Informational Overview
Property Valuations and tax rate The city of Newton relies heavily on local revenue sources to fund the public schools. In 1980, Proposition 2½ was passed by the voters of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts which restricts how much a city/town can raise property taxes. The law requires that the annual increase of the tax levy for the City of Newton must not exceed 2 1⁄2 percent of the prior year’s tax levy, in addition to the total amount attributable to taxes raised from new real property growth and redevelopment.
The table below summarizes Newton’s property valuations & tax rate.
City of Newton: Property Valuations & Tax Rates
Category
FY19
FY20
FY21
FY22
FY23
FY24
FY25
Population
88,000 88,863 88,100 87,900 88,415 87,453
88978
Residential value
$27.4B $28.6B $28.9B $31.1B $33.7B
$37.1B
$38.6B
Commercial value
$2.4B $2.50B $2.54B $2.59B $2.65B
$2.59B
$2.56B
Industrial value
$202M $203M $212M $200M $215 M
$231M
$231M
Personal value
$459M $472M $483M $484M $505M
$581M
$608M
Total Valuation
$30 B $32B
$32B
$34B
$37B
$40B
$42B
Res. Tax Rate/$1000 Val $10.45 $10.44 $10.76 $10.52 $10.18 $9.76
$9.80
Com Tax Rate/$1000 Val $19.94 $19.92 $20.12 $19.95 $19.07 $18.33
$18.34
Newton’s property tax rates are well below the median property tax rate per $1,000 of assessed value. According to the Massachusetts Department of Local Services, Newton’s residential tax rate for 2022 was $10.52, making Newton the 53rd lowest out of 351 communities, putting it in the lowest 15% for residential tax rates by assessed value. Despite a comparatively low residential tax rate, Newton’s high valuation for single family properties computes to one of the higher average single family tax bills across the state of Massachusetts. The median assessed value of a single-family home is approximately $1.66M. In the fiscal year 2026 1 , the City of Newton proposed a $547M budget of which the city projects a property tax levy of $454M. Like most cities and towns in Massachusetts, Newton relies on local revenue sources like property taxes which make up 83% of total City of Newton revenue in the annual budget. The school department budget has been allocated $292M or 53% of the City of Newton budget.
1 City of Newton FY26 Budget
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