December 2019

The MassGIS General Reference Map contains a variety of features, all from the MassGIS database. The map was designed by MassGIS staff in ESRI's ArcMap 10.x software and was cached (pre-rendered) into tile layers for the Web using ArcGIS Server 10.x. The caching process greatly speeds the display of all basemap features. The tile layers are hosted at MassGIS' ArcGIS Online organizational account.For full details see http://www.mass.gov/anf/research-and-tech/it-serv-and-support/application-serv/office-of-geographic-information-massgis/online-mapping/massgis-basemap.html.

When using apps or web maps from MassGIS in ArcGIS Online, this map may be added as a basemap from the Basemap Gallery (based on the MassGIS Basemap with Parcels tile service).This general-reference map for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts uses MassGIS data and includes a topographic base featuring water bodies, rivers and streams, open space areas and hillshade; many "detailed features" including roads, points of interest, place names, and more; and 2D building structure outlines. The three "layers" in this map are also cached separately and may be added to maps individually as needed:Building Structures (2D)Standardized Assessor ParcelsDetailed FeaturesTopographic Base>> See a map legend and read more about this map. Published on August 20, 2020.

April 2022

Updated Continually

To access parcel information:Enter an address or zoom in by using the +/- tools or your mouse scroll wheel. Parcels will draw when zoomed in.Click on a parcel to display a popup with information about that parcel.Click the "Basemap" button to display background aerial imagery.From the "Layers" button you can turn map features on and off.Complete Help (PDF)Parcel Legend:Full Map LegendAbout this ViewerThis viewer displays land property boundaries from assessor parcel maps across Massachusetts. Each parcel is linked to selected descriptive information from assessor databases. Data for all 351 cities and towns are the standardized "Level 3" tax parcels served by MassGIS. More details ...Read about and download parcel dataUpdatesV 1.1: Added 'Layers' tab. (2018)V 1.2: Reformatted popup to use HTML table for columns and made address larger. (Jan 2019)V 1.3: Added 'Download Parcel Data by City/Town' option to list of layers. This box is checked off by default but when activated a user can identify anywhere and download data for that entire city/town, except Boston. (March 14, 2019)V 1.4: Data for Boston is included in the "Level 3" standardized parcels layer. (August 10, 2020)V 1.4 MassGIS, EOTSS 2021

The symbology of the data in this hosted tile layer is optimized for display atop aerial (ortho) imagery. Tiles are available for levels 7 through 20.Map Features for imagery include:Political Boundaries: Massachusetts cities and towns, counties and state border, MassGIS).Transportation: Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) Roads (MassDOT, MassGIS); MBTA subway and Commuter Rail lines and stations (Central Transportation Planning Staff, MassGIS); Airports, Ferry Routes and Seaports (MassDOT); Airport Runways and Airfields (Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA)).Infrastructure and Facilities: Lighthouses and Lights (Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management); Licensed Child Care Programs (Department of Early Education and Care); Schools (Pre-K-High School) (Massachusetts Department of Education, MassGIS); Colleges and Universities (MassGIS); Acute Care Hospitals and Non-acute Care Hospitals (Massachusetts Department of Public Health Office of Emergency Medical Services, CHIA); Libraries, Police Stations, Fire Stations, Town Halls, Places of Worship, Courthouses, Prisons, DCR Pools. This service is used in the MassGIS Image Basemap. Updated November 5, 2025.

MassGIS is working very closely with the State 911 Department in the state’s Executive Office of Public Safety and Security on the Next Generation 911 Emergency Call System. MassGIS developed and is maintaining the map and address information that are at the heart of this new system. Statewide deployment of this new 9-1-1 call routing system was completed in 2018.Address sources include the Voter Registration List from the Secretary of the Commonwealth, site addresses from municipal departments (primarily assessors), and customer address lists from utilities. Addresses from utilities were “anonymized” to protect customer privacy. The MAD was also validated for completeness using the Emergency Service List (a list of telephone land line addresses) from Verizon.The MAD contains both tabular and spatial data, with addresses being mapped as point features. At present, the MAD contains 3.2 million address records and 2.2 million address points. As the database is very dynamic with changes being made daily, the data available for download will be refreshed weekly.A Statewide Addressing Standard for Municipalities is another useful asset that has been created as part of this ongoing project. It is a best practices guide for the creation and storage of addresses for Massachusetts Municipalities.Points features with each point having an address to the building/floor/unit level, when that information is available. Where more than one address is located at a single location multiple points are included (i.e. "stacked points"). The points for the most part represent building centroids. Other points are located as assessor parcel centroids.Points will display at scales 1:75,000 and closer.MassGIS' service does not contain points for Boston; they may be accessed at https://data.boston.gov/dataset/live-street-address-management-sam-addresses/resource/873a7659-68b6-4ac0-98b7-6d8af762b6f1.More details about the MAD and Master Address Points.Map service also available.

Spring 2023 "true color" aerial imagery for Massachusetts, published as a tile layer at ArcGIS Online by MassGIS.This layer is based on 8-bit, 15 cm resolution JPEG 2000 versions of GeoTiff imagery, using the Red-Green-Blue bands.Funding for this imagery was provided by MassDOT, the State 911 Department, and the Executive Office of Technology Services and Security (EOTSS).This digital orthoimagery was created to provide easily accessible geospatial data which are readily available to enhance the capability of federal, state, and local emergency responders, as well as to plan for homeland security efforts. These data also support The National Map.These images can serve a variety of purposes, from general planning to field reference for spatial analysis, to a tool for data development and revision of vector maps. The imagery can also serve as a reference layer or basemap for myriad applications inside geographic information system (GIS) software and web-based maps.More details...

The Elevation Contours tile cache service displays at large scales contour lines at 3-meter intervals created from Digital Terrain Model (DTM) data points collected during the production of the 1:5,000 Black and White Digital Orthophoto images. See https://www.mass.gov/info-details/massgis-data-elevation-contours-15000 for more details.At smaller scales the service displays contour lines at 30-foot intervals originally developed at a scale of 1:250,000 and distributed by the U.S. Geological Survey. Please see https://www.mass.gov/info-details/massgis-data-elevation-contours-1250000 for more details.For both datasets, the index contours are labeled in feet above sea level.

October 2025

Be certain to read the MassGIS methodology to fully understand how these areas are identified.

The quadrangle template datalayer contains the boundaries of the 189 1:25,000 USGS 7.5-minute topographic map sheets that cover Massachusetts.See full metadata.

MassGIS Basemap, as a tile layer hosted at ArcGIS Online.This map includes a topographic base with terrain and natural features including shaded relief, states outside Massachusetts, water bodies and rivers, wetlands, cranberry bogs, tidal flats, elevation contours and protected open space.Detailed features include: Political Boundaries (Massachusetts cities and towns and counties), Transportation (Massachusetts Department of Transportation Roads, MBTA subway and Commuter Rail lines and stations, Airports, Airport Runways and Airfields, Ferry Routes and Seaports), Infrastructure and Facilities (Lighthouses, Schools, Colleges and Universities, Hospitals, Police Stations, Fire Stations, Town Halls, Places of Worship and 2-D building roofprints).Does not include parcels.This tile cache is used in the MassGIS Basemap web map, which appears in the Basemaps dropdown in MassGIS' ArcGIS Online web maps and apps.Updated November 4, 2025Read more...

Massachusetts water features, including lakes, ponds, rivers, streams and wetlands. From USGS hydrography. For full metadata and links to download free data please visit https://www.mass.gov/info-details/massgis-data-massdep-hydrography-125000.

The MassDEP Regions layer represents boundaries used by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection for planning and administrative purposes.See full metadataFeature service also available.

This map service from MassGIS displays the 26 Massachusetts Gateway Cities, municipalities with:population greater than 35,000 and less than 250,000;median household income below the state average;and rate of educational attainment of a bachelor’s degree or above that is below the state average.Read more about Gateway CitiesFeature service also available.

The 27 major drainage basins of Massachusetts as defined by the USGS Water Resources Division and the MA Water Resources Commission.Please see https://www.mass.gov/info-details/massgis-data-major-drainage-basins for more details.Map service also available.

This MassGIS Land Use data layer has 37 land use classifications interpreted from 1999 1:25,000 aerial photography. Photointerpretation and automation were done by the Resource Mapping Project at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. All land use categories were aggregated from 104 categories originally defined in 1971 by Professor William MacConnell at the Dept. of Forestry at UMass Amherst.Please see https://www.mass.gov/info-details/massgis-data-land-use-1951-1999 for more details.Map service also available.

The Land Use (2005) datalayer is a Massachusetts statewide, seamless digital dataset of land cover / land use, created using semi-automated methods, and based on 0.5 meter resolution digital ortho imagery captured in April 2005.The classification scheme is based on the coding schema used for previous Massachusetts land use datasets, with modifications.These data were prepared by Sanborn. The minimum mapping unit (MMU) is generally 1 acre, but a MMU as low as ¼ acre may be found in some areas, e.g. in urban areas where assessor parcels were used to enhance the mapping of multi-family residential areas.The formerly used “MacConnell” schema combined land cover and land use categories, and was designed for manual interpretation of aerial photos. In this project, that protocol was modified so that it was useful in an automated environment, but it still maintains much compatibility with the older system. The spatial accuracy of the current method is excellent, since the land use map is derived directly from the ortho image.Please see https://www.mass.gov/info-details/massgis-data-land-use-2005 for more details.Feature service also available.