Mike Dot/Adobe Stock Photo
Mike Dot/Adobe Stock Photo
Amazon received $87 million in subsidies, tax breaks, and grants from Massachusetts communities for five projects.
Advocacy group Good Jobs First, which opposes such subsidies, found Massachusetts provided the 11th-highest amount of grants and breaks among U.S. states to the nearly $1-trillion company.
Massachusetts is ranked behind Missouri (2 projects/$111 million) and ahead of California (12 projects/$85 million), Michigan (5 projects/$82 million), and Maryland (3 projects/$68 million).
The most expensive subsidy provided in Massachusetts was by the Boston government, which offered $30 million to Amazon to create a regional headquarter in the Seaport Square area. The subsidies include $20 million for infrastructure projects in the area and up to $10 million over 15 years for local property tax abatements.
The second largest subsidy was worth $27 million for 10 years of tax-increment financing in North Andover.
There were no developments which received undisclosed subsidy amounts.
Massachusetts mainly provides subsidies to large biotech and pharmaceutical firms.
Unfortunately, only basic information about state-provided subsidies are provided annually, making it difficult to determine long-term trends in the state.
As of Nov. 17, 2022, Amazon had received 310 separate tax break deals from local and state governments across the U.S., totaling $5.14 billion. The state of Virginia was home to the largest portion of these taxpayer-subsidized Amazon projects.
| State | # Projects | Total Subsidy |
|---|---|---|
| Virginia | 20 | $824,291,799 |
| Illinois | 16 | $732,973,199 |
| New York | 22 | $671,446,986 |
| Washington | 10 | $608,644,670 |
| Oregon | 32 | $483,459,645 |
| Texas | 13 | $305,959,751 |
| Ohio | 14 | $172,418,555 |
| Tennessee | 20 | $166,030,438 |
| Kentucky | 21 | $111,789,976 |
| Missouri | 2 | $110,600,000 |
| Massachusetts | 5 | $86,979,275 |
| California | 12 | $84,541,000 |
| Michigan | 5 | $82,352,146 |
| Maryland | 3 | $68,425,000 |
| South Carolina | 5 | $64,297,962 |
| Indiana | 15 | $60,389,500 |
| Alabama | 2 | $56,500,000 |
| Wisconsin | 6 | $54,135,500 |
| Louisiana | 7 | $48,967,587 |
| New Jersey | 3 | $45,422,240 |
| Florida | 13 | $43,239,475 |
| Connecticut | 3 | $37,700,000 |
| North Carolina | 5 | $31,186,975 |
| Pennsylvania | 4 | $29,557,871 |
| Georgia | 5 | $27,115,929 |
| Mississippi | 3 | $23,925,795 |
| Iowa | 2 | $22,400,000 |
| Kansas | 2 | $21,802,522 |
| Colorado | 9 | $15,779,091 |
| Oklahoma | 5 | $11,207,651 |
| Utah | 3 | $9,780,226 |
| Delaware | 2 | $7,972,500 |
| Minnesota | 1 | $5,700,000 |
| New Mexico | 1 | $5,244,071 |
| Arizona | 2 | $5,139,671 |
| Nevada | 5 | $3,251,324 |
| Rhode Island | 1 | $2,700,000 |
| Maine | 11 | $578,828 |
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