Great Barrington and Stockbridge should be compared through the kind of occupancy and property responsibility a household intends to take on. A home used continuously and one occupied occasionally still require maintenance, insurance and recurring bills. Public housing records provide context, while the actual property's documents establish the commitment.
What is the assessed ownership baseline?
The median single-family assessment is $518,000 in Great Barrington and $702,200 in Stockbridge. The corresponding annual tax illustrations are $7,024 and $4,891. These describe different municipal stocks and do not establish current prices for equivalent homes. Match candidates by size, use and condition before comparing actual bills. A difference between town medians cannot tell you which property requires more immediate work or which purchase leaves a larger maintenance reserve.
Massachusetts Department of Revenue: determining property values.
How should seasonal vacancy influence the search?
Use the paired vacancy and seasonal-share figures below to understand historical housing composition. They do not identify homes currently offered for sale or year-round rent. A seasonal dwelling may be unavailable to someone who needs continuous occupancy, and a short-term agreement may leave gaps the household must solve. Verify actual availability for the intended dates, permitted use and contract terms. Keep those facts separate from the census categories so the housing search does not rely on an assumed supply.
What does parcel size add to the cost?
The median recorded lot areas provide context, but the expense of a specific site depends on access, drainage, structures and the portions that must be maintained. Walk the property and ask who handles snow, trees and grounds when the owner is absent. If a project motivates the purchase, investigate approvals and feasibility before assigning value to that possibility. Compare the total annual expense of keeping each candidate usable, including the periods when the household may occupy it less often.
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 | Vacant / Seasonal Share | Median Lot Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Barrington | $518,000 | $7,024 | 17.9% vacant; 57.9% of vacancies seasonal | 0.78 |
| Stockbridge | $702,200 | $4,891 | 41.2% vacant; 82.3% of vacancies seasonal | 1.06 |
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.
- Vacant / Seasonal Share
- First: vacant units as a share of all housing units in the 2020 census. Second: seasonal, recreational or occasional-use units as a share of vacant units. Neither number is a current rental availability rate.
- 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.
Cite: RE413. “Local Figures for This Decision.” Updated September 19, 2026. https://www.re413.com/news/great-barrington-vs-stockbridge-ma/, underlying sources at https://www.re413.com/sources/.
Great Barrington's town record. Single-family assessment: $518,000. Annual tax illustration: $7,024. Vacant / seasonal share: 17.9% vacant; 57.9% of vacancies seasonal. Median lot acres: 0.78.
Stockbridge's town record. Single-family assessment: $702,200. Annual tax illustration: $4,891. Vacant / seasonal share: 41.2% vacant; 82.3% of vacancies seasonal. Median lot acres: 1.06.
Vacant housing includes seasonal and other unavailable units. The seasonal share uses vacant homes as its denominator, while the vacancy rate uses all housing units. A larger vacancy percentage therefore does not establish that more homes can be rented or bought today.
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
Great BarringtonStockbridge
Great Barrington$8,444Stockbridge$6,284Fiscal 2026; common reporting years
What should you check next?
- Match homes by intended occupancy, usable space and condition before comparing municipal assessment figures.
- Verify current availability and contract terms independently of historical vacancy statistics.
- Obtain actual bills and a plan for grounds, access and building maintenance throughout the year.
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 Great Barrington: FY2027; Stockbridge: FY2026. Checked 2026-08-21.
- Massachusetts Department of Revenue, Division of Local Services. annual tax illustration. Figures through Great Barrington: FY2026; Stockbridge: FY2026. Checked 2026-08-05.
- Massachusetts Department of Revenue, community preservation records. annual tax illustration. Checked 2026-08-05.
- U.S. Census Bureau, decennial housing counts. vacant / seasonal share. Figures through 2020 census. Checked 2026-08-03.
- 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.