New: compare property taxes in Gloucester, Rockport, Essex and Manchester on one page
Our new property tax page has a bill calculator for all four towns, 10 years of average bills, and state and Census figures that update on their own. Here is what it shows.
The Cape Ann Current has a new page that puts property taxes in all four Cape Ann towns side by side: Property taxes on Cape Ann.
What you can do there
- Price your own bill. Enter an assessed value and see the yearly tax at each town's current rate, for a home or a business.
- See 10 years of bills. The average single-family bill and home value in each town from fiscal 2017 to 2026, with each town's statewide rank.
- See why bills rise when rates fall. A chart shows how values, rates and bills moved together.
- Check the room under Proposition 2½. How close each town is to its legal taxing limits, which matters when a town asks voters for an override or a debt exclusion.
- Look at the tax base. Total assessed value, parcels by type, and how much of the tax load homes carry compared with businesses.
- Homes and households. Census estimates of owners, renters, seasonal homes and home values.
What the numbers show
The average single-family tax bill for fiscal 2026, according to the state Division of Local Services:
- Manchester-by-the-Sea: $16,371 on an average value of $1,881,670.
- Essex: $11,957 on $916,972.
- Gloucester: $9,502 on $1,020,656.
- Rockport: $8,548 on $1,010,388.
Every town's tax rate is lower than it was in fiscal 2017, but every town's average bill is higher. Gloucester's residential rate fell from $13.19 to $9.31 per $1,000 of value, while its average bill rose 36%. Rockport's bill rose 41%, Essex's 46% and Manchester's 34%. Home values climbed faster than town budgets, so rates dropped, but the bills grew with the budgets. The page explains how that works.
It stays current
The page draws on state and Census data and checks every night for new tax rates. Towns usually set new rates between November and January, and each town's new rate is added the night the state posts it.
Try the calculator and compare the four towns.
Earlier coverage: Gloucester's $179 million budget, line by line (Oct. 5), what the city's property taxes pay for.
Sources
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