Your tax bill, explained

A home in Cambridge (Middlesex County’s government was abolished in 1997; cities levy the property tax). Enter your own assessed value to see where every dollar of your property tax goes — and how it compares with each government’s “no-raise” rate. Updated 2026-10-06.

$8,876 a year — about $740 a month

On an assessed value of $1,841,000, as a homestead. An estimate from published rates — your own tax notice is the final word.

Of every $100 you pay

City of Cambridge$100.00 · $8,876 a year

Where it ends up — every government’s share, by what it pays for

City services$100.00 · $8,876

Each government’s share is one slice unless it publishes a debt split.

The “no-raise” rate — how this state handles it

Massachusetts has no yearly no-raise rate; Proposition 2½ caps how much a city’s total levy can grow each year (2.5% plus new growth) unless voters approve an override. Cambridge’s FY2026 levy is about $172.9 million below its limit.

Meetings are on the calendar.

Each government, line by line

City of Cambridge — $8,876 a year

$6.67 per $1,000 on $1,330,792 of taxable value · FY2026 · Cambridge FY26 tax rate letter

City services, including schools$8,876

What this doesn’t show — the honest limits

Fees and assessments on the same bill — stormwater, trash, street lights and others — aren’t property taxes and aren’t included.
Senior, veteran, widow and disability exemptions aren’t modeled.
The 3% Community Preservation Act surcharge on the bill isn’t included.
Spreading a government’s tax across its whole budget is a fair picture, not a receipt: most budgets also run on other money (sales tax, state aid, fees).

Related: Tax lab — change the rates · The money trail · What if we saved?. This page computes and cites; it doesn’t say what any rate should be. Spot an error? Report it.