Property Tax in Hampshire County, Massachusetts

What the Hampshire County numbers mean

Read the two medians together: $5,326 is the middle tax bill among owner-occupied households in Hampshire County, and $363,400 is the middle home value. Neither figure describes a specific property — together they describe the typical homeowner's situation in the county.

The derived effective rate for Hampshire County is 1.47% (median tax ÷ median value). Treat it as an estimate for comparison only: it comes from survey medians of different households, not from the county's rate schedule.

The key figures for Hampshire County

For context, the Massachusetts medians are $5,813 of tax on $525,800 of value, and the US medians are $2,969 on $303,400. *Derived figures are estimates from Census medians, not official rates.

Hampshire County at a glance

• Median tax rank in Massachusetts: #6 of 14 counties
• Median home value rank in Massachusetts: #11 of 14
• Population rank in Massachusetts: #10 of 14 (156,595 residents)
• Population density rank: #11 of 14 (297 people per square mile)
• Land area rank in Massachusetts: #8 of 14 (527 sq mi, 6.8% of the combined county land area)
• Median tax as a monthly figure: $444; per $1,000 of home value: $1.47

How Hampshire County compares

Set against its state, Hampshire County's median bill of $5,326 is about 8% lower than the Massachusetts median ($5,813). Against the country as a whole it is about 79% higher than the US median ($2,969). That places the county #6 of 14 Massachusetts counties ranked by median taxes paid.

Remember what drives the ranking: bills follow home values as much as rates. Hampshire County's median home, at $363,400, ranks #11 by value in Massachusetts, while its derived rate of 1.47% compares with a derived US figure of 0.98%.

Some extra context for Hampshire County: the median bill works out to about $444 a month, and the derived rate equals roughly $1,466 of tax per $100,000 of home value. The county is home to 156,595 people — the #10 most populous county in Massachusetts, spread over 527 square miles, a density of about 297 people per square mile. Its median home value, $363,400, ranks #11 among the state's 14 counties with data.

Nationally, Hampshire County's median bill of $5,326 ranks #109 of 3133 counties with published data — inside the top 3% of counties by tax paid. The county accounts for about 2.2% of Massachusetts's population, its median home value is about 31% below the state median, and at the derived rate the median home would hand over roughly 14.66% of its value in tax across a decade. Within the state, the distance from Hampshire County to the most expensive county, Middlesex County ($7,240), is $1,914 a year.

Counties nearest Hampshire County in the Massachusetts ranking

Hampshire County and its population peers

For a like-for-like sense of scale, compare Hampshire County with its national population peers: the counties nearest to its 156,595 residents, listed in the table below with their own Census medians. Of the 9 counties in that group, Hampshire County's median bill of $5,326 is #3 of 9.

The closest population match is Franklin County, Pennsylvania (156,626 residents), where the median real estate tax paid is $2,634 on a median home value of $236,300 — $2,692 more than Hampshire County pays.

Inside Massachusetts itself, the counties closest to Hampshire County in population are Hampden County (462,853 residents, median tax $4,332 on a median value of $276,300); Barnstable County (230,073 residents, median tax $4,090 on a median value of $575,900); Berkshire County (128,047 residents, median tax $3,891 on a median value of $283,800); Franklin County (70,922 residents, median tax $4,595 on a median value of $303,400). Same state, same broad tax framework — yet the median bills still differ, because assessed values and the mix of county, municipal and school-district rates are set locally.

How the tax is worked out

The bill is built in stages. First the assessor puts a market value on the property. Exemptions — a homestead exemption above all — then reduce the taxable amount. Finally the combined local rate is applied. To see the scale: at the county's derived rate of 1.47%, each $100,000 of value corresponds to about $1,466 of tax a year, and a $400,000 home to roughly $5,864. Real bills use the official assessment and district rates, not this derived figure, so treat the example as a sense of scale only.

Illustrative bills in Hampshire County at the derived rate

The derived rate of 1.47% is only an estimate built from medians, but applying it to different home values gives a sense of scale for Hampshire County — and a quick way to compare with the state derived rate of 1.11% and the US figure of 0.98%:

Illustration only: real bills are computed from the assessed value, exemptions, and the combined rates of the property's actual taxing districts.

Checking your assessment in Hampshire County

If your bill looks wrong, work through these steps:

1. Get your property record card from the assessor and check the basics — living area, lot size, bedrooms, condition, and any exemptions you should have.
2. Compare your assessed value with recent sale prices of similar homes in Hampshire County.
3. Talk to the assessor's office informally first; clear errors are often fixed without a hearing.
4. If needed, file a formal appeal with the local review board before the deadline on your assessment notice, with your evidence attached.
5. Keep paying the bill as issued while the appeal runs, unless your notice says otherwise — unpaid taxes accrue penalties regardless of an appeal.

More Massachusetts counties

• Berkshire County, MA — $3,891
• Barnstable County, MA — $4,090
• Franklin County, MA — $4,595
• Dukes County, MA — $5,503
• Nantucket County, MA — $2,985
• Hampden County, MA — $4,332

Frequently asked questions