An Amherst-versus-Hadley decision should begin with the household's destinations and occupancy period. A year-round house, an academic-year arrangement and a temporary rental solve different problems. Keep those requirements constant while comparing actual addresses, then use the town figures as context for the bills and responsibilities attached to each option.
How do the ownership records compare?
The median single-family assessment is $537,100 in Amherst and $458,800 in Hadley. The associated annual tax illustrations are $9,304 and $5,381. These figures describe different municipal housing stocks and local tax assumptions. They do not establish current market prices for equivalent houses. Once candidates are identified, use their current tax bills, insurance quotes and inspection-based work estimates so the comparison reflects the buildings the household could actually occupy.
Massachusetts Department of Revenue: determining property values.
What needs to be held constant for rentals?
Match bedrooms, lease length, furnishings, utilities and the number of people responsible under the agreement. The two-bedroom rent standards below are administrative area benchmarks, not current town asking-rent medians. Confirm the actual beginning and end dates and any conditions for a change in occupants. If a household needs housing beyond an academic term, include the whole year in the comparison. Storage, additional moves or gaps between leases can change a seemingly straightforward monthly calculation.
Which route matters more than the town-average commute?
The route to the specific campus building, workplace or other regular destination at the time you must arrive. Include parking, walking and any transfer rather than measuring only the road segment. A survey mean commute describes a mix of trips and cannot predict traffic or service availability for your journey. Test alternative arrangements if a vehicle is unavailable or the schedule changes. The comparison should support the household's routine across ordinary days, not just the conditions during one viewing.
What does the local record show?
These towns provide local context for the decision in this article. The figures describe the published records and survey periods identified below. Compare the same measures across places, then confirm the details of any actual home before using them in a budget or offer.
Local Figures for This Decision
Download CSV, same columns, same definitions
Selected municipalities, shown alphabetically. Definitions below distinguish assessments, administrative benchmarks and survey estimates from current market quotes.
| Town | Single-family Assessment | Annual Tax Illustration | Two-bedroom Rent Standard | Mean Commute Minutes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amherst | $537,100 | $9,304 | $2,004 | 19 |
| Hadley | $458,800 | $5,381 | $2,004 | 21.3 |
What These Columns Mean
- Town
- Municipality; follow its record below for the full data and address check.
- Single-family Assessment
- Median assessed value of single-family parcels. This is a tax-roll statistic, not an asking price, appraisal or median sale price. Assessment years are identified in the sources.
- Annual Tax Illustration
- The published residential rate applied to the town's median single-family assessment, including the recorded community preservation surcharge and its general first-value exemption where adopted. Individual exemptions, special assessments and a future reassessment can change an actual bill.
- Two-bedroom Rent Standard
- HUD's monthly two-bedroom fair market rent for the relevant area, including its treatment of tenant-paid utilities. It is an administrative benchmark, not a town asking-rent median, available apartment or individual voucher payment standard.
- Mean Commute Minutes
- Survey mean travel time to work for workers who travel to work. This is not a drive-time prediction to a chosen employer, a rush-hour estimate or a promise about a particular route.
Cite: RE413. “Local Figures for This Decision.” Updated September 19, 2026. https://www.re413.com/news/amherst-vs-hadley-ma/, underlying sources at https://www.re413.com/sources/.
Amherst's town record. Single-family assessment: $537,100. Annual tax illustration: $9,304. Two-bedroom rent standard: $2,004. Mean commute minutes: 19.
Hadley's town record. Single-family assessment: $458,800. Annual tax illustration: $5,381. Two-bedroom rent standard: $2,004. Mean commute minutes: 21.3.
Shared rent figures can reflect a shared federal rent area. They do not establish that apartments in those towns ask the same rent. Compare actual leases with the same bedroom count and utility responsibilities; the administrative standard is only a reference point.
How has the published average tax bill changed?
This is the Department of Revenue's published average single-family tax-bill series in nominal dollars. It is a different measure from the current median-assessment illustration above. Changes can reflect the tax levy, assessed values and the housing stock; this is not a forecast of the bill for a home you buy.
Published Average Single-Family Tax Bill
AmherstHadley
Amherst$9,957Hadley$5,454Fiscal 2026; common reporting years
What should you check next?
- Set the required occupancy period and compare housing options that cover the same dates.
- Use actual lease packages or property bills, keeping administrative benchmarks separate from market quotes.
- Test the complete route to the specific destination, including parking, walking and the return trip.
Keep the address, document date and source alongside each answer. If records disagree, identify which period and property each describes before treating the difference as a change. A missing result leaves a question open; it does not establish that a property has no problem or no cost.
Where can you continue the comparison?
Browse all housing guides by subject.
Open the linked town records for the wider context, including sources and dates. Use the property-specific records to narrow a decision, and keep current quotes separate from the historical figures used to explain it here.
Which official guidance supports this article?
- Massachusetts Department of Revenue: determining property values. Guidance checked 2026-09-05; confirm current requirements for your transaction.
Sources
- MassGIS and municipal assessors. single-family assessment, annual tax illustration. Figures through Amherst: FY2026; Hadley: FY2026. Checked 2026-08-21.
- Massachusetts Department of Revenue, Division of Local Services. annual tax illustration. Figures through Amherst: FY2026; Hadley: FY2026. Checked 2026-08-05.
- Massachusetts Department of Revenue, community preservation records. annual tax illustration. Checked 2026-08-05.
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. two-bedroom rent standard. Figures through FY2026. Checked 2026-08-05.
- U.S. Census Bureau, commuting survey. mean commute minutes. Figures through 2023. Checked 2026-08-05.
- Massachusetts Department of Revenue, historical average single-family tax bills. Published annual mean bills in the chart; nominal dollars, with only common reporting years in a two-town comparison. Figures through FY2010–FY2026. Checked 2026-08-05.
"Figures through" is the period the publisher's data describes; "checked" is only when we last asked. The full sourcing: sources and method.