Property taxes on Cape Ann
Business · Real estate
Compare tax rates, bills, home values and parcels across Gloucester, Rockport, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea, with figures from the state Division of Local Services and the Census Bureau.
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What would my tax bill be in each town?
Enter an assessed value to see the yearly bill at each town's rate. Your assessed value is on your tax bill and on your town assessor's website.
The average single-family home and its tax bill
Each year of the average single-family assessed value and tax bill in each town. Hover or tap the chart to read a year.
State rank is out of 351 cities and towns. No. 1 has the highest average single-family bill in Massachusetts.
Why bills rise when tax rates fall
Massachusetts limits how much a town can raise in taxes each year, not the rate. When home values climb faster than the town's budget, the rate drops. The bill still grows with the budget.
Who pays the tax levy
The levy is the total a town raises from property taxes. On Cape Ann, homes carry almost all of it.
How much room is left under Proposition 2½
A town's levy can grow 2.5% a year plus new construction. Voters can add more for a set time to pay for a project (a debt exclusion) or permanently (an override). No town can tax more than 2.5% of its total assessed value, the levy ceiling.
Assessed property values
The total taxable value of everything in each town, set by local assessors and certified by the state.
Parcels by type
How many parcels of each kind each town has. These are what the tax base is made of. Switch views to see the mix, the average assessed value of each type, or how counts changed.
Homes and households
Who owns, who rents and how many homes sit empty most of the year. These are survey estimates averaged over five years (2020 to 2024), so small towns have wide margins.
The Census home value is what owners say their home would sell for, and it covers condos and multifamily homes too. The state's average single-family value above is the assessor's figure for single-family homes only, so the two numbers differ. The tax share compares the average single-family bill to the median income of all households, renters included. Treat it as a rough gauge.
About the data
What is a tax rate per $1,000?
A rate of $9.31 means $9.31 in tax for every $1,000 of assessed value. A $750,000 home pays 750 × $9.31, or $6,983 a year.
When is my home valued?
Massachusetts values property as of Jan. 1 before each tax year. FY2026 bills use values from Jan. 1, 2025. Assessed value is the assessor's estimate, not a sale price.
What if I think my value is wrong?
You can ask your town assessor for an abatement. The application is due when the first actual tax bill of the year is due, which your bill lists. Assessors also handle exemptions for seniors, veterans, surviving spouses and blind residents.
When do new tax rates appear?
Towns set new rates each fall after the state certifies their values, usually between November and January. This page checks every night and adds a town's new rate the night the state posts it.
Where does this come from?
Every figure comes from the Mass. Department of Revenue's Division of Local Services Municipal Databank or the Census Bureau. Nothing is estimated by the Current except the bill calculator, which multiplies your value by the published rate.
See something off?
Email the editor at [email protected] with the town, the year and the number. Corrections are noted on this page.