A Deerfield-versus-Sunderland choice often requires evaluating the land alongside the dwelling. The right comparison considers what the household will actually use and maintain, not simply the recorded acreage. Public housing and utility records provide context, while property plans and provider confirmation establish the details.
What is the recorded cost difference?
The median single-family assessments are $424,900 in Deerfield and $396,450 in Sunderland. Their annual tax illustrations are $5,846 and $5,042. Because each calculation uses its own town's median assessment, the difference combines the underlying housing stock with local taxation. It does not isolate the tax effect on an identical house. Obtain the actual bills for your candidates and compare the same building type, condition and financing assumptions.
Massachusetts Department of Revenue: determining property values.
How can you evaluate the parcel beyond its size?
Median recorded single-family lot acreage is 0.81 in Deerfield and 0.89 in Sunderland. Use that as a description of the stock, then investigate the specific site. Identify access, drainage, usable ground and any easements or restrictions. If a future use is essential, ask the relevant municipal offices about the proposal before treating acreage as proof it can be approved. A survey and a clear project description can resolve questions that a parcel outline or listing photograph cannot.
What should you verify about water service?
The town-level entries below do not establish connections for individual houses. Ask the provider which supply serves the address, whether private equipment is involved and who maintains it. Wastewater disposal is a separate question and needs its own documents. Include maintenance, testing or system work where relevant, together with the routine to work and errands. A property can offer more land while also adding responsibilities that are absent from a smaller or differently connected property, so compare the complete obligation.
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 | Median Lot Acres | Community Water Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deerfield | $424,900 | $5,846 | 0.81 | Recorded |
| Sunderland | $396,450 | $5,042 | 0.89 | Recorded |
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.
- Median Lot Acres
- Median recorded single-family parcel acreage. Lot area is not a measure of buildable, dry or accessible land and does not establish a surveyed boundary.
- Community Water Recorded
- Whether a community water system is recorded for the municipality. A yes does not show that a particular parcel is connected or eligible for connection; confirm with the provider.
Cite: RE413. “Local Figures for This Decision.” Updated September 19, 2026. https://www.re413.com/news/deerfield-vs-sunderland-ma/, underlying sources at https://www.re413.com/sources/.
Deerfield's town record. Single-family assessment: $424,900. Annual tax illustration: $5,846. Median lot acres: 0.81. Community water recorded: Recorded.
Sunderland's town record. Single-family assessment: $396,450. Annual tax illustration: $5,042. Median lot acres: 0.89. Community water recorded: Recorded.
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
DeerfieldSunderland
Deerfield$6,283Sunderland$5,947Fiscal 2026; common reporting years
What should you check next?
- Compare actual current tax bills for similar houses rather than applying the difference between town medians to every property.
- Review access, drainage and plans for intended land uses before assigning value to future possibilities.
- Verify water and wastewater separately and include private equipment and maintenance in the ownership budget.
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, median lot acres. Figures through Deerfield: FY2026; Sunderland: FY2026. Checked 2026-08-21.
- Massachusetts Department of Revenue, Division of Local Services. annual tax illustration. Figures through Deerfield: FY2026; Sunderland: FY2026. Checked 2026-08-05.
- Massachusetts Department of Revenue, community preservation records. annual tax illustration. Checked 2026-08-05.
- Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, community water systems. community water recorded. Checked 2026-09-07.
- 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.