Northampton, MA

Northampton's FY2026 property tax rate is $13.67 per $1,000 of assessed value, which is about 1.367% (Northampton Treasurer/Collector^[1]); Massachusetts also taxes personal income at 5.0% and sales tax at 6.25% (Mass.gov^[2]). The city’s median household income is $78,467, and the Census household-income figure is often a better anchor for day-to-day affordability than citywide list-price anecdotes (Census QuickFacts^[3]). Government-published grocery figures and a city-level BLS CPI series for Northampton are not given here.

HRSA’s shortage-designation tools can help check provider scarcity, but a specific Northampton hospital page with drive times is not given here (HRSA HPSA^[4]). The nearest major hospital system and drive time for Northampton are not given here. The most defensible takeaway from the available official sources is that Northampton is within a region where federal shortage-area screening is relevant and where residents commonly rely on the broader Pioneer Valley for specialty access (HRSA^[5]).

NOAA's U.S. Annual precipitation, summer highs, winter lows, and sunny-day climatology for Northampton are not given here (NOAA NCEI^[6]). Northampton’s official climate dataset is the 1991–2020 normals suite, but Northampton-specific precipitation, temperature, and sunshine totals are not given here. For planning, the main climate point is that Northampton is a true four-season market, not a mild-winter market, and outdoor comfort is strongest from late spring through early fall (NOAA NCEI^[6]).

A crime summary for Northampton reports a five-year average violent-crime rate of 82.2 per 100,000 residents and a property-crime rate of 121.6 per 100,000, both below the national averages shown on that page (Crime Explorer, FBI-sourced^[7]). The summary says Northampton Police Department data cover 2019 to 2024, and the numbers are FBI-derived and should still be verified before a move decision (Crime Explorer, FBI-sourced^[7]). Northampton’s last-three-year crime trend is not given here.

Northampton’s median list price is reported at $550,000 on Homes.com, while Zillow shows a higher Northampton median list price of $626,150 as of August 2026, suggesting a market where well-positioned homes often list above the mid-$500Ks (Homes.com^[8]) (Zillow^[9]). Recent market snapshots show homes selling relatively quickly, with average or median days on market around 22 to 33 days depending on the source and time window, and Redfin reporting a 0.9% year-over-year increase in the median sale price over the prior three months (Redfin^[10]) (Homes.com^[8]). For age-restricted housing, Realtor.com’s Northampton 55+ search page confirms a retirement-community inventory in town and shows a median listing home price of $522,400 for those retirement-community homes, while New LifeStyles says there are 5 independent-living communities in Northampton and that active-adult communities exist locally (Realtor.com^[11]) (New LifeStyles^[12]).

Drive times and nonstop routes for the nearest airline airport are not given here. For a Northampton retiree, the usual practical answer is Bradley International in Connecticut as the main commercial airport for western Massachusetts, with Boston and New York serving as backup larger-hub options. Precise mileage and the flight list are not given here.

Northampton Country Club is a semi-private course in Leeds, just minutes from downtown Northampton, and it explicitly welcomes both members and the public for golf and dining (Northampton Country Club^[13]). Pine Grove Golf Course is an 18-hole semi-private course in Northampton, with green fees available by call-in, though it does not publish a current rate card (Pine Grove Golf Course listing^[14]). Public courses within 30 minutes and typical greens fees are not given here.

The Census reports Northampton's population at 31,315 in 2024 and its median household income at $78,467 (Census QuickFacts^[3]). Census Reporter shows a median age of 41.3 years, which is older than many college towns but still younger than many classic retirement suburbs (Census Reporter^[15]). That age profile, plus the city's downtown orientation and active municipal parks and recreation programming, makes Northampton feel like a compact, culture-forward place rather than a spread-out exurb (Northampton Parks & Recreation^[16]).

FEMA's National Risk Index is published at the county level, so Hampshire County is the correct unit for evaluating Northampton's natural-hazard profile (FEMA NRI portal^{[17?] (unconfirmed source)}). The county's specific composite score and top-hazard ranking are not given here. For air quality, EPA-linked county reporting for Hampshire County shows a 2025 median AQI of 36, with 85.5% of monitored days in the Good range and 0 unhealthy days, which is favorable for most retirees but still leaves some smoke-season monitoring to do in summer and fall (Plain Air Data, EPA-based Hampshire County AQI^[18]).