Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Salisbury's standout: it has 16 miles of trail. Overall it grades B−, ranked 195th of 282 in Massachusetts. CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 86% of the country. Its weakest subject is hazard risk: FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 90% of U.S. communities, with coastal flooding at the top. 13% of residents are under 18 in Salisbury, below both the Massachusetts town median (20%) and the median of U.S. towns (22%). The biggest place to walk is Salisbury Salt Marsh Wildlife Management Area, 951 acres with 1 miles of trail.
Where Salisbury beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Census counts: 1,780 in 1790, a low of 1,316 in 1890, 9,236 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1776 and 6 maps from 1932 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Salisbury takes its name from Salisbury in Wiltshire, England, 3,180 miles across the Atlantic.
UKUK editionSalisbury, settled in 1638, takes its name from Salisbury, a large town in Wiltshire, England.
2 more U.S. towns are named after Salisbury:Salisbury Township, PA11,598Salisbury, CT4,290
Named after: each U.S. town’s Wikipedia article. Grades compare each town with towns in its own country, so they aren’t a head-to-head.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Massachusetts), ordered by how far Salisbury is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Salisbury. Close and well known come first.
Big draw37 mi Stadium & arenaFenway Park
Big draw37 mi MuseumIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum
38 mi LakeWalden Pond
35 mi AttractionFreedom Trail
19 mi Ancient siteAmerica's Stonehenge
37 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 Salisbury, 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 Salisbury.
Salisbury has seen reported crime fall by a fifth or more and is healthy by national standards but mid-pack in Massachusetts; it also carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Massachusetts (mostly coastal flooding).
Within Massachusetts it is less healthy than 53% of the 279 graded towns: Massachusetts sets a high bar. Its widest gap with Massachusetts is no health insurance: 3.3% of those 18–64 have no health insurance, against 5.2% statewide.
30% of adults feel lonely in Salisbury. Salisbury beats the Massachusetts average on 11 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 4. 83% of adults had a checkup this year in Salisbury.
| Salisbury | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 33% | 33% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 83% | 82% | 79% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 16% | 17% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 28% | 35% |
| What stands out | Salisbury | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 3.3% | 5.2% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 7.8% | 11.1% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Triton school district. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salisbury ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 386 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MA on state tests and graduation
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 100% of Massachusetts towns, with expected losses of about $909 per resident a year; that rating is what its D for hazard risk is built on. 323 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 43 properties have flooded more than once.
No town among the 283 in Massachusetts we compare has a higher FEMA risk score than Salisbury. Since 1978, 323 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Salisbury.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Most working residents leave Salisbury for work: only 10% work in town. Jobs based in Salisbury grew to 2,977 in 2023, 408 more than in 2013. The median household income in Salisbury is $93,000.
| Salisbury | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $93,000 | $120,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 5% | 6% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Salisbury’s trail density is 0.9 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Salisbury Salt Marsh Wildlife Management Area | 1 mi | 951 |
| 2. Sheep's Rock | 0.8 mi | 14 |
| 3. Forest Road Woodlands | 0.7 mi | 14 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Salisbury 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
People 65 and older are 26% of residents (18% statewide); children under 18 are 13% of residents (19% statewide). 44% of Salisbury adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more. Salisbury has grown 3.3% since 2020, to 9,530 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Salisbury | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 51.3 years | 43.4 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 26% | 19% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 44% | 47% | 29% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.2 points. Across Massachusetts, 51.1% of residents are women.
| Salisbury | MA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 4.8% | 10.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.2% | 9.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.1% | 9.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13.2% | 14% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 8.9% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 19.1% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 13.8% | 10.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 11.7% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6.5% | 8.6% | 10.4% |
| High school | 27.6% | 22.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 13.5% | 14.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.7% | 7.5% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 28.2% | 25.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 15.6% | 21.8% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Reported crimes fell from 90 to 65 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Massachusetts has less reported crime than most states, so among its own towns Salisbury sits closer to the middle.
| Salisbury | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.5 per 1,000 residents | 4.9 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.4 per 1,000 residents | 1.5 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The typical Salisbury home is worth about $627,000, up 1.6% in a year, close to the Massachusetts typical home.
| Salisbury | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,691 a month | $1,682 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 71% | 79% | 73% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
2 within 15 miles of the center of Salisbury
About 5 of every 100 Salisbury residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Massachusetts.
Coastal flooding makes up 71% of the storm damage FEMA expects here.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA · OpenStreetMap
6 notable people were born in Salisbury.
Town in Massachusetts, United States
Salisbury is a small coastal beach town and summer tourist destination in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The community is a popular summer resort beach town situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of Boston on the New Hampshire border. It is home to the new Salisbury Beach Boardwalk, full of souvenir shops, restaurants, cafes, arcades and panoramic views of the Atlantic Ocean. The population was 9,236 at the 2020 census. Parts of town comprise the census-designated place of Salisbury.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Salisbury.
| Town | MA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salisbury | #195 | B− | C− | B | B− | A |
| Newburyport | #63 | A | C− | A− | B+ | A+ |
| Amesbury | #214 | C+ | D | B+ | C+ | — |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Salisbury grades B− overall, better than 51% of U.S. towns and #195 of 282 in Massachusetts. It grades A for health, B for safety and B− for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes, by national standards. Massachusetts has less crime than most states, so among its own towns Salisbury sits nearer the middle.
Yes. That is 5.4 years of the area's median household income ($115,863 across the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
6 notable people were born here, including Caleb Cushing and Hannah Webster Foster.
