Bay State Atlas
Massachusetts Living Index

Amesbury

North Shore · pop. 17,474

Amesbury has quietly become one of the Merrimack Valley's most appealing small cities: a walkable downtown on the Merrimack River, solid schools, and new restaurants that look like they belong somewhere more expensive.

Historic VillageCommuter Value
Livability Index
56
/ 100
Ranks #120 of 194 MA towns

The numbers

Median home
$625k
6.2× household income
Household income
$101k
ACS median
Commute to Boston
55 min
peak driving
Population
17,474
5-yr trend 62/100

How Amesbury scores

Schools
80
Safety
78
Walkability
55
Transit
30
Biking
35
Dining
55
Nightlife
32
Arts & Culture
40
Green Space
38
Diversity
22
Climate
68

Who lives in Amesbury

U.S. Census ACS 2018–2022 estimates. Rounded.

Median age
44.7
Foreign-born
7.3%
Bachelor's or higher
41.3%
Population
17k
White88.3%
Hispanic / Latino2.7%
Asian1%
Black3.1%
Other / multi4.9%

Schools in Amesbury

Amesbury School District. Massachusetts DESE FY2024 (FY2025 graduation rates).

Overall vs MA
Below average
37/100
ELA · 3-8
p28
34.2%
Math · 3-8
p35
37.1%
ELA · 10
p56
63.6%
Math · 10
p53
50.4%
Grad rate
82.4%
Bottom 25%
Spend / pupil
$23.1k
Above average
Teachers / 100
9.3
Top 25% in MA
Enrollment
1,817

Source: Massachusetts DESE Education-to-Career Research and Data Hub. Percentile ranks against 194 MA towns in our index.

The honest read

Best for
Buyers who want an authentic New England mill town that is actually improving, at a sub-$650K price.
The tradeoff
Commute to Boston is 50+ minutes and the MBTA Newburyport line is infrequent.

You've now seen the honest read. Here's what most sites don't give you.

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Compare on your terms

These scores reflect a neutral weighting. Your priorities are not neutral. Open the full atlas to tune schools, walkability, affordability, commute, and seven more dimensions, and see where Amesbury lands for you.

Nearby towns

Bordering and adjacent Massachusetts towns near Amesbury.

Amesbury appears in

Rankings where Amesbury qualifies on the data. See where it lands vs the other 14 picks.

Popular comparisons

Common head‑to‑heads people search when looking at Amesbury.

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