

How Massachusetts values, exempts, bills and abates residential property

Massachusetts assessors set each property's fair cash valuation as of January 1 every year.² Every fifth year the Commissioner of Revenue certifies whether a community's assessors are valuing property at full and fair cash valuation; once certified, the city or town may adopt separate class tax rates for that year and the 4 following years.³ Proposition 2½ limits the community's total levy, not your bill: total taxes cannot exceed 2½% of full and fair cash valuation,¹ and the levy limit generally grows by no more than 102½% of the prior year's maximum levy limit, plus new growth and voter-approved increases.¹

Bills run on the July–June fiscal year. In a community on the default semiannual schedule, interest at 14% per year applies once more than half the tax is unpaid after November 1.⁴ In a community that has adopted quarterly billing, the two preliminary installments are due August 1 and November 1,⁵ and the two installments of the actual bill (issued after the tax rate is set) are due February 1 and May 1; semiannual communities using preliminary bills set the actual-bill due date at April 1.⁵

To contest your assessment, file an abatement application with the board of assessors on or before the due date of the first installment of the actual tax bill for the fiscal year.⁶ In a quarterly-billing community, that is the February 1 installment.⁵ The assessors have 3 months to act, and silence counts as a denial.⁷ You can then appeal to the Appellate Tax Board within three months of the decision or deemed denial.⁸ If the full-year tax on the parcel is more than $5,000, you must have paid every installment on time, without incurring interest, to receive an abatement.⁹

Statewide personal exemptions are set as the larger of a valuation amount or a dollar amount. Clause 41C gives owners aged 70 or older $4,000 of valuation or $500, whichever saves more tax,¹⁰ for those with gross receipts under $13,000, or $15,000 if married,¹⁰ and a town may lower the age to 65 and raise those amounts by up to 100%.¹⁰ Clause 17D gives $2,000 of valuation or $175,¹⁰ clause 22 gives qualifying veterans $2,000 of valuation or $400,¹⁰ and clause 37A gives blind residents $500 of tax.¹⁰ Applications are due by April 1, or within 3 months after the bill was sent, whichever is later.⁶

A city or town that is certified at full and fair cash valuation may choose to adopt a residential exemption of up to 35% of the average assessed value of all Class One residential parcels. It applies only to the taxpayer's principal residence.¹¹

The Senior Circuit Breaker is a refundable Massachusetts income tax credit, not a reduction on the local bill. The maximum credit for tax year 2025 is $2,820.¹² For 2025, total income cannot exceed $75,000 for a single filer, $94,000 for a head of household or $112,000 for a married couple filing jointly.¹² For homeowners, property tax plus half of water and sewer charges must exceed 10% of total income,¹² and the home's assessed value cannot exceed $1,298,000.¹²

Worked example

Illustrative $500,000 assessment at $12.00 per $1,000 = $6,000.00. Clause 41C gives $4,000 of valuation ($48.00 of tax at this rate) or $500.00, whichever saves more, so $500.00 comes off: $5,500.00. A town that raised the amounts by 100% would allow up to $1,000.00, giving $5,000.00.

Massachusetts worked example
Line	Taxable value	Tax
Local ad valorem levies at 12 mills	$500,000.00	$6,000.00
Credits		−$500.00
Annual total		$5,500.00

Left to your local bill

Split (classified) tax rates: residential versus commercial and industrial rates exist only in communities DOR has certified, and the residential factor is adopted locally each year.
The local-option residential exemption (up to 35% of the average Class One value) and whether your community adopted it; enter the exempt value from your bill.
Increased clause 41C, 17D or 22 amounts, or the lower age threshold, adopted by vote of your city or town.
The Senior Circuit Breaker credit, claimed on Schedule CB with your Massachusetts income tax return, not on the property tax bill.
Preliminary versus actual bill amounts, and 14% interest on late payments.
Proposition 2½ overrides, debt and capital exclusions approved by local voters.

Census context, not a rate

American Community Survey 2020–2024: median owner-occupied value $562,100 (±$2,169), median real-estate taxes $5,992 (±$18). Dividing one by the other gives 1.07% for Massachusetts. Tables B25077 and B25103; why it is only context.

Sources

malegislature.govMassachusetts General Laws c.59 §21C(b), read 2026-10-03.
“The total taxes assessed within any city or town under the provisions of this chapter shall not exceed two and one-half per cent of the full and fair cash valuation in said city or town in any fiscal year. … the total taxes assessed for any fiscal year shall not exceed an amount equal to one hundred and two and one-half per cent of the maximum levy limit for the preceding fiscal year as determined by the commissioner of revenue”
malegislature.govMassachusetts General Laws c.59 §2A(a), read 2026-10-03.
“The assessors of each city and town shall determine the fair cash valuation of such real property for the purpose of taxation on the first day of January of each year.”
malegislature.govMassachusetts General Laws c.40 §56, read 2026-10-03.
“Every fifth year, the commissioner shall certify as to whether the board of assessors is assessing property at full and fair cash valuation. Once certified, a city or town may classify in the manner set out in this section for the year of certification and for the 4 years following”
malegislature.govMassachusetts General Laws c.59 §57, read 2026-10-03.
“remains unpaid either after November 1 of the fiscal year in which it is payable, or after the thirtieth day after the date on which the bill for such tax was mailed after October 1, interest at the rate of 14 per cent per annum”
malegislature.govMassachusetts General Laws c.59 §57C, read 2026-10-03.
“In the case of cities and towns with quarterly tax payments, the preliminary tax shall be due and payable in 2 installments, the first installment due on August 1, the second installment on November 1 … in the case of cities and towns with quarterly payments, shall be due and payable in 2 installments, on February 1 and on May 1 respectively, after which dates, if unpaid, they shall become delinquent and, in the case of cities and towns with semi-annual payments, shall be due and payable on April 1”
malegislature.govMassachusetts General Laws c.59 §59, read 2026-10-03.
“on or before the last day for payment, without incurring interest in accordance with the provisions of section fifty-seven or section fifty-seven C, of the first installment of the actual tax bill issued upon the establishment of the tax rate for the fiscal year to which the tax relates … may be made on or before April 1 of the year to which the tax relates, or within 3 months after the bill or notice of assessment was sent, whichever is later.”
mass.govMassachusetts DOR State Tax Form 128, Application for Abatement, read 2026-10-03.
“The assessors have 3 months from the date your application is filed to act on it unless you agree in writing before that period expires to extend it for a specific time. If the assessors do not act on your application within the original or extended period, it is deemed denied.”
malegislature.govMassachusetts General Laws c.59 §65, read 2026-10-03.
“appeal to the appellate tax board by filing a petition with such board within three months after the date of the assessors' decision on an application for abatement”
malegislature.govMassachusetts General Laws c.59 §64, read 2026-10-03.
“if the tax due for the full fiscal year on a parcel of real estate is more than $5,000, said tax shall not be abated unless the full amount of said tax due, including all preliminary and actual installments, has been paid without the incurring of any interest charges”
malegislature.govMassachusetts General Laws c.59 §5, read 2026-10-03.
“Forty-first C, Real property, to the amount of four thousand dollars of taxable valuation or the sum of five hundred dollars, whichever would amount in an exemption of the greater amount of taxes due, of a person who has reached his seventieth birthday prior to the fiscal year … gross receipts from all sources of less than thirteen thousand dollars, or if married, combined gross receipts with his spouse of less than fifteen thousand dollars”
malegislature.govMassachusetts General Laws c.59 §5C, read 2026-10-03.
“there shall be an exemption equal to not more than 35 per cent of the average assessed value of all Class One, residential, parcels within such city or town; provided, however, that such an exemption shall be applied only to the principal residence of a taxpayer”
mass.govMassachusetts DOR, Senior Circuit Breaker Tax Credit, read 2026-10-03.
“The maximum credit amount for tax year 2025 is $2,820. … For tax year 2025, your total Massachusetts income doesn't exceed: $75,000 for a single individual who is not the head of a household. $94,000 for a head of household. $112,000 for married couples filing a joint return.”

Bordering jurisdictions

Elsewhere in the region:

Maine property tax calculator

Rules verified October 3, 2026 by the Property Tax Calculator Editorial Team. Report a correction