A Pittsfield-versus-North-Adams comparison should be organized around the household's daily destinations and housing responsibilities. Both are Berkshire County municipalities, but a county label does not create the same commute, lease package or building condition. Use the public measures as a common reference while evaluating actual properties.
What does the ownership comparison show?
The median single-family assessment is $256,500 in Pittsfield and $191,450 in North Adams. The annual tax illustrations are $4,516 and $3,057. These describe different municipal housing stocks and tax assumptions. They do not establish current prices for equivalent houses. Match the type, size and condition of candidate homes, then replace the illustration with their current bills and add insurance, utilities and financing on the same basis.
Massachusetts Department of Revenue: determining property values.
How should rental options be compared?
Pittsfield's two-bedroom administrative rent standard is $1,626, while North Adams' is $1,709. These are federal area benchmarks, not current asking-rent medians for each city. Obtain real agreements and compare the lease duration, bedroom count, utility allocation and maintenance responsibilities. A furnished seasonal arrangement and an unfurnished year-round lease meet different needs. Include move-in cash, any additional moves and the full period of occupancy before deciding which monthly figure represents the lower total cost.
What should building age prompt you to investigate?
The median construction years below describe recorded age, not the date of renovation. Ask about major systems, roof drainage and the heating arrangement, then use inspection findings or rental-condition documentation to identify unresolved questions. For a buyer, price significant work before allocating all available cash to closing. For a tenant, confirm who handles repairs and how issues are reported. The complete comparison should show both the expense and the practical work involved in occupying the home throughout the year.
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 | Median Year Built |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Adams | $191,450 | $3,057 | $1,709 | 1925 |
| Pittsfield | $256,500 | $4,516 | $1,626 | 1950 |
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.
- Median Year Built
- Middle recorded construction year of single-family homes in the assessment data. It describes building age, not renovation date, condition, lead status or energy performance.
Cite: RE413. “Local Figures for This Decision.” Updated September 19, 2026. https://www.re413.com/news/pittsfield-vs-north-adams-ma/, underlying sources at https://www.re413.com/sources/.
North Adams's town record. Single-family assessment: $191,450. Annual tax illustration: $3,057. Two-bedroom rent standard: $1,709. Median year built: 1925.
Pittsfield's town record. Single-family assessment: $256,500. Annual tax illustration: $4,516. Two-bedroom rent standard: $1,626. Median year built: 1950.
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
PittsfieldNorth Adams
Pittsfield$5,518North Adams$3,894Fiscal 2026; common reporting years
What should you check next?
- Match actual properties by type, condition and occupancy period rather than comparing county or city labels alone.
- Compare rental utility packages and ownership bills on consistent assumptions.
- Review building-system evidence and test the daily route to the household's real destinations.
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 year built. Figures through North Adams: FY2025; Pittsfield: FY2025. Checked 2026-08-21.
- Massachusetts Department of Revenue, Division of Local Services. annual tax illustration. Figures through North Adams: FY2026; Pittsfield: 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.
- 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.