What is the total Boston hotel tax rate?

Boston hotel stays carry a combined occupancy tax of about 14.95%. This stacks the Massachusetts state rate (5.7%), the Boston local option (6%), a convention center financing surcharge (2.75%), and a small Tourism District fee (0.5%).

Are these taxes on the room rate or the total?

All four occupancy taxes apply to the room rate before tax, not to each other. The tool multiplies your nightly rate by each percentage, sums them, and adds the result to the room cost — they are not compounded.

Do short-term rentals pay the same tax?

Massachusetts extended room occupancy excise to short-term rentals like Airbnb, and Boston applies its local rates plus a community impact fee in some cases. The base state-plus-local structure is similar, but check the specific listing for added fees.

Does this include resort or destination fees?

No. Some hotels add a mandatory resort or destination fee separate from taxes. Add any such flat nightly fee into the room rate field, or treat it separately, since it is usually itemized apart from occupancy tax.

Why is Boston's hotel tax so high?

Cities fund convention centers and tourism marketing through hotel occupancy taxes because the burden falls largely on visitors. Boston's combined ~14.95% rate is typical of major U.S. convention cities, which often range from 14% to 17%.

Boston Hotel & Occupancy Tax Calculator

The room rate you see online is rarely what you pay in Boston. Occupancy taxes stack to roughly 14.95%, and they catch many travelers by surprise at checkout. This calculator breaks down each tax component and shows your real out-the-door hotel bill.

How it works

Four occupancy taxes apply to the pre-tax room rate. They are each a percentage of the room rate, not of each other, so they are summed rather than compounded:

state_tax    = rate * 0.057    (Massachusetts 5.7%)
local_tax    = rate * 0.060    (Boston local option 6%)
ccf_tax      = rate * 0.0275   (Convention Center surcharge 2.75%)
tourism_fee  = rate * 0.005    (Tourism District 0.5%)

nightly_tax   = state_tax + local_tax + ccf_tax + tourism_fee
nightly_total = rate + nightly_tax
stay_total    = nightly_total * nights

The four rates total 14.95%, so a $250 room incurs about $37.38 of tax per night, or roughly $287.38 per night all in.

Tips and notes

These figures cover occupancy taxes only. Many Boston hotels add a separate mandatory resort or destination fee, and parking is almost always extra — see the Boston parking cost estimator. Short-term rentals follow a similar state-plus -local structure but may carry an additional community impact fee. Always check the itemized folio at checkout, since rates are set by statute and can change between fiscal years.