Analysis: Town and Schools
3,645 homes; in ten years the value up 101%, the rate down 27%, the bill up 48%
What the average single-family home in Lunenburg is worth and pays, every year the state has published, and against ten neighbours — then who has owned the homes how long, and what a house bought decades ago pays today.
lunenburgbudgetproject.org — written by the Lunenburg Budget Project, an independent tool for residents. Not affiliated with the Town of Lunenburg, the School Committee or the school district. The data this page is computed from: /data/property-owners.json
What this report counts
HOUSEHOLDS from the Census, a five-year sample with margins; PARCELS from the assessor, a count of single-family homes by last recorded deed, which is not the same as when the family arrived; DOLLARS from the town’s own rate and values.
Lunenburg has 3,645 single-family homes on 5,303 parcels, and 81% of households own theirs.
Four households in five own, so a change in the tax bill reaches most of the town directly.
3,645 single-family parcels in the state’s FY2026 count, 3,649 in the assessor’s file; 5,303 parcels of every kind. 4,529 ± 235 occupied households on the Census 2019–2023 sample, 3,682 ± 321 of them owned and 847 ± 189 rented.
What it rests on DLS Average Single-Family Tax Bill (parcels, FY2026); MassGIS Level 3 parcels, FY2026; ACS B25003, 2019–2023.
What it does not show Condominiums, two- and three-family homes and apartments, which the single-family count leaves out.
In ten years the average home’s value rose 101% and the tax rate fell 27%; the bill rose 48%.
Residents feel higher taxes and see a falling rate. Both are true: the levy is capped, values are not.
FY2016 to FY2026: the average single-family value from $256,969 to $517,296, the effective rate from $19.61 to $14.39 per $1,000, the average bill from $5,039 to $7,444. Since FY1988, the first year the state publishes, the value is up 681% and the bill 531%. Proposition 2½ caps how fast the LEVY grows; the rate is whatever divides that levy into the year’s total value, so as values rise the rate falls and the bill does neither.
What it rests on DLS Average Single-Family Tax Bill, Lunenburg, FY1988–FY2026; rate derived as bill ÷ value per $1,000.
What it does not show Any one household’s bill: this is the town-wide average home, and the exemptions and abatements a household may hold.
At $7,444, Lunenburg’s average bill is 6th of 11 nearby towns and cities — 145th statewide.
The bill takes 16% of income per capita here; the median of the ten neighbours is $7,999.
FY2026, DLS: Lunenburg $7,444 on an average home worth $517,296, ranked 145th of 351 municipalities. The towns above and below are in the table, with each one’s bill as a share of its income per capita.
What it rests on DLS Average Single-Family Tax Bill, FY2026, for Lunenburg and ten neighbours.
What it does not show What each town gets for the bill — services, schools, debt — which the bill alone does not say.
1,799 of Lunenburg’s owner households moved in before 2010 — about 49% of them.
Half the town’s homeowners have been in the house since before 2010; a sixth since the 1980s.
1,799 ± 297 of 3,682 owner-occupied households, on the Census Bureau’s 2019–2023 five-year sample; 636 ± 153 have been in the house since 1989 or earlier. The median owner moved in in 2010.
What it rests on Census Bureau, ACS five-year estimates, tables B25038 and B25039, 2019–2023, Lunenburg town.
What it does not show Whether those households can afford the bill. The Census does not publish tenure against income for a town this size.
A home last deeded before 1986 pays a median $5,992 a year; one deeded since 2021 pays $6,890.
The bill barely falls with tenure — long-held homes pay 87% of what newcomers pay.
Every single-family parcel in the assessor’s FY2026 file, 3,649 of them, at the $14.39 rate: median assessed value $416,400 for homes last deeded before 1986 against $478,800 for those deeded since 2021; the median price those older homes last sold for was $32,500. A house bought decades ago is taxed on what it is worth now, not on what it cost.
What it rests on MassGIS Level 3 parcels, Lunenburg, FY2026 assessing extract; bill = assessed value × the FY2026 rate.
What it does not show What any household earns, or whether the deed date is when they arrived: a third of deeds are nominal transfers that reset the date. Exemptions and abatements are not applied.
Those are the answers this report could reach from the documents behind it. If the one you came for is not among them, ask us — no name or email needed.
The average home, every year the state has published
Proposition 2½ caps how fast the town’s total levy can grow; the rate is whatever divides that levy into the year’s total value. So when values rise the rate falls — and the bill on the average home does neither, it follows the levy. The dark bars are the bill; the line is the effective rate, bill ÷ value per $1,000.
- average single-family bill
- effective rate, per $1,000
| year | homes | average value | rate per $1,000 | average bill | bill as % of income | rank of 351 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY26 | 3,645 | $517,296 | $14.39 | $7,444 | 15.6% | 145 |
| FY25 | 3,635 | $504,937 | $14.36 | $7,251 | 14.9% | 136 |
| FY24 | 3,625 | $481,417 | $14.10 | $6,788 | 15.4% | 149 |
| FY23 | 3,593 | $470,165 | $14.62 | $6,874 | 16.9% | 125 |
| FY22 | 3,583 | $374,392 | $17.19 | $6,436 | 16.5% | 134 |
| FY21 | 3,558 | $351,358 | $17.74 | $6,233 | 16.4% | 120 |
| FY20 | 3,543 | $332,447 | $18.12 | $6,024 | 16.3% | 119 |
| FY19 | 3,530 | $308,864 | $18.68 | $5,770 | 16.4% | 127 |
| FY18 | 3,514 | $282,996 | $19.70 | $5,575 | 16.2% | 128 |
| FY17 | 3,486 | $267,155 | $19.98 | $5,338 | 15.9% | 130 |
| FY16 | 3,472 | $256,969 | $19.61 | $5,039 | 15.1% | 137 |
| FY15 | 3,451 | $246,347 | $18.32 | $4,513 | 14.5% | 161 |
| FY14 | 3,443 | $245,371 | $17.99 | $4,414 | 13.4% | 155 |
| FY13 | 3,433 | $247,776 | $17.30 | $4,287 | 13.7% | 156 |
| FY12 | 3,426 | $248,038 | $16.83 | $4,174 | 13.0% | 155 |
| FY11 | 3,419 | $251,469 | $16.16 | $4,064 | 12.3% | 150 |
| FY10 | 3,418 | $281,062 | $14.20 | $3,991 | 12.6% | 147 |
| FY09 | 3,413 | $298,662 | $13.04 | $3,895 | 12.9% | 144 |
| FY08 | 3,389 | $308,614 | $12.23 | $3,774 | 13.5% | 143 |
| FY07 | 3,389 | $304,179 | $12.13 | $3,690 | 13.6% | 140 |
| FY06 | 3,362 | $303,544 | $12.41 | $3,767 | — | 117 |
| FY05 | 3,325 | $265,212 | $13.34 | $3,538 | — | 122 |
| FY04 | 3,283 | $242,615 | $14.20 | $3,445 | — | 110 |
| FY03 | 3,249 | $227,537 | $13.12 | $2,985 | — | 139 |
| FY02 | 3,201 | $180,403 | $15.60 | $2,814 | — | 138 |
| FY01 | 3,174 | $166,196 | $15.95 | $2,651 | — | 132 |
| FY00 | 3,103 | $152,103 | $16.62 | $2,528 | — | 129 |
| FY99 | 3,072 | $135,443 | $17.80 | $2,411 | — | 128 |
| FY98 | 3,036 | $129,776 | $18.16 | $2,357 | — | 124 |
| FY97 | 2,989 | $126,113 | $18.46 | $2,328 | — | 118 |
| FY96 | 2,946 | $123,153 | $16.60 | $2,044 | — | 144 |
| FY95 | 2,914 | $122,003 | $16.03 | $1,956 | — | 150 |
| FY94 | 2,872 | $122,737 | $15.19 | $1,864 | — | 157 |
| FY93 | 2,840 | $122,727 | $14.43 | $1,771 | — | 159 |
| FY92 | 2,812 | $127,690 | $13.18 | $1,683 | — | 166 |
| FY91 | 2,791 | $149,913 | $10.92 | $1,637 | — | 136 |
| FY90 | 2,751 | $152,350 | $10.27 | $1,565 | — | 149 |
| FY88 | 3,443 | $66,214 | $17.81 | $1,179 | — | 174 |
DLS Average Single-Family Tax Bill, FY88–FY26. “Homes” is the state’s count of single-family parcels; the rate is derived, bill ÷ value, and for a single-rate town equals the rate set — FY26: $14.39. Bill as a share of DOR income per capita, where the state computed it. Bold rows are the two ends of the ten-year change above.
Against the neighbours, FY26
| town | homes | average value | rate | average bill | bill as % of income | rank of 351 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harvard | 1,708 | $917,594 | $15.87 | $14,562 | 16.7% | 22 |
| Groton | 3,284 | $761,388 | $14.78 | $11,253 | 12.1% | 50 |
| Westford | 6,529 | $852,122 | $13.11 | $11,171 | 13.7% | 52 |
| Littleton | 3,110 | $770,356 | $14.02 | $10,800 | 14.6% | 55 |
| Lancaster | 2,114 | $554,631 | $16.90 | $9,373 | 20.7% | 83 |
| Lunenburg | 3,645 | $517,296 | $14.39 | $7,444 | 15.6% | 145 |
| Ayer | 1,741 | $571,644 | $11.59 | $6,625 | 14.1% | 185 |
| Shirley | 1,588 | $523,807 | $12.39 | $6,490 | 16.6% | 191 |
| Leominster | 8,317 | $475,021 | $13.66 | $6,489 | 18.4% | 192 |
| Townsend | 2,934 | $469,723 | $13.75 | $6,459 | 15.3% | 194 |
| Fitchburg | 6,657 | $390,444 | $13.29 | $5,189 | 20.3% | 270 |
Sorted by the bill. A higher bill is not a higher rate: Harvard and Groton tax at lower rates than Lunenburg on homes worth far more. The share-of-income column is the one that compares what the bill asks of the people paying it.
How long the owners have been here — the Census
Owner-occupied households by the year the householder moved in. A five-year sample: the margins are real, and the two windows do not overlap, which is what makes the comparison permissible.
Owner households by the year they moved in, 2019–2023; the whisker is the margin of error.
| moved in | households | ± margin | share | 2014–2018 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 or later | 101 | 76 | 3% | 3% (2017 or later) |
| 2018–2020 | 698 | 219 | 19% | 7% (2015–2016) |
| 2010–2017 | 1,084 | 289 | 29% | 15% (2010–2014) |
| 2000–2009 | 542 | 170 | 15% | 30% (2000–2009) |
| 1990–1999 | 621 | 189 | 17% | 16% (1990–1999) |
| 1989 or earlier | 636 | 153 | 17% | 28% (1989 or earlier) |
| all owner households | 3,682 | 321 | 100% | 3,475 |
ACS B25038, 2019–2023; the older window’s bands are cut at different years, so they are shown beside, not under. Median year the owner moved in: 2010 (2014–2018: 2002). Households in the house since the 1980s: 975 then, 636 now.
How long the homes have been held — the assessor, and what each pays
Every single-family parcel in the FY26 assessing file — 3,649 of 5,303 parcels — by the year of its last recorded deed, with the median assessed value and the bill at the FY26 rate of $14.39. A deed is not an arrival: 33% of them record a price under $1,000 — a trust, an estate, a family transfer — so the newest band is overstated and every older band is a floor.
Single-family homes by the year of their last recorded deed, FY26 assessing file — a count, so no whisker; but the newest bar holds every nominal transfer, which is why the table beside it carries that share.
| last deed | homes | share | median value | median bill | median sale price | nominal deeds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 or later | 1,093 | 30% | $478,800 | $6,890 | $460,000 | 39% |
| 2016–2020 | 915 | 25% | $472,400 | $6,798 | $320,000 | 33% |
| 2011–2015 | 422 | 12% | $511,400 | $7,359 | $254,450 | 34% |
| 2006–2010 | 284 | 8% | $465,450 | $6,698 | $253,000 | 35% |
| 1996–2005 | 528 | 14% | $479,800 | $6,904 | $208,030 | 26% |
| 1986–1995 | 232 | 6% | $463,850 | $6,675 | $125,000 | 20% |
| before 1986 | 175 | 5% | $416,400 | $5,992 | $32,500 | 35% |
| all single-family | 3,649 | 100% | $473,800 | $6,818 | 33% |
Median sale price is of the arm’s-length deeds in the band only. The bill is value × rate before any exemption or abatement. Held at least 10 years: 1,641 homes (45%) · 20 years: 935 homes (26%) · 30 years: 407 homes (11%) — floors, for the reason above. 94% of single-family owners give a Lunenburg mailing address. Oldest deed on file: 1947.
- Whether long-tenured owners are being taxed out — that needs tenure against income or against the bill, which neither the Census nor the assessor publishes together.
- Any one household’s bill: exemptions, abatements and the split between land and building are not applied; every figure here is the average or the median home.
What would close these
Census PUMS microdata for the PUMA containing Lunenburg — tenure, year moved in and income per household, at the cost of covering several towns at once. Every limit on this page is also a row in what we cannot answer, which is the single registry the records request reads from.
acs5-2023-B25038-lunenburg.json
United States Census Bureau
Tenure by year the householder moved in
table B25038, 2019–2023 · 1 KB
sha256 73be9c25b44efeb0…
acs5-2023-B25039-lunenburg.json
United States Census Bureau
Median year the householder moved in
table B25039, 2019–2023 · 0 KB
sha256 1d0c101fc30e8809…
acs5-2018-B25038-lunenburg.json
United States Census Bureau
Tenure by year the householder moved in
table B25038, 2014–2018 · 1 KB
sha256 36a1de061c7c3647…
acs5-2018-B25039-lunenburg.json
United States Census Bureau
Median year the householder moved in
table B25039, 2014–2018 · 0 KB
sha256 698572dc1ff0026f…
AvgSingleFamTaxBill.xlsx
Massachusetts DOR, Division of Local Services
Every town’s single-family parcels, average value, average bill, the bill as a share of value and of income, and rank — exported from the DLS Gateway by script.
table Average Single-Family Tax Bill, FY1988–FY2026 · 39 KB
sha256 529481c165e85504…
L3_SHP_M162_LUNENBURG.zip
MassGIS, Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Level 3 parcels: the assessor’s FY2026 values, use codes and last recorded deed for every parcel. Owner names are in the file and are not used here.
table FY2026 assessing extract · 1.7 MB
sha256 cb0e39d142b1b353…
Every other report
Every analysis this project has written, in one index, is at reports.