Essex is a very small coastal town (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Massachusetts. With a population of 3,694 people and just one neighborhood, Essex is the 273rd largest community in Massachusetts. Much of the housing stock in Essex was built prior to World War II, making it one of the older and more historic towns in the country.
Essex home prices are not only among the most expensive in Massachusetts, but Essex real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.
Essex is a decidedly white-collar town, with fully 88.16% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Essex is a town of professionals, managers, and service providers. There are especially a lot of people living in Essex who work in management occupations (17.98%), teaching (13.30%), and business and financial occupations (7.87%).
And if you like science, one thing you'll find is that Essex has lots of scientists living in town - whether they be life scientists, physical scientists (like astronomers), or social scientists (like geographers!). So, if you're scientific-minded, you might like it here too.
Also of interest is that Essex has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.
A relatively large number of people in Essex telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 21.91% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.
In addition, Essex is home to many people who could be described as "urban sophisticates". Urban sophisticates are people who are both educated and wealthy, and thus tend to be older, richer, and more established than young professionals. "Urban sophisticates" is not just about being educated and well-off financially: it is a point of view and state of mind, one that you might call 'urbaneness'. But such people can and do regularly live in small towns, suburbs and rural areas, as well as in big cities. They read, support the arts and high-end shops, and love travel.
Because of many things, Essex is a great place for families with children to consider. First of all, many other families with children live here, making Essex a place where both parents and children are more likely to develop social ties with other families, as well as find family-oriented services and community. The town’s good public school district and large population of college-educated adults provide an environment conducive to academic values. With regard to real estate, Essex has a high rate of owner-occupied single family homes, which tends to reflect stability in the local community. Finally, Essex’s overall crime rate is lower than average for the country.
Essex is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Such areas are often places that visitors and locals go for waterfront activities or taking in the scenery.
Do you have a 4-year college degree or graduate degree? If so, you may feel right at home in Essex. 63.18% of adults here have a 4-year degree or graduate degree, whereas the national average for all cities and towns is just 21.84%.
The per capita income in Essex in 2022 was $64,238, which is upper middle income relative to Massachusetts, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $256,952 for a family of four. However, Essex contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
The people who call Essex home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Essex residents report their race to be White. Important ancestries of people in Essex include Irish, English, Italian, German, and French Canadian.
The most common language spoken in Essex is English. Other important languages spoken here include Italian and Polish.
When you see a neighborhood for the first time, the most important thing is often the way it looks, like its homes and its setting. Some places look the same, but they only reveal their true character after living in them for a while because they contain a unique mix of occupational or cultural groups. This neighborhood is very unique in some important ways, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive exploration and analysis.
Do you like a coastal setting? If so, this neighborhood may be to your liking. The neighborhood is on the ocean, a bay, or inlet. Often such coastal places have amenities and recreational activities on the waterfront that are attractive to residents and visitors alike. In addition to being coastal, is a very nautical neighborhood, meaning that it is somewhat historic, walkable, densely populated and on the water. This gives the neighborhood a very nautical feel, with some seaside and shipping feel, which some may really enjoy the sights and sounds of.
If you're a regular supporter of the arts and enjoy outings to the theatre, weekend boutique-ing, or even a finely aged wine with dinner, than you're in good company with the people of the neighborhood. This neighborhood is uniquely immersed with more "urban sophisticates" than 96.4% of neighborhoods across the country. The people here truly stand out as a class among their own. They are an exclusive community characterized by refined tastes, cultural inclinations, and the means to live well. Urban sophisticates live a big city lifestyle, whether or not they live in or near a big city. They are educated executives or managers by week, and serial patrons of the arts by weekend. If this lifestyle pertains to you, than you'll certainly feel right at home in the neighborhood. In addition to being an excellent choice for urban sophisticates, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for families with school-aged children.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Canadian and French Canadian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 1.5% of this neighborhood's residents have Canadian ancestry and 4.3% have French Canadian ancestry.
is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 12.7% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Italian at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 98.8% of the neighborhoods in America.
There are two complementary measures for understanding the income of a neighborhood's residents: the average and the extremes. While a neighborhood may be relatively wealthy overall, it is equally important to understand the rate of people - particularly children - who are living at or below the federal poverty line, which is extremely low income. Some neighborhoods with a lower average income may actually have a lower childhood poverty rate than another with a higher average income, and this helps us understand the conditions and character of a neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Essex are wealthy, making it among the 15% highest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 90.3% of the neighborhoods in America. With 15.9% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 61.9% of U.S. neighborhoods.
The old saying "you are what you eat" is true. But it is also true that you are what you do for a living. The types of occupations your neighbors have shape their character, and together as a group, their collective occupations shape the culture of a place.
In the neighborhood, 61.3% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants, with 17.9% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (11.8%), and 8.9% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
The languages spoken by people in this neighborhood are diverse. These are tabulated as the languages people preferentially speak when they are at home with their families. The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 97.2% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Italian and Polish.
Boston's Beacon Hill blue-blood streets, Brooklyn's Orthodox Jewish enclaves, Los Angeles' Persian neighborhoods. Each has its own culture derived primarily from the ancestries and culture of the residents who call these neighborhoods home. Likewise, each neighborhood in America has its own culture – some more unique than others – based on lifestyle, occupations, the types of households – and importantly – on the ethnicities and ancestries of the people who live in the neighborhood. Understanding where people came from, who their grandparents or great-grandparents were, can help you understand how a neighborhood is today.
In the neighborhood in Essex, MA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Irish (21.2%). There are also a number of people of English ancestry (20.3%), and residents who report Italian roots (12.7%), and some of the residents are also of German ancestry (5.1%), along with some French Canadian ancestry residents (4.3%), among others.
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (36.9% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (63.1%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (7.1%) and 6.1% of residents also hop out the door and walk to work for their daily commute. In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.