Essex County, Massachusetts property tax
The median homeowner in Essex County, Massachusetts pays $6,267 a year in property tax on a home worth $584,000, an effective rate of 1.07%. The national effective rate is 0.98%.
What the rate means here
Essex County taxes property at 1.07%, within a rounding error of the national 0.98%. That makes the $6,267 median bill mostly a statement about local house prices rather than about local tax policy.
It ranks #9 of 14 Massachusetts counties by effective rate, against a statewide 1.11%, and #897 nationally. The state runs from 1.57% in Hampden County down to 0.22% in Nantucket County.
The median home costs 5.87 times the median household income of $99,431, against 3.86 nationally, so housing absorbs an unusually large share of what people here earn. Renters pay 20.19% of median income in gross rent. With 807,258 residents this is one of the larger counties in the country, so the medians here average across a genuinely varied housing market and hide a lot of local range.
The rate is derived rather than quoted. How and why.
What that costs at different home values
Arithmetic at the county effective rate, before any exemption or assessment cap.
Housing and income
| Essex County | Massachusetts | United States | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Effective property tax | 1.07% | 1.11% | 0.98% |
| Median tax bill | $6,267 | $5,813 | $2,969 |
| Median home value | $584,000 | $525,800 | $303,400 |
| Median gross rent | $1,673 | $1,687 | $1,348 |
| Median household income | $99,431 | $101,341 | $78,538 |
| Home price to income | 5.87× | 5.19× | 3.86× |
| Rent as share of income | 20.19% | 19.98% | 20.6% |
| Owner-occupied | 63.96% | 62.6% | 65.02% |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2023 five-year estimates. Population 807,258.
Nearby counties of similar size
| County | Rate | Median bill | Home value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suffolk County | 0.67% | $4,533 | $680,700 |
| Worcester County | 1.33% | $5,207 | $390,700 |
| Norfolk County | 1.09% | $7,081 | $649,400 |
| Bristol County | 1.11% | $4,685 | $421,800 |
| Plymouth County | 1.24% | $6,345 | $513,000 |
Essex County property tax: common questions
What is the property tax rate in Essex County, Massachusetts?
The effective rate is 1.07% of home value, from a median tax bill of $6,267 against a median home value of $584,000. That is 0.09 points above the national 0.98%.
How much is property tax on a $400,000 home in Essex County?
Roughly $4,280 a year at the county effective rate of 1.07%.
Is Essex County expensive compared with the rest of Massachusetts?
It ranks #9 of 14 Massachusetts counties by effective property tax rate, and #897 of 2,826 nationally. That is 0.04 points below the Massachusetts average of 1.11%.
What does housing cost in Essex County?
The median home is worth $584,000 and median gross rent is $1,673 a month. Median household income is $99,431, which puts the home at 5.87 times annual income and rent at 20.19% of it.