Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Newburyport grades A overall, 63rd of 282 graded towns in Massachusetts. It has 39 miles of trail. CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 96% of the country and the median household earns $140K. What holds it back is price: the typical home is worth about $933K, 8.1 years of the Boston metro’s $116K median household income. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 100% of U.S. towns, with 11 places on the National Register. Newburyport’s trail density is 3.7 miles per square mile, where Massachusetts’ towns sit at 1.8 and U.S. towns at 0.4. Newburyport is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 97% of U.S. towns. No town in Massachusetts scores higher than Newburyport on history.
Where Newburyport beats most towns.
Caleb Cushing House is a National Historic Landmark, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 4,837 in 1790, 18,289 in 2020. The archive holds 11 old photos and papers going back to 1700 and 6 maps from 1932 on.
11 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Massachusetts), ordered by how far Newburyport is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Newburyport. Close and well known come first.
Big draw34 mi Stadium & arenaFenway Park
Big draw35 mi MuseumIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum
35 mi LakeWalden Pond
32 mi AttractionFreedom Trail
16 mi Ancient siteAmerica's Stonehenge
34 mi MuseumMuseum of Fine Arts Boston477K visitors a yearFenway Park: Gatorfan252525, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: Sean Dungan, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Walden Pond: Victorgrigas, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Freedom Trail: Ingfbruno, CC BY-SA 3.0 · America's Stonehenge: User:Stan Shebs, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Museum of Fine Arts Boston: Martin~jawiki at Japanese Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Newburyport, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Newburyport.
Newburyport draws workers from Haverhill and beyond and has less no health insurance than most of Massachusetts, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Massachusetts.
Maudslay State Park, at 488 acres with 15.6 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Maudslay State Park | 15.6 mi | 488 |
| 2. Moseley Woods | 2.6 mi | 48 |
| 3. Protected Dunes | 1.6 mi | 24 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Newburyport school district. Two of its 7 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Francis T Bresnahan ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–3 | Grades PK–3 | 584 | A− |
| Newburyport HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 743 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MA on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with Massachusetts is no health insurance: 2.4% of those 18–64 have no health insurance, against 5.2% statewide.
28% of Newburyport adults feel lonely, below both the Massachusetts town median (33%) and the median of U.S. towns (33%). 13% of adults report frequent mental distress in Newburyport. Newburyport beats the Massachusetts average on 17 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2.
| Newburyport | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 33% | 33% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 16% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 8% | 11% | 14% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 84% | 82% | 79% |
| What stands out | Newburyport | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 2.4% | 5.2% |
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 5.8% | 11.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11.7% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
11,385 jobs are based in Newburyport, 1.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. 28.9% of workers work from home, against 18.6% across Massachusetts.
About one in 4 of Newburyport’s working residents works in town. 29% of Newburyport workers work from home. Since 2013, Newburyport has added 1,529 jobs, to 11,385 in 2023.
| Newburyport | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 29% | 18% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 23% | 9.8% | 8% |
| Median household income | $140,000 | $120,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 32 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Violent crime is rare: 14 reported in 2025, 0.7 per 1,000 residents.
The violent crime rate in Newburyport is 0.7 per 1,000 residents.
| Newburyport | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.7 per 1,000 residents | 1.5 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.6 per 1,000 residents | 4.9 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
At 8.1 years of the Boston metro’s $116K median household income, the typical home (about $933K) costs more against local pay than in 81% of Massachusetts towns; that ratio is one input to its C− for cost of living.
Typical home values rose 4.5% in the year to September 2026. Newburyport’s median rent is $1,592 a month.
| Newburyport | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,592 a month | $1,683 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 78% | 79% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Newburyport has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 81°, January nights drop to 18° and about 62 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
226 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 29 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 63% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 226 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Newburyport.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
3 within 15 miles of the center of Newburyport
About 4 of every 100 Newburyport residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Massachusetts.
Coastal flooding makes up 12% of the storm damage FEMA expects here.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA · OpenStreetMap
11 places in Newburyport on the National Register of Historic Places.
45 notable people were born in Newburyport.
City in Massachusetts, United States
Newburyport is a coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, 35 miles (56 km) northeast of Boston. The population was 18,289 at the 2020 census. A historic seaport with a vibrant tourism industry, Newburyport includes part of Plum Island. The mooring, winter storage, and maintenance of recreational boats, motor and sail, still generate much of the city's income. A Coast Guard station oversees boating activity, especially in the sometimes dangerous tidal currents of the Merrimack River. At the edge of the Newbury Marshes, delineating Newburyport to the south, an industrial park provides a wide range of jobs. Newburyport is on a major north–south highway, Interstate 95. The ou…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Newburyport.
It grades higher overall than all 4 graded towns on its borders; West Newbury (A) comes closest.
| Town | MA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newburyport | #63 | A | C− | A− | B+ | A+ |
| West Newbury | #68 | A | C | A | B+ | A+ |
| Salisbury | #195 | B− | C− | B | B− | A |
| Amesbury | #214 | C+ | D | B+ | C+ | — |
| Newbury | #126 | B+ | C− | B+ | B− | A |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Newburyport grades A overall, better than 91% of U.S. towns and #63 of 282 in Massachusetts. It grades A+ for health, A− for safety and B+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
45 notable people were born here, including Robert S. Mulliken and Joe Keery.
