Boston / Cambridge
Cambridge has 118,796 residents (give or take 73) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=060XX00US2501711000, checked 2026-10-19), about 18,571 people per square mile.
Cambridge is about 6 miles from the Census center point for Boston in a straight line and covers 6.397 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).
The quote form takes a ZIP code; for Cambridge that is 02138, 02139, 02140, 02141, 02142 (Census 2020 ZCTA to county subdivision relationship file, ZIP areas at least 20% inside the town, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/rel2020/zcta520/tab20_zcta520_cousub20_natl.txt, checked 2026-10-19).
Median household income in Cambridge is $130,748 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=060XX00US2501711000, 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.
At 18,571 people per square mile, Cambridge is dense enough that noise setback rules and outdoor-unit placement on a small lot are the first questions the installer works through.
10% of Cambridge homes are single-family detached, 29% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 55% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=060XX00US2501711000, checked 2026-10-19).
With 55% of Cambridge homes in buildings of five or more units and 10% detached, the condo association usually decides where outdoor units can go, so that approval comes before the quote. With 67% of Cambridge homes rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US2501711000, checked 2026-10-19), the landlord signs the quote in many of them.
Cambridge has 36 points fewer detached houses than Middlesex County overall (46%) and 30 points more five-plus-unit buildings than the county's 25% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US25017, checked 2026-10-19).
With 67% of Cambridge homes rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US2501711000, 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.
Of the 49,444 occupied homes in Cambridge, 64% heat with natural gas, 4% with heating oil, 28% with electricity and 2% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=060XX00US2501711000, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas heats 64% of Cambridge against electricity at 28%, 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.
Cambridge has 14 points less oil heat than Middlesex County as a whole, where 18% of homes burn oil, and 10 points more electric heat than the county's 18% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US25017, checked 2026-10-19).
Eversource Energy lists Cambridge 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 Cambridge 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).
Cambridge has 54,840 housing units, 47% built before 1940 and 68% before 1980, with 20% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=060XX00US2501711000, checked 2026-10-19).
Cambridge has 15 points more pre-1940 homes than Middlesex County as a whole (32%) and 5 points more homes built after 2000 than the county's 15% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US25017, checked 2026-10-19). An older stock means more insulation upgrades before the heat pump goes in.
The median Cambridge home was built in 1950 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=060XX00US2501711000, 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=060XX00US2501711000, checked 2026-10-19).
With 47% of homes built before 1940 and only 20% new enough to pass on age, the first question for a Cambridge house is insulation: the whole-home rebate wants proof the house is weatherized, and a no-cost home energy assessment is the usual way an older home shows it.
Heating design temperature: 1F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Middlesex 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 Middlesex County cold-day number a Cambridge 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 64% of Cambridge on gas and 28% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; a Cambridge house from before 1940 (47% of the 54,840 units) rarely matches a square-footage rule of thumb.
The form on this page is the follow-up for Cambridge. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Cambridge yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.