Massachusetts · County property tax · ACS 2024
Berkshire County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Berkshire County pays $4,036 a year, an effective rate of 1.32%, far above the U.S. average.
- $4,036
- Median tax / yr · Highest-decile bill
- 1.32%
- Effective rate · High rate
- +103%
- vs U.S. average
- #4 of 14
- rank in MA
The verdict
Homeowners in Berkshire County pay a median $4,036 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 1.32%, more affordable than 18% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $4,036
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 1.32%
- Effective rate on median home
- #2580 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +103%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($305,400). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Massachusetts. Population: 129,430. Owner-occupied homes: 40,263.
The median annual property tax in Berkshire County is $4,036, which is 33% lower than the Massachusetts state average and 103% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 1.32% on a median home value of $305,400. Property taxes represent 5.3% of the median household income in this county.
Why Berkshire County's ACS bill runs high vs the U.S.
Primary signal
The bill sits well above the national median
Homeowners in Berkshire County pay a median annual property tax of $4,036, far above the national median and well below the Massachusetts state median. On a $305,400 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 1.32% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
Income carries a heavy tax share
Property taxes in Berkshire County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 5.3% of the $76,013 median household income.
Decision signal 3
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Berkshire County's 1.32% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 18%).
Decision signal 4
Low among Massachusetts counties by effective rate
Berkshire County ranks #4 of 14 counties in Massachusetts by effective rate (71% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Berkshire County as reported to the Census Bureau; your parcel can differ. Not tax, legal, or financial advice: check the county assessor or a qualified professional before decisions that depend on these numbers.
Most of the market's rise reached the bill
The effective rate here moved 12.1% down between 2020 and 2024, a smaller shift than in 51% of U.S. counties. With the median home value rose 38.2%, the median bill rose 21.5% to $4,036: the rate did comparatively little to offset the market.
Effective rate is the published median bill divided by the published median home value, so the two multiply back to the bill exactly; the rate's movement here is derived from those two figures rather than read from the rounded published rate. Both are ACS 5-year survey estimates for the median owner-occupied household, compared across non-overlapping releases. They describe what the Census published, not a local policy, assessment, or exemption change.
How to read this county's bill
Bills rose across 2020-2024, from $3,321 to $4,036, a gain of 22%. This is a comparison of published ACS medians, not an explanation of a particular property's assessment or tax bill.
The heaviest band is also the fullest one here: 28,085 of 40,263 owner-occupied homes (69.8%) report annual real-estate taxes above $3,000. That band has no upper edge in the source, so the county median understates the burden carried by the plurality rather than describing it.
Both figures are in the national top quarter, and the median bill still equals only 5.3% of median household income. A high rate on high earnings produces a large dollar figure, and only the dollar figure tends to get quoted; the ratio above is the other half.
The share above is the median annual bill divided by median household income, a ratio of two county-level medians rather than a household-by-household figure.
What Berkshire County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Berkshire County homeowners, 28,085 of 40,263 owner-occupied homes (69.8%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 2.1% (855)
- $800 to $1,499 3.9% (1,571)
- $1,500 to $1,999 5.4% (2,192)
- $2,000 to $2,999 16.1% (6,487)
- $3,000 or more 69.8% (28,085)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
1,073 homes here (2.7%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Massachusetts handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged and non-mortgaged homeowners in Berkshire County pay about the same bill, within a 1% gap either way.
Berkshire County's bill vs state & U.S. medians
Median annual bill bars around Berkshire County's HEAVY ACS 2024 figure.
Berkshire County's median bill is 33% below the Massachusetts median and 103% above the U.S. median.
A high rate, a smaller bill
Berkshire County taxes property at 1.32%, about 23% above the Massachusetts average, yet its median bill of $4,036 lands roughly 33% below it. The effective rate is the bill divided by the home's value, so a county can only sit on opposite sides of the state average this way when its homes are worth materially less than the state norm. The rate is the policy; the bill is what the housing market does with it.
Berkshire County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Berkshire County | Massachusetts Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Highest-decile bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate High rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Highest-decile income burden | 5.3% | - | - |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates. Tax-burden differences across rows reflect millage decisions, assessment-ratio practices, and the residential-vs-commercial mix of each tax base.
Is Berkshire County's $4,036 median bill appeal-worthy?
At Berkshire County's $4,036 ACS median (HEAVY), a 10% assessment cut is worth about $404/yr before exemptions. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for Massachusetts.
Berkshire County bill trail · HEAVY
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $4,036 +3.7% | 1.32% |
| 2023 | $3,891 +4.4% | 1.37% |
| 2022 | $3,726 +7.3% | 1.40% |
| 2021 | $3,474 +4.6% | 1.49% |
| 2020 | $3,321 | 1.50% |
Each row is a separate ACS 5-year release, and consecutive releases share four of their five survey years. The percentage beside each bill is therefore movement in the published estimate against the previous release, not a single year's tax change. The two releases largely describe the same households. For change over time, compare releases that do not overlap.
Berkshire County: tax takes 5.3% of income
Counties near Berkshire County's median bill
On effective rate, Berkshire County sits nearest Lane County (KS), Clay County (KS), Atchison County (KS).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Adair County (MO), Deuel County (SD), Franklin County (MO).
How peers are chosen
These are the nearest cross-state matches in the published Census data, not neighboring counties or recommendations. Peers are rebuilt with each data release; see the calculation method.
Similar effective rates
Similar published median-tax changes, 2020–2024
Berkshire County: only 6% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 3,960 of 64,910 returns from Berkshire County reported real estate taxes, averaging $7,978 - 30% of those reporters sat in the $200k+ AGI band.
What this IRS county file does not say
Amounts are reported before the SALT cap, not deducted; the share is of filers, not homeowners. Source: IRS SOI county data, tax year 2022.
Other Counties in Massachusetts
Berkshire County bill FAQs
- How does Berkshire County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Berkshire County run far above the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 1.32% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Berkshire County?
- Property taxes in Berkshire County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 5.3% of the $76,013 median household income.
- What is the average property tax in Berkshire County, Massachusetts?
- The median annual property tax in Berkshire County is $4,036, an effective rate of 1.32% on a $305,400 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What is the tax affordability score for Berkshire County?
- Berkshire County, Massachusetts scores F (24/100) on PlainPropertyTax's tax affordability composite across 5 Census ACS dimensions (effective rate, bill size, income share, mortgage gap, and home-value/income). Its strongest scored dimension here is mortgage premium at A+ ($-56). The score compares published county medians to U.S. percentiles, it is not a personal bill and not advice to buy, sell, appeal, or relocate.
- Are property taxes increasing in Berkshire County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Berkshire County jumped 21.5% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $3,321 to $4,036, a 4-year span. These are survey estimates covering five years each, so this compares the two releases furthest apart rather than consecutive ones, which overlap and would mostly measure the same households twice.
What to do with Berkshire County's HEAVY bill
Berkshire County's $4,036 median bill sits well above the U.S. median - size a personal estimate before treating the county headline as your budget. Estimate your bill →
Income burden is elevated here: about 5.3% of Berkshire County's $76,013 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by median bill (then rate)
Bill-first peers for Berkshire County's HEAVY median, then a disjoint out-of-state rate set, not the same-state geography lattice.
Similar effective rate
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS effective rate. This county: 1.32%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $4,036/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Berkshire County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Berkshire County (STEEP · HEAVY), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
STEEP HEAVY
Walworth County, WI
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Berkshire County at $4,036/yr; rate 1.33% vs Berkshire County 1.32%.
Iowa County, WI
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,038/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 1.52% vs Berkshire County 1.32%.
Fulton County, GA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,033/yr (near-tied bill ABS $3); rate 0.88% vs Berkshire County 1.32%.
Waller County, TX
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,046/yr (near-tied bill ABS $10); rate 1.27% vs Berkshire County 1.32%.
Massachusetts county set
State ACS overview for every published Massachusetts county rate and median bill.
Appeal filing windows
Berkshire County stamps STEEP · HEAVY - review notice deadlines before quoting the ACS median.
Data vintage and method
Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.
Property tax data reflects median amounts paid by homeowners. Effective rates are calculated as median tax divided by median home value.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, county median real-estate taxes · 2024 Berkshire County (STEEP · HEAVY) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.