Boston / New Bedford
New Bedford has 100,998 residents (give or take 45) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=060XX00US2500545000, checked 2026-10-19), about 5,049 people per square mile.
New Bedford is about 47 miles from the Census center point for Boston in a straight line and covers 20.002 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 New Bedford that is 02740, 02744, 02745, 02746 (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 New Bedford is $56,981 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=060XX00US2500545000, 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.
5,049 people per square mile puts New Bedford in suburban density, where the outdoor unit usually sits in a side yard and the noise is not an issue for neighbors.
31% of New Bedford homes are single-family detached, 47% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 21% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=060XX00US2500545000, checked 2026-10-19).
A two- or three-family building is the common New Bedford case at 47% of the stock against 31% detached houses, and each unit usually gets its own small outdoor unit and its own rebate account rather than one big system for the building. With 60% of New Bedford homes rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US2500545000, checked 2026-10-19), the landlord signs the quote in many of them.
New Bedford has 22 points fewer detached houses than Bristol County overall (53%) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US25005, checked 2026-10-19).
With 60% of New Bedford homes rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US2500545000, 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 42,271 occupied homes in New Bedford, 79% heat with natural gas, 7% with heating oil, 10% with electricity and 2% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=060XX00US2500545000, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas heats 79% of New Bedford against electricity at 10%, 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.
New Bedford has 16 points less oil heat than Bristol County as a whole, where 23% of homes burn oil, and 3 points less electric heat than the county's 13% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US25005, checked 2026-10-19).
Eversource Energy lists New Bedford 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 New Bedford 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).
New Bedford has 44,346 housing units, 52% built before 1940 and 84% before 1980, with 5% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=060XX00US2500545000, checked 2026-10-19).
New Bedford has 20 points more pre-1940 homes than Bristol County as a whole (32%) and 7 points fewer homes built after 2000 than the county's 12% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US25005, checked 2026-10-19). An older stock means more insulation upgrades before the heat pump goes in.
The median New Bedford home was built in 1938 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=060XX00US2500545000, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 5.2 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=060XX00US2500545000, checked 2026-10-19).
With 52% of homes built before 1940 and only 5% new enough to pass on age, the first question for a New Bedford 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: 9F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Bristol 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 9F figure is the Bristol County cold-day number a New Bedford heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at 9F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask whether the quote is whole-home or partial-home, because with 79% of New Bedford on gas and 10% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; a New Bedford house from before 1940 (52% of the 44,346 units) rarely matches a square-footage rule of thumb.
The form on this page is the follow-up for New Bedford. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for New Bedford yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.