Boston / Brighton
The figures on this page cover ZIP code 02135, the code a state office list files under Brighton (BOSTON OFFICES BY ZIP CODE (Massachusetts Department of Children and Families), https://www.mass.gov/doc/boston-dcf-coverage-by-zip-code/download, checked 2026-10-19).
Brighton has 43,149 residents (give or take 1,862) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=860Z200US02135, checked 2026-10-19), about 16,596 people per square mile.
Brighton is about 7 miles from the Census center point for Boston in a straight line and covers 2.6 square miles of land (Census 2024 Gazetteer internal points and land area, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2024_Gazetteer/, checked 2026-10-19).
At 16,596 people per square mile, Brighton is dense enough that noise setback rules and outdoor-unit placement on a small lot are the first questions the installer works through.
Of the 21,143 occupied homes in Brighton, 55% heat with natural gas, 10% with heating oil, 26% with electricity and 5% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=860Z200US02135, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas heats 55% of Brighton against electricity at 26%, so most quotes here are a partial-home system that carries the shoulder seasons and the summer while the gas furnace handles the coldest nights, or a whole-home system when the house is ready for it.
Brighton has 3 points more oil heat than Suffolk County as a whole, where 7% of homes burn oil, and 5 points less electric heat than the county's 31% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US25025, checked 2026-10-19).
9% of Brighton homes are single-family detached, 29% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 57% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=860Z200US02135, checked 2026-10-19).
With 57% of Brighton homes in buildings of five or more units and 9% detached, the condo association usually decides where outdoor units can go, so that approval comes before the quote. With 77% of Brighton homes rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=860Z200US02135, checked 2026-10-19), the landlord signs the quote in many of them.
Brighton has 12 points more five-plus-unit buildings than the county's 45% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US25025, checked 2026-10-19).
Brighton has 22,379 housing units, 39% built before 1940 and 74% before 1980, with 15% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=860Z200US02135, checked 2026-10-19).
Brighton has 7 points fewer pre-1940 homes than Suffolk County as a whole (46%) and 3 points fewer homes built after 2000 than the county's 18% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US25025, checked 2026-10-19).
The median Brighton home was built in 1956 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=860Z200US02135, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 4.1 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=860Z200US02135, checked 2026-10-19).
With 77% of Brighton homes rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=860Z200US02135, checked 2026-10-19), most heat pump quotes here are landlord-driven: the landlord signs the contract and picks the equipment, and the tenant sees the lower bill.
Eversource Energy lists Brighton among the Massachusetts communities it serves for electricity (Eversource Energy communities we serve, https://www.eversource.com/residential/services/communities-we-serve, checked 2026-10-19).
For a Brighton address billed by Eversource Energy, the Mass Save whole-home heat pump rebate is $2,650 per ton up to $8,500, and the partial-home rebate is $1,125 per ton up to $8,500; for projects installed on or after January 1, 2027, the whole-home figure drops to $2,350 per ton capped at $7,500 (Mass Save air-source heat pump rebates, https://www.masssave.com/residential/rebates-offers-services/heating-and-cooling/heat-pumps/air-source-heat-pumps, checked 2026-10-19).
Only 15% of Brighton homes are new enough to pass the whole-home rebate's weatherization check on age, and 39% date from before 1940, so most of the other 85% show it with a home energy assessment before the heat pump goes in.
Median household income in Brighton is $90,829 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=860Z200US02135, checked 2026-10-19); Mass Save's enhanced heat pump incentives are income-based and decided household by household, so the town median only hints at how many neighbors qualify.
Heating design temperature: 1F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Suffolk County row, 99% heating, PDF page 56 of 141 (Revised 11/11/2020), https://www.energystar.gov/sites/default/files/Design%20Temperature%20Limit%20Reference%20Guide%20(2019%20Ed)%20-%20ENERGY%20STAR%20Single-Family%20New%20Homes_Rev11.pdf, fetched 2026-10-19, 99%.
That 1F figure is the Suffolk County cold-day number a Brighton heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at 1F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask whether the quote is whole-home or partial-home, because with 55% of Brighton on gas and 26% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; a Brighton house from before 1940 (39% of the 22,379 units) rarely matches a square-footage rule of thumb.
The form on this page is the follow-up for Brighton. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Brighton yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.