1 county indexed. ArcGIS FeatureServer and MapServer URLs, with supported search fields per layer.
| County | Endpoints | Searchable fields | Status | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Statewide County | 2 | Town/City Numeric ID (filter by municipality) · Map-Parcel Identifier · Location ID (links to L3_ASSESS table) +8 | LIVE | OPEN |
Massachusetts is one of a small group of US states that operates a genuine statewide parcel layer. MassGIS (the Bureau of Geographic Information, within the Executive Office of Technology Services and Security) publishes the Level 3 Standardized Assessors' Parcel data — a single FeatureServer aggregating parcel data from all 351 municipalities in the state. This matters because Massachusetts abolished most county governments between 1997 and 2000. Eight of 14 counties no longer have functioning county government; land records sit with municipal Assessors, not county offices. MassGIS collects these municipal datasets into a standardized schema (the L3 standard) updated roughly annually. The result is one of the most researcher-accessible statewide parcel resources in the US.
MassGIS maintains the Massachusetts Property Tax Parcels FeatureServer at arcgisserver.digital.mass.gov. The service uses a two-layer structure: layer 1 (Tax Parcels) holds polygon geometry with TOWN_ID, MAP_PAR_ID, LOC_ID, POLY_TYPE, and LU_CODES; layer 4 (GISDATA.L3_ASSESS) holds the assessor attribute table with OWNER1, SITE_ADDR, FULL_STR, CITY, ZIP, TOTAL_VAL, LAND_VAL, BLDG_VAL, USE_CODE, YEAR_BUILT, ZONING, TOWN_ID, and statewide identifiers. The two layers join on LOC_ID. Data are organized by municipality (TOWN_ID numeric code), not by county — there is no COUNTY field because county government does not administer parcel records. MassGIS publishes the town code lookup at mass.gov. Municipalities submit data to MassGIS annually as part of the state's property tax certification process; compliance is high because certification is required for local tax rate approval.
Because Massachusetts abolished most county governments, the MassGIS L3 layer filters by TOWN_ID (a numeric code assigned to each of the 351 cities and towns), not by county name. To query parcels in a specific county, you need the list of TOWN_IDs for that county's municipalities. Suffolk County towns are Boston (274), Chelsea (54), Revere (223), and Winthrop (349). Middlesex towns include Cambridge (49), Lowell (168), and Newton (195), among others. MassGIS publishes the full town code list at mass.gov/info-details/massgis-data-property-tax-parcels. Build your query as TOWN_ID IN (274, 54, 223, 349) for a county-wide pull.
The Tax Parcels polygon layer (layer 1) does not contain owner name, assessed value, or land use. Those fields are in the GISDATA.L3_ASSESS table (layer 4), which has no geometry. For owner-name queries, hit layer 4 directly with ?where=UPPER(OWNER1)+LIKE+UPPER('%25SMITH%25')&outFields=OWNER1,SITE_ADDR,CITY,TOTAL_VAL,MA_PROP_ID&returnGeometry=false&f=json. To get geometry for a returned record, take the LOC_ID value and query layer 1: ?where=LOC_ID='...'&outFields=*&returnGeometry=true&f=json. MA_PROP_ID is a statewide unique identifier that persists across annual refreshes and is more stable than LOC_ID for building cross-year references.
MassGIS publishes the L3 layer as an annually refreshed dataset tied to municipal property tax certification. The FeatureServer reflects data as of the most recent certification cycle — typically the prior fiscal year. Recent sales, ownership transfers, or subdivision changes may not appear until the next annual update. For time-sensitive ownership verification, supplement with the Registry of Deeds (each county still maintains a functioning Registry of Deeds even where county government was abolished): Suffolk Deeds (suffolkdeeds.com), Middlesex South (middlesexsouthregistry.com), and so on. Deed recording is the authoritative ownership event; the MassGIS layer reflects that event only after the municipal assessor processes it.
The MassGIS FeatureServer covers all 351 municipalities statewide under a single service endpoint. There are no separate per-county REST services in Massachusetts. Filter by TOWN_ID to scope to any municipality; join layer 1 (geometry, LOC_ID) to layer 4 (OWNER1, assessed value, YEAR_BUILT, ZONING) on LOC_ID for full-attribute parcel records.
Owner search (L3_ASSESS table, layer 4): ?where=UPPER(OWNER1)+LIKE+UPPER('%25SMITH%25')&outFields=OWNER1,SITE_ADDR,CITY,ZIP,TOTAL_VAL,MA_PROP_ID,TOWN_ID&returnGeometry=false&f=json&resultRecordCount=10. Town filter: add AND+TOWN_ID=274 (Boston) to scope the search. Address search (layer 4): ?where=UPPER(SITE_ADDR)+LIKE+UPPER('%25MAIN+ST%25')+AND+TOWN_ID=195&outFields=OWNER1,SITE_ADDR,TOTAL_VAL,USE_CODE&returnGeometry=false&f=json. Geometry fetch by LOC_ID (layer 1): ?where=LOC_ID='<value>'&outFields=MAP_PAR_ID,LU_CODES&returnGeometry=true&f=geojson. Both layers at arcgisserver.digital.mass.gov/arcgisserver/rest/services/AGOL/MassachusettsPropertyTaxParcels/FeatureServer/.
Last updated 2026-05-24.
1 Massachusetts county is indexed in the UrbanKit atlas with a verified public REST endpoint: Statewide. It exposes an owner-name field you can search directly on the public layer.
Statewide expose an owner-name field on the public REST layer. Statewide, for example, uses the OWNER1 field — a case-insensitive search is ?where=UPPER(OWNER1)%20LIKE%20UPPER('%25SMITH%25')&outFields=*&f=json. Open a county's page here for its full field list and a ready-to-run sample query.
Statewide publishes parcels at https://arcgisserver.digital.mass.gov/arcgisserver/rest/services/AGOL/MassachusettsPropertyTaxParcels/FeatureServer/1 — a FeatureServer (layer 1). It indexes by Town/City Numeric ID (filter by municipality), Map-Parcel Identifier, and Location ID (links to L3_ASSESS table). Owner-name search: UPPER(OWNER1) LIKE UPPER('%25SMITH%25').
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