Boston / Swampscott
Swampscott has 15,277 residents (give or take 21) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=060XX00US2500968645, checked 2026-10-19), about 5,055 people per square mile.
Swampscott is about 11 miles from the Census center point for Boston in a straight line and covers 3.022 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 Swampscott that is 01907 (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).
5,055 people per square mile puts Swampscott in suburban density, where the outdoor unit usually sits in a side yard and the noise is not an issue for neighbors.
Of the 6,155 occupied homes in Swampscott, 61% heat with natural gas, 17% with heating oil, 15% with electricity and 7% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=060XX00US2500968645, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas leads in Swampscott at 61%, but 24% of homes still burn delivered oil or propane, and those 1,477 or so homes are where a heat pump pays back fastest.
Swampscott has 3 points less oil heat than Essex County as a whole, where 20% of homes burn oil, and 2 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).
Swampscott has 6,593 housing units, 41% built before 1940 and 75% before 1980, with 14% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=060XX00US2500968645, checked 2026-10-19).
Swampscott has 6 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 Swampscott home was built in 1955 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=060XX00US2500968645, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 6.4 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=060XX00US2500968645, checked 2026-10-19).
53% of Swampscott homes are single-family detached, 23% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 19% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=060XX00US2500968645, checked 2026-10-19).
24% of Swampscott homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US2500968645, checked 2026-10-19), so beside the 53% detached houses there is a real share of jobs where the landlord, not the resident, signs the quote.
With 41% of homes built before 1940 and only 14% new enough to pass on age, the first question for a Swampscott 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.
No electric utility is on file for Swampscott on this door yet, so this page does not name one; the name on the bill decides which rebate path applies.
If the Swampscott 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).
Median household income in Swampscott is $134,386 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=060XX00US2500968645, 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), 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 Swampscott 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 61% of Swampscott on gas and 15% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; a Swampscott house from before 1940 (41% of the 6,593 units) rarely matches a square-footage rule of thumb.
The form on this page is the follow-up for Swampscott. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Swampscott yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.