Boston Local Tax Guide (2026)

What you actually pay

The Massachusetts Home Rule Amendment (Art. 89, §7) lists taxation among the powers municipalities do not possess without legislative authorization; the General Court has never granted a local income tax.

No matter where you live or work in MA — Boston, Cambridge, Worcester — the same 5% state rate applies; there is no separate municipal income tax.

Cities can adopt local-option consumption taxes instead: a 0.75% meals tax and up to 3% tax on recreational cannabis sales (only where adopted).

Boston’s local revenue is dominated by property tax, the motor vehicle excise tax, and payments in lieu of taxes from its many nonprofits.

Massachusetts income tax is flat at 5%, with a 4% surtax on income above roughly $1 million (the high-income surtax approved in 2022). It applies uniformly across the state, so Boston, Cambridge, and Worcester residents pay the same rate.

Because cities cannot levy income taxes, there is no municipal withholding line on a Massachusetts pay stub — only federal and the 5% state tax, plus the surtax where applicable.

Massachusetts allows local-option consumption taxes instead: a 0.75% local meals tax and up to 3% on recreational cannabis, adopted municipality by municipality. These are sales-type taxes, not income taxes.

The Boston revenue mix — property tax, motor vehicle excise, and PILOT agreements with large nonprofits — is the direct result of having no local income-tax authority.

A Boston employee pay stub shows federal income tax and the 5% Massachusetts state tax (plus the 4% surtax on very high income), along with FICA — and no city income-tax line.

Boston property tax rates are relatively low for a large city, partly because the city also relies on the motor vehicle excise tax and PILOT payments from its many nonprofit institutions.

This guide summarizes structural facts for planning. It is not a substitute for the official Massachusetts tax code or a licensed preparer.