Total property tax collected divided by population. Source: MA DOR DLS, US Census 2020.
Marblehead's per-capita property tax levy is the second-highest of these four North Shore towns, behind Swampscott. Per-capita levy measures the total property tax collected divided by population, showing each resident's share of the property tax burden. Swampscott collects $4,207 per resident; Marblehead collects $4,144; Melrose $3,416; Stoneham $3,117.
Total property tax collected (FY2026, from DOR DLS) divided by population (Census 2020). Includes both the Proposition 2½ base levy and any voter-approved debt exclusions. All four towns are within a $1,100 range on a per-capita basis. Swampscott and Marblehead are at the top; Melrose and Stoneham are lower, partly reflecting their larger populations spreading the levy across more residents.
This chart shows per-capita property tax levy, not per-capita total budget. The property tax levy is what property taxpayers pay through their tax bills. A town's total budget also includes enterprise fund revenue (Municipal Light, water, sewer), state aid, local receipts, and other sources. Enterprise funds are paid through user fees, not property taxes, and vary by town: a town with a large Municipal Light Department will have a higher total budget without a correspondingly higher tax burden on homeowners. Per-capita tax levy is the more comparable denominator for measuring property tax burden across towns.
For the same four towns compared by tax rate and median single-family bill, see Rate and Bill: Four North Shore Towns. For how Marblehead's levy, median bill, and inflation grew over FY2012 to FY2024, see Tax Levy, Median Bill, and Inflation.
Sources. FY2026 total property tax levy from MA DOR DLS "Tax Rates by Class" report, compiled in data/peer_tax_levies_by_class_FY22-26.csv. Population from US Census Bureau, 2020 Decennial Census (data.census.gov).
On Census population. The Census 2020 figures are the most recent decennial count. More recent ACS 5-year estimates exist but introduce sampling error and are not used here. Marblehead's FY2024 ACFR reports population as 20,576 (vs Census 2020's 20,412); using the ACFR figure would lower Marblehead's per-capita from $4,144 to $4,113 without changing the ranking. Swampscott would need to have grown by roughly 700 residents (~4.6%) since 2020 to fall below Marblehead on per-capita levy.
On total budget vs tax levy. Some per-capita comparisons use total town budget as the numerator. A total-budget comparison would change the ranking because it includes enterprise fund revenue (e.g., Marblehead's Municipal Light Department), state aid, and other non-tax-levy revenue sources. This chart uses the property tax levy alone because it is the cost borne directly by property taxpayers and is the figure most relevant to the override question.
These four towns are North Shore neighbors. Compare tax per person across all 351 MA communities in the Town Explorer.