Boston / Newton
Newton is about 10 miles from the Census center point for Boston in a straight line and covers 17.828 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).
Newton has 89,044 residents (give or take 48) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=060XX00US2501745560, checked 2026-10-19), about 4,995 people per square mile.
The quote form takes a ZIP code; for Newton that is 02458, 02459, 02460, 02461, 02462, 02464, 02465, 02466 and 2 more (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).
4,995 people per square mile puts Newton in suburban density, where the outdoor unit usually sits in a side yard and the noise is not an issue for neighbors.
Of the 32,194 occupied homes in Newton, 71% heat with natural gas, 13% with heating oil, 13% with electricity and 2% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=060XX00US2501745560, checked 2026-10-19).
Newton has 5 points less oil heat than Middlesex County as a whole, where 18% of homes burn oil, and 5 points less 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).
Gas leads in Newton at 71%, but 15% of homes still burn delivered oil or propane, and those 4,829 or so homes are where a heat pump pays back fastest.
The median Newton home was built in 1942 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=060XX00US2501745560, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 6.7 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=060XX00US2501745560, checked 2026-10-19).
Newton has 33,959 housing units, 49% built before 1940 and 80% before 1980, with 12% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=060XX00US2501745560, checked 2026-10-19).
Newton has 17 points more pre-1940 homes than Middlesex County as a whole (32%) and 3 points fewer 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.
With 49% of homes built before 1940 and only 12% new enough to pass on age, the first question for a Newton 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.
55% of Newton homes are single-family detached, 21% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 17% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=060XX00US2501745560, checked 2026-10-19).
30% of Newton homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US2501745560, checked 2026-10-19), so beside the 55% detached houses there is a real share of jobs where the landlord, not the resident, signs the quote.
Newton has 9 points more 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).
Eversource Energy lists Newton 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 Newton 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).
Median household income in Newton is $190,304 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=060XX00US2501745560, 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.
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 Newton 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 71% of Newton on gas and 13% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; a Newton house from before 1940 (49% of the 33,959 units) rarely matches a square-footage rule of thumb.
The form on this page is the follow-up for Newton. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Newton yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.