Massachusetts Living Index

Salisbury

North Shore · pop. 9,800

Salisbury Beach draws the summer crowds, arcades, fried clams, tiki bars, and the off-season is quiet rural Essex County. The price is the pitch: $600Ks for ocean-adjacent.

Coastal TouristCommuter ValueRural Retreat

Livability Index

/ 100

Ranks #161 of 194 MA towns

The numbers

Median home

$625k

6.8× household income

Household income

$92k

ACS median

Commute to Boston

65 min

peak driving

Population

9,800

5-yr trend 58/100

How Salisbury scores

Schools

Safety

Walkability

Transit

Biking

Dining

Nightlife

Arts & Culture

Green Space

Diversity

Climate

The honest read

Best for

Buyers who want beach access under $700K and don't mind a car-only life and summer crowds.

The tradeoff

No MBTA access, limited year-round dining, and the beach strip is aggressively seasonal.

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 Salisbury lands for you.

Open Salisbury in the atlas About Gary Browse all 194 towns

Nearby towns

Bordering and adjacent Massachusetts towns near Salisbury.

Popular comparisons

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

SalisburyvsAmesbury

52 · 56livability

Side‑by‑side →

SalisburyvsNewburyport

52 · 73livability

Side‑by‑side →

Want my honest read on Salisbury?

I'm Gary Fikes, a licensed real estate agent at MP Signature Realty and the curator of this site. Tell me what you're looking for and I'll reply personally within 1 business day. No auto-dialer, no spam, no resale.

Ask Gary about Salisbury More about Gary