Boston / Ipswich
Ipswich has 13,930 residents (give or take 25) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=060XX00US2500932310, checked 2026-10-19), about 434 people per square mile.
Ipswich is about 26 miles from the Census center point for Boston in a straight line and covers 32.105 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 Ipswich that is 01938 (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).
Ipswich is spread out at 434 people per square mile across 32.105 square miles of land, so a long refrigerant line run between the outdoor unit and the farthest indoor head is the sizing question an installer checks first.
Of the 5,709 occupied homes in Ipswich, 42% heat with natural gas, 32% with heating oil, 15% with electricity and 7% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=060XX00US2500932310, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas leads in Ipswich at 42%, but 39% of homes still burn delivered oil or propane, and those 2,227 or so homes are where a heat pump pays back fastest.
Ipswich has 12 points more oil heat than Essex County as a whole, where 20% of homes burn oil, and 2 points less electric heat than the county's 17% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US25009, checked 2026-10-19).
Ipswich has 6,224 housing units, 28% built before 1940 and 64% before 1980, with 14% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=060XX00US2500932310, checked 2026-10-19).
Ipswich has 7 points fewer pre-1940 homes than Essex County as a whole (35%) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US25009, checked 2026-10-19).
The median Ipswich home was built in 1964 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=060XX00US2500932310, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 6.1 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=060XX00US2500932310, checked 2026-10-19).
59% of Ipswich homes are single-family detached, 16% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 13% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=060XX00US2500932310, checked 2026-10-19).
26% of Ipswich homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US2500932310, checked 2026-10-19), so beside the 59% detached houses there is a real share of jobs where the landlord, not the resident, signs the quote.
Ipswich has 9 points more detached houses than Essex County overall (50%) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US25009, checked 2026-10-19).
64% of Ipswich homes were built before 1980 and only 14% in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=060XX00US2500932310, checked 2026-10-19), so most of the stock predates modern insulation codes; the installer's heat-loss calculation, not a square-footage rule, decides the tonnage.
Ipswich is also on the state table of towns served by a municipal light plant, Ipswich Municipal Light Department (Massachusetts municipally-owned electric companies, https://www.mass.gov/info-details/massachusetts-municipally-owned-electric-companies, checked 2026-10-19).
Mass Save heat pump rebates are for electric accounts with Cape Light Compact, Eversource, National Grid or Unitil, so a Ipswich home billed by Ipswich Municipal Light Department asks the plant for its heat pump rebate instead.
Median household income in Ipswich is $138,750 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=060XX00US2500932310, checked 2026-10-19); many state and utility heat pump rebate programs set higher incentive tiers for income-qualifying households, so the household income on the application, not the town median, decides which level applies.
Heating design temperature: 1F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Essex 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 Essex County cold-day number a Ipswich 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 42% of Ipswich on gas and 15% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; the median Ipswich home has 6.1 rooms and was built around 1964, and the count of heads and the tonnage follow the rooms and the insulation, not the square footage.
The form on this page is the follow-up for Ipswich. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Ipswich yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.