Local costs · Massachusetts
What a home costs across Massachusetts
Property-tax rates, insurance, and closing costs vary widely by county. Below are the state-wide rules that apply everywhere in Massachusetts, then every county with its own tax rate and insurance range.
Statewide facts
- Home insurance average
- About $1,871 per year for a standard HO-3 policy (NAIC 2022 state average). Individual counties run above or below this based on local hazard risk — see the table below.
- Transfer & recording tax
- Massachusetts deeds excise: 0.46% of price — seller customarily paysBarnstable County (Cape Cod) charges a higher $6.48 per $1,000.On the $607,400 state median home, the buyer’s customary share is about $0; the seller customarily covers about $2,770.
- Title insurance
- Massachusetts uses competitive (filed) rates. Rates are competitive rather than state-set, so we model title and settlement from a national declining-rate curve calibrated to published costs.
- State income tax
- Massachusetts income tax is modeled at about 4.56% effective for a married household at $100,000 (4.78% filing single). These are modeled effective rates from Tax Foundation 2026 brackets.
All 14 counties in Massachusetts
Effective property-tax rate (Census ACS) and a typical annual insurance range at the state median home value. Select a county for the full breakdown.
| County | Property tax | Insurance / yr |
|---|---|---|
| Barnstable County | 0.67% | $1,740–$3,890typical $2,680 |
| Berkshire County | 1.32% | $1,200–$2,670typical $1,840 |
| Bristol County | 1.06% | $1,090–$2,440typical $1,680 |
| Dukes County | 0.50% | $1,790–$3,990typical $2,750 |
| Essex County | 1.04% | $1,090–$2,420typical $1,670 |
| Franklin County | 1.44% | $1,230–$2,740typical $1,890 |
| Hampden County | 1.49% | $1,370–$3,050typical $2,100 |
| Hampshire County | 1.43% | $1,310–$2,930typical $2,020 |
| Middlesex County | 1.03% | $1,070–$2,380typical $1,640 |
| Nantucket County | 0.25% | $3,650–$8,130typical $5,610 |
| Norfolk County | 1.06% | $1,080–$2,410typical $1,660 |
| Plymouth County | 1.17% | $1,080–$2,410typical $1,660 |
| Suffolk County | 0.66% | $1,100–$2,450typical $1,690 |
| Worcester County | 1.28% | $1,630–$3,640typical $2,510 |
* Property-tax rate is approximate because the county’s Census median is top-coded.
How these numbers are built
Every figure comes from public data or our own math: Census ACS property taxes, NAIC insurance averages scaled by FEMA risk, and researched transfer-tax and title schedules.
Estimates, not advice. See the methodology for sources, vintages, and the honest gaps.