Boston / Medford
Medford has 59,354 residents (give or take 38) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=060XX00US2501739835, checked 2026-10-19), about 7,327 people per square mile.
Medford is about 8 miles from the Census center point for Boston in a straight line and covers 8.101 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 Medford that is 02155 (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 Medford is $129,540 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=060XX00US2501739835, 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.
7,327 people per square mile puts Medford in suburban density, where the outdoor unit usually sits in a side yard and the noise is not an issue for neighbors.
34% of Medford homes are single-family detached, 34% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 25% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=060XX00US2501739835, checked 2026-10-19).
46% of Medford homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US2501739835, checked 2026-10-19), so beside the 34% detached houses there is a real share of jobs where the landlord, not the resident, signs the quote.
Medford has 12 points fewer detached houses than Middlesex County overall (46%) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US25017, checked 2026-10-19).
46% of Medford homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US2501739835, checked 2026-10-19), so the market splits between resident-led jobs where the occupant picks the system and landlord-led jobs where they do not, and the rebate paperwork differs.
Of the 24,339 occupied homes in Medford, 62% heat with natural gas, 15% with heating oil, 19% with electricity and 2% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=060XX00US2501739835, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas leads in Medford at 62%, but 17% of homes still burn delivered oil or propane, and those 4,138 or so homes are where a heat pump pays back fastest.
Medford has 3 points less oil heat than Middlesex County as a whole, where 18% of homes burn oil, and 1 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 Medford 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 Medford 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).
Medford has 25,587 housing units, 49% built before 1940 and 76% before 1980, with 13% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=060XX00US2501739835, checked 2026-10-19).
Medford has 17 points more pre-1940 homes than Middlesex County as a whole (32%) (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 Medford home was built in 1942 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=060XX00US2501739835, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 5.5 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=060XX00US2501739835, checked 2026-10-19).
With 49% of homes built before 1940 and only 13% new enough to pass on age, the first question for a Medford 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 Medford 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 62% of Medford on gas and 19% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; a Medford house from before 1940 (49% of the 25,587 units) rarely matches a square-footage rule of thumb.
The form on this page is the follow-up for Medford. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Medford yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.