How Boston's 6.25% rate is built
No local sales tax — a flat statewide rate. Groceries are exempt, and clothing is exempt up to $175 per item (only the amount above $175 is taxed).
What you pay in Boston — worked examples
| Purchase | Tax at 6.25% | Total |
|---|---|---|
| $25 | $1.56 | $26.56 |
| $100 | $6.25 | $106.25 |
| $500 | $31.25 | $531.25 |
| $1,000 | $62.50 | $1062.50 |
| $10,000 | $625.00 | $10625.00 |
Boston vs the Massachusetts average
The average combined rate across Massachusetts is about 6.25%, so Boston at 6.25% is at the state norm. On a $30,000 car (where vehicle tax rules allow the general rate), that gap alone is about $0 — one reason big purchases are planned around exact addresses, not state averages.
Boston vs other major US cities
Boston is the Massachusetts city we track in detail. Against the extremes of the 30-city dataset:
| City | Combined rate | Tax on $1,000 |
|---|---|---|
| Boston (this page) | 6.25% | $62.50 |
| Seattle — among the highest | 10.35% | $103.50 |
| Chicago — among the highest | 10.25% | $102.50 |
| Portland — among the lowest | 0% | $0.00 |
| Louisville — among the lowest | 6% | $60.00 |
| Average of the 30 tracked cities | 7.93% | $79.30 |
What this means in Boston
The rate bites hardest on large, planned purchases. At 6.25%, a $10,000 purchase carries $625.00 of tax — $0.00 more than the same purchase at the Massachusetts average rate of 6.25%, and $36.00 less than at the all-state average of 6.61%. On everyday spending the difference is cents; on vehicles, appliances and furniture it decides where people choose to buy.
Day-to-day, the grocery exemption keeps the weekly food shop outside this rate in Massachusetts — the 6.25% applies to general merchandise, electronics and prepared food. Budget the rate into non-food spending, not the food bill.
Calculate with your exact rate
District boundaries inside Boston can shift the rate street by street. For an exact figure — or to extract tax from a tax-inclusive total — use the full calculator with your precise local rate: