Massachusetts · County property tax · ACS 2024
Hampden County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Hampden County pays $4,455 a year, an effective rate of 1.49%, far above the U.S. average.
- $4,455
- Median tax / yr · Highest-decile bill
- 1.49%
- Effective rate · High rate
- +124%
- vs U.S. average
- #1 of 14
- rank in MA
The verdict
Homeowners in Hampden County pay a median $4,455 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 1.49%, more affordable than 11% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $4,455
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 1.49%
- Effective rate on median home
- #2787 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +124%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($298,800). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Massachusetts. Population: 462,815. Owner-occupied homes: 114,780.
The median annual property tax in Hampden County is $4,455, which is 26% lower than the Massachusetts state average and 124% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 1.49% on a median home value of $298,800. Property taxes represent 6.2% of the median household income in this county.
Why Hampden County's ACS bill runs high vs the U.S.
Primary signal
The bill sits well above the national median
Homeowners in Hampden County pay a median annual property tax of $4,455, far above the national median and well below the Massachusetts state median. On a $298,800 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 1.49% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
Income carries a heavy tax share
Property taxes in Hampden County run well above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 6.2% of the $71,306 median household income.
Decision signal 3
Low among Massachusetts counties by effective rate
Hampden County ranks #1 of 14 counties in Massachusetts by effective rate (93% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 4
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Hampden County's 1.49% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 11%).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Hampden 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
Hampden County's effective rate fell 12.5% across the 4-year span while its median home value rose 38.3%, leaving the median bill 20.9% higher at $4,455. That rate move is larger than the one in 51% 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 $3,684 to $4,455, a gain of 21%. 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: 89,706 of 114,780 owner-occupied homes (78.2%) 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.
The rate is in the national top quarter while earnings are only moderately above the midpoint, so the median bill claims 6.2% of median household income. A high rate is affordable only relative to something, and this is what it is relative to here.
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 Hampden County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Hampden County homeowners, 89,706 of 114,780 owner-occupied homes (78.2%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 1.9% (2,152)
- $800 to $1,499 4.0% (4,592)
- $1,500 to $1,999 3.0% (3,414)
- $2,000 to $2,999 9.1% (10,497)
- $3,000 or more 78.2% (89,706)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
4,419 homes here (3.8%) 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 Hampden County pay about the same bill, within a 2% gap either way.
Hampden County's bill vs state & U.S. medians
Median annual bill bars around Hampden County's HEAVY ACS 2024 figure.
Hampden County's median bill is 26% below the Massachusetts median and 124% above the U.S. median.
A high rate, a smaller bill
Hampden County taxes property at 1.49%, about 39% above the Massachusetts average, yet its median bill of $4,455 lands roughly 26% 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.
Hampden County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Hampden 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 | 6.2% | - | - |
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 Hampden County's $4,455 median bill appeal-worthy?
At Hampden County's $4,455 ACS median (HEAVY), a 10% assessment cut is worth about $446/yr before exemptions. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for Massachusetts.
Hampden County bill trail · HEAVY
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $4,455 +2.8% | 1.49% |
| 2023 | $4,332 +3.8% | 1.57% |
| 2022 | $4,174 +8.9% | 1.62% |
| 2021 | $3,833 +4.0% | 1.68% |
| 2020 | $3,684 | 1.70% |
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.
Hampden County: tax takes 6.2% of income
Counties near Hampden County's median bill
On effective rate, Hampden County sits nearest Sheridan County (KS), Osage County (KS), Hamilton County (KS).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Oldham County (KY), Baker County (GA), Kiowa County (OK).
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
Hampden County: only 5% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 12,070 of 225,910 returns from Hampden County reported real estate taxes, averaging $6,506 - 30% of those reporters sat in the $100-200k 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
Hampden County bill FAQs
- How does Hampden County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Hampden County run far above the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 1.49% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Hampden County?
- Property taxes in Hampden County run well above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 6.2% of the $71,306 median household income.
- What is the average property tax in Hampden County, Massachusetts?
- The median annual property tax in Hampden County is $4,455, an effective rate of 1.49% on a $298,800 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What is the tax affordability score for Hampden County?
- Hampden County, Massachusetts scores F (21/100) on PlainPropertyTax's tax affordability composite across 5 Census ACS dimensions (effective rate, bill size, income share, mortgage gap, and home-value/income). Its strongest scored dimension here is mortgage premium at A+ ($-110). 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 Hampden County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Hampden County jumped 20.9% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $3,684 to $4,455, 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 Hampden County's HEAVY bill
Hampden County's $4,455 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 6.2% of Hampden County's $71,306 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by median bill (then rate)
Bill-first peers for Hampden 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: 1.49%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $4,455/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Hampden County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Hampden County (STEEP · HEAVY), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
STEEP HEAVY
Bastrop County, TX
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,453/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 1.41% vs Hampden County 1.49%.
Johnson County, KS
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,447/yr (near-tied bill ABS $8); rate 1.14% vs Hampden County 1.49%.
Monroe County, PA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,447/yr (near-tied bill ABS $8); rate 1.66% vs Hampden County 1.49%.
Milwaukee County, WI
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,444/yr (near-tied bill ABS $11); rate 1.93% vs Hampden County 1.49%.
Massachusetts county set
State ACS overview for every published Massachusetts county rate and median bill.
Appeal filing windows
Hampden 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 Hampden County (STEEP · HEAVY) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.