Boston / Salem
Salem has 44,795 residents (give or take 33) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=060XX00US2500959105, checked 2026-10-19), about 5,401 people per square mile.
Salem is about 13 miles from the Census center point for Boston in a straight line and covers 8.294 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 Salem that is 01970 (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 Salem is $85,153 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=060XX00US2500959105, 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.
5,401 people per square mile puts Salem in suburban density, where the outdoor unit usually sits in a side yard and the noise is not an issue for neighbors.
24% of Salem homes are single-family detached, 38% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 32% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=060XX00US2500959105, checked 2026-10-19).
A two- or three-family building is the common Salem case at 38% of the stock against 24% 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 50% of Salem homes rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US2500959105, checked 2026-10-19), the landlord signs the quote in many of them.
Salem has 26 points fewer detached houses than Essex County overall (50%) and 11 points more 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).
50% of Salem homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US2500959105, 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 20,267 occupied homes in Salem, 55% heat with natural gas, 17% with heating oil, 25% with electricity and 1% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=060XX00US2500959105, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas leads in Salem at 55%, but 18% of homes still burn delivered oil or propane, and those 3,648 or so homes are where a heat pump pays back fastest.
Salem has 3 points less oil heat than Essex County as a whole, where 20% of homes burn oil, and 8 points more 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).
No electric utility is on file for Salem on this door yet, so this page does not name one; the name on the bill decides which rebate path applies.
If the Salem electric bill comes from one of the Mass Save sponsors (Cape Light Compact, Eversource, National Grid, Unitil), the 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).
Salem has 21,492 housing units, 51% built before 1940 and 76% before 1980, with 11% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=060XX00US2500959105, checked 2026-10-19).
Salem has 16 points more 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). An older stock means more insulation upgrades before the heat pump goes in.
The median Salem home was built in 1938 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=060XX00US2500959105, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 4.8 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=060XX00US2500959105, checked 2026-10-19).
With 51% of homes built before 1940 and only 11% new enough to pass on age, the first question for a Salem 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), 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 Salem 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 55% of Salem on gas and 25% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; a Salem house from before 1940 (51% of the 21,492 units) rarely matches a square-footage rule of thumb.
The form on this page is the follow-up for Salem. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Salem yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.