Boston / Marblehead
Marblehead has 20,413 residents (give or take 24) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=060XX00US2500938400, checked 2026-10-19), about 4,662 people per square mile.
Marblehead is about 14 miles from the Census center point for Boston in a straight line and covers 4.379 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 Marblehead that is 01945 (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).
4,662 people per square mile puts Marblehead in suburban density, where the outdoor unit usually sits in a side yard and the noise is not an issue for neighbors.
Of the 8,289 occupied homes in Marblehead, 74% heat with natural gas, 17% with heating oil, 7% with electricity and 2% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=060XX00US2500938400, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas leads in Marblehead at 74%, but 19% of homes still burn delivered oil or propane, and those 1,575 or so homes are where a heat pump pays back fastest.
Marblehead has 3 points less oil heat than Essex County as a whole, where 20% of homes burn oil, and 10 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).
Marblehead has 9,095 housing units, 46% built before 1940 and 87% before 1980, with 4% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=060XX00US2500938400, checked 2026-10-19).
Marblehead has 11 points more pre-1940 homes than Essex County as a whole (35%) and 9 points fewer homes built after 2000 than the county's 13% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US25009, checked 2026-10-19). An older stock means more insulation upgrades before the heat pump goes in.
The median Marblehead home was built in 1944 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=060XX00US2500938400, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 7 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=060XX00US2500938400, checked 2026-10-19).
77% of Marblehead homes are single-family detached, 13% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 6% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=060XX00US2500938400, checked 2026-10-19).
With 77% detached houses and 13% in small multi-family buildings, a Marblehead quote is usually one or two outdoor units with ducted or ductless heads sized room by room. With 15% of Marblehead homes rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US2500938400, checked 2026-10-19), the landlord signs the quote in many of them.
Marblehead has 27 points more detached houses than Essex County overall (50%) and 15 points fewer five-plus-unit buildings than the county's 21% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US25009, checked 2026-10-19).
Only 15% of Marblehead homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US2500938400, checked 2026-10-19), so nearly every quote here is the resident talking to the installer directly, and the rebate goes to the person living in the house.
46% of Marblehead homes were built before 1940 and 87% before 1980 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=060XX00US2500938400, checked 2026-10-19), so insulation is the first sizing question: an older home leaks more heat per square foot, and the installer runs a room-by-room heat-loss calculation to size the system for what the walls and windows actually hold in, not just the floor plan.
Marblehead is also on the state table of towns served by a municipal light plant, Marblehead 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 Marblehead home billed by Marblehead Municipal Light Department asks the plant for its heat pump rebate instead.
Median household income in Marblehead is $182,132 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=060XX00US2500938400, 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 Marblehead 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 74% of Marblehead on gas and 7% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; a Marblehead house from before 1940 (46% of the 9,095 units) rarely matches a square-footage rule of thumb.
The form on this page is the follow-up for Marblehead. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Marblehead yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.