Massachusetts · County property tax · ACS 2024
Essex County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Essex County pays $6,430 a year, an effective rate of 1.04%, far above the U.S. average.
- $6,430
- Median tax / yr · Highest-decile bill
- 1.04%
- Effective rate · Above-median rate
- +223%
- vs U.S. average
- #9 of 14
- rank in MA
The verdict
Homeowners in Essex County pay a median $6,430 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 1.04%, more affordable than 32% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $6,430
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 1.04%
- Effective rate on median home
- #2125 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +223%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($619,100). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Massachusetts. Population: 813,054. Owner-occupied homes: 198,838.
The median annual property tax in Essex County is $6,430, which is 7% higher than the Massachusetts state average and 223% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 1.04% on a median home value of $619,100. Property taxes represent 6.3% of the median household income in this county.
Why Essex County's ACS bill runs high vs the U.S.
Primary signal
The bill sits well above the national median
Homeowners in Essex County pay a median annual property tax of $6,430, far above the national median and modestly above the Massachusetts state median. On a $619,100 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 1.04% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
Income carries a heavy tax share
Property taxes in Essex County run well above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 6.3% of the $101,883 median household income.
Decision signal 3
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Essex County's 1.04% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 32%).
Decision signal 4
Near the middle of Massachusetts counties by effective rate
Essex County ranks #9 of 14 counties in Massachusetts by effective rate (36% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Essex 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.
A falling rate took the edge off
Essex County's effective rate fell 15.2% across the 4-year span while its median home value rose 41.8%, leaving the median bill 20.2% higher at $6,430. That rate move is larger than the one in 65% of counties, so a good deal of the market's rise never reached the bill.
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 $5,348 to $6,430, a gain of 20%. 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: 173,538 of 198,838 owner-occupied homes (87.3%) 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.
Earnings are in the national top quarter and the rate is above the midpoint, so the median bill represents 6.3% of median household income. A headline bill conflates the dollar figure with the proportion; the two come apart here, and the ratio above is the second of them.
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 Essex County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Essex County homeowners, 173,538 of 198,838 owner-occupied homes (87.3%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 1.5% (3,022)
- $800 to $1,499 2.0% (3,945)
- $1,500 to $1,999 1.8% (3,618)
- $2,000 to $2,999 4.9% (9,766)
- $3,000 or more 87.3% (173,538)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
4,949 homes here (2.5%) 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 Essex County pay about the same bill, within a 3% gap either way.
Essex County's bill vs state & U.S. medians
Median annual bill bars around Essex County's SPIKE ACS 2024 figure.
Essex County's median bill is 7% above the Massachusetts median and 223% above the U.S. median.
Close to the Massachusetts median on both measures
Rate and bill both land within 10% of the Massachusetts medians here, which makes Essex County a reasonable stand-in for the state when comparing against counties elsewhere. It also means the county-level figure adds little beyond the state figure for this particular comparison; the $6,430 median bill and the state median tell substantially the same story.
Essex County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Essex County | Massachusetts Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Highest-decile bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Above-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Highest-decile income burden | 6.3% | - | - |
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 Essex County's $6,430 median bill appeal-worthy?
At Essex County's $6,430 ACS median (SPIKE), a 10% assessment cut is worth about $643/yr before exemptions. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for Massachusetts.
Essex County bill trail · SPIKE
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $6,430 +2.6% | 1.04% |
| 2023 | $6,267 +2.8% | 1.07% |
| 2022 | $6,099 +8.0% | 1.14% |
| 2021 | $5,645 +5.6% | 1.22% |
| 2020 | $5,348 | 1.22% |
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.
Essex County: tax takes 6.3% of income
Counties near Essex County's median bill
On effective rate, Essex County sits nearest Washington County (ME), Waldo County (ME), Sagadahoc County (ME).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Mariposa County (CA), Kalkaska County (MI), Cherokee County (IA).
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
Essex County: only 11% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 47,730 of 422,920 returns from Essex County reported real estate taxes, averaging $8,835 - 34% 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
Essex County bill FAQs
- How does Essex County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Essex County run far above the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 1.04% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the average property tax in Essex County, Massachusetts?
- The median annual property tax in Essex County is $6,430, an effective rate of 1.04% on a $619,100 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Essex County?
- Property taxes in Essex County run well above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 6.3% of the $101,883 median household income.
- What is the tax affordability score for Essex County?
- Essex County, Massachusetts scores F (25/100) on PlainPropertyTax's tax affordability composite across 5 Census ACS dimensions (effective rate, bill size, income share, mortgage gap, and home-value/income). Its strongest scored dimension here is mortgage premium at A+ ($-206). 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 Essex County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Essex County jumped 20.2% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $5,348 to $6,430, 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 Essex County's SPIKE bill
Essex County's $6,430 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 6.3% of Essex County's $101,883 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by median bill (then rate)
Bill-first peers for Essex County's SPIKE 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: 1.04%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $6,430/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Essex County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Essex County (PAR · SPIKE), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
PAR SPIKE
Dane County, WI
ABS(median_tax) peer · $6,420/yr (near-tied bill ABS $10); rate 1.63% vs Essex County 1.04%.
San Benito County, CA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $6,441/yr (near-tied bill ABS $11); rate 0.81% vs Essex County 1.04%.
Capitol Planning Region, CT
ABS(median_tax) peer · $6,454/yr (near-tied bill ABS $24); rate 1.99% vs Essex County 1.04%.
Rockwall County, TX
ABS(median_tax) peer · $6,396/yr (near-tied bill ABS $34); rate 1.54% vs Essex County 1.04%.
Massachusetts county set
State ACS overview for every published Massachusetts county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Essex County stamps PAR · SPIKE - how assessed value and millage become the ACS median bill.
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 Essex County (PAR · SPIKE) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.