Newburyport, MA

Newburyport’s municipal FY 2025 property tax rate is $9.58 per $1,000 of assessed value, down from $9.97 in FY 2024 and $10.74 in FY 2023 (City of Newburyport Assessor^[1]). The city’s assessor page is the correct local source because Massachusetts property tax is set municipally, not at the county level (City of Newburyport Assessor^[1]). For a market snapshot, a local housing community page puts Newburyport’s 2025 median home price around $1.1 million and downtown walk score at 98, which is consistent with a premium walkable market (Luxury Homes Newburyport^[2]).

The main local hospital is Anna Jaques Hospital at 25 Highland Ave in Newburyport, which CMS-linked listings and hospital directories identify as an acute hospital serving the city (Mass.gov licensed facilities list^[3], NPPES registry^[4]). Medicare-facing listings also show the hospital participates with several major Medicare Advantage brands, including Blue Cross Blue Shield, Harvard Pilgrim, Mass General Brigham Health Plan, Tufts Health Plan, UnitedHealthcare, and WellSense (Checkbook Health listing^[5]). For broader specialist care, residents commonly look to the larger Boston medical market, while Medicare’s Care Compare is the right tool for comparing nearby clinicians and facilities (Medicare Care Compare^[6]).

NOAA’s climate normals portal is the correct agency source for station-based precipitation and temperature normals, and NCEI notes that these normals can be searched by station, city, county, or state (NCEI Climate Normals^[7]). A climate summary for Newburyport shows a humid continental pattern, with annual precipitation around 43.67 inches, a hottest-month average near 74 F in July, and a coldest-month average near 30 F in January (timeanddate climate summary^[8]). That points to a comfortable outdoor season that is best from late spring through early fall, with shoulder seasons still very usable but winter clearly limiting golf and long walks (timeanddate climate summary^[8]).

A source summarizing FBI Crime Data Explorer figures for Newburyport reports a five-year violent crime rate of 74.0 per 100,000 residents, about 30.3% below the national average, and a property crime rate of 21.1 per 100,000, about 87.1% below the national average (Crime in Newburyport, MA^[9]). That same page says the Newburyport Police Department serves the city in Essex County and summarizes 2019 to 2024 incidents, but FBI/UCR and NIBRS reporting remains incomplete nationally after 2021, so the trend should be treated as indicative rather than exhaustive (Crime in Newburyport, MA^[9]). I could not verify a separate official FBI city table in the retrieved pages, so I am not substituting a score-site estimate beyond the FBI-derived summary already retrieved (Crime in Newburyport, MA^[9]).

Newburyport’s current market snapshots cluster around a roughly $927,506 typical home value with homes going pending in about 9 days, while a separate market snapshot shows a median listing price of $1.09M and average days on market of 21, indicating a consistently high-end, quick-turn market (Zillow^[10]) (Realtor.com^[11]). A broader city market report shows a median sale price of $850K, 16 days on market, 1.1 months of supply, and only 8 active homes, which points to tight inventory and a market where well-priced homes still move quickly (Commonwealth Standard^[12]). For retirement planning, there is clearly some older-adult housing in town, including Atria Merrimack Place, described as 55 plus living at 85 Storey Avenue, and other senior housing listings in Newburyport (Senior Living Guide^[13]) (Senior Guidance^[14]).

Newburyport’s nearest scheduled commercial air service is Boston Logan International Airport, which a local city profile identifies as the primary option for residents (Wikipedia geography summary^[15]). The same source says additional scheduled options include Worcester Regional, Pease International Tradeport, and Manchester-Boston Regional, but Logan is the closest major airport for most travelers (Wikipedia geography summary^[15]). For a retiree who values access to major hubs, Logan is the strongest choice because it offers the broadest nonstop network in the region, while the nearer alternatives are smaller and less likely to match frequent Midwest and East Coast travel needs (Wikipedia geography summary^[15]).

A Massachusetts golf directory shows Evergreen Valley Golf Course in Newburyport itself, giving the city at least one immediate public option, while nearby Newbury and the surrounding North Shore add more choices within a short drive (Massachusetts Golf Course Directory^[16]). For a country-club retiree, the broader market is attractive because the area combines golf with riverfront walks, Atlantic beaches, and easy access to regional outdoor recreation, even though the retrieved sources do not provide a complete official count of all courses within 30 minutes (Massachusetts Golf Course Directory^[16]). The best-supported takeaway is that Newburyport is not a golf desert, and the mix of nearby public and private-style options supports an active lifestyle (Massachusetts Golf Course Directory^[16]).

The U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts page lists Newburyport’s July 1, 2024 population at 19,163, and the city’s 2020 Census population at 18,289 (Census QuickFacts^[17]). A local profile notes a median age of 47.3 and a downtown walk score of 98, which fits a retiree-friendly, amenity-rich pattern centered on the historic core and waterfront (Luxury Homes Newburyport^[2]). The city also markets itself with a strong downtown historic-district identity and a river-to-ocean setting, which are the main lifestyle draws for buyers who want charm and walkability over suburban sprawl (Bentley’s Real Estate^[18]).

FEMA’s National Risk Index is published at the county level, and Essex County is the correct county for Newburyport (FEMA National Risk Index^[19]). A FEMA flood-maps PDF for Essex County lists Newburyport communities and flood zones including A, AE, AO, VE, and X, which indicates meaningful floodplain exposure in parts of the city (Essex County flood map PDF^[20]). For air quality, EPA’s AQI reporting framework is the right source for annual good-air-day counts, but I could not retrieve a Newburyport-specific annual AQI page in the available results, so I am not inventing a city figure here (EPA AQI report^[21]).