Chelsea, MA
Suffolk County42.3912°N, 71.0369°W
Tracking 6,923 properties across Chelsea, Massachusetts — a community where the median home dates to 1920 and the oldest to 1659. Every parcel mapped with building characteristics, environmental exposure, hazard risk, and ownership history assembled from 140+ sources.
6,923
Properties Tracked
1920
Median Year Built
$520K
Median Assessed Value
12%
FEMA Flood Zone
1.92M
NEP Data Facts Tracked
94%
Coastal Zone
Click any parcel to view intelligence
Chelsea, MAInc. 1624
Chelsea is the smallest city in Massachusetts by land area — just 2.2 square miles — and one of the most densely populated. Directly north of Boston across the Mystic River, Chelsea has historically been a working-class, immigrant community with a housing stock dominated by multi-family buildings. The city experienced a significant fire in 1973 that destroyed much of the commercial district, and the rebuilding created a mix of pre-fire older housing and post-fire construction.
Chelsea's waterfront along the Mystic River and Chelsea Creek is industrial — oil storage facilities, port operations, and logistics companies — creating environmental considerations that affect nearby residential properties. For property professionals, Chelsea is a dense urban market where building condition, environmental proximity, and the rapid price appreciation driven by Boston spillover demand are the key variables. The city's housing stock is overwhelmingly multi-family, and per-unit economics drive the market.
Risk Profile
FEMA flood zones, fire protection grades, radon, coastal exposure, storm surge — parcel by parcel
FEMA Flood Zones
824 properties (12%) are in FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas, where flood insurance is required for federally-backed mortgages.
X
6,099
AE
795
A
29
Fire Protection Grades
Fire protection grades reflect proximity to fire stations and hydrant infrastructure. Grade affects insurance pricing in every New England state.
Grade A
2,065
Grade B
4,744
Grade C
110
Grade D
4
Coastal & Water Exposure
6,493 properties (94%) are within 3 miles of the ocean. 197 are classified as waterfront. The closest property is 1.2 mi from the coastline.
47
SLR 1 ft
Properties affected
58
SLR 3 ft
Properties affected
1,081
SLR 6 ft
Properties affected
3,944
Surge Exposure
Cat 1/2/3/4
115
Estuary
Waterfront
Zone 1
Radon Risk
123 mph
Design Wind Speed
ASCE 7 standard
40 psf
Ground Snow Load
ASCE 7 standard
Very Low
FEMA Risk Index
NRI composite rating
The Property Landscape
6,923 properties · Median year built 1920 · Avg 3,708 sf
Property Types
Multi-Family
2,556
Two-Family
2,024
Single Family
852
Institutional
511
Commercial
432
Vacant Land
316
Mixed Use
125
Industrial
97
Other
10
Construction by Era
Pre-1800
6
1800-1849
23
1850-1899
569
1900-1949
3,699
1950-1979
569
1980-1999
898
2000+
469
Architectural Styles
Multi-Family
2,084
Condominium
1,218
Vacant Land
521
Conventional
518
Condo-Apt
381
Condo-Twnhse
151
Other
124
Mixed Use
118
Market Activity
Recorded transactions from Suffolk County Registry of Deeds
48%
Owner-Occupied
3%
Out-of-State Owners
NE Provenance tracks recorded deeds, mortgages, and liens for 99% of Chelsea properties. Ownership intelligence includes transaction history, entity detection, portfolio identification, and lien analysis — assembled from public registry records into a single property-level profile.
Living in Chelsea
Suffolk County · Massachusetts
Zip Codes02150
40,787
Population
2020 Census
6,923
Properties
$520K
Median Assessed
48%
Owner-Occupied
2.2
Square Miles
Chelsea covers 2.2 square miles in Suffolk County, Massachusetts. The median assessed property value is $520K.
Single-family homes account for 852 of Chelsea's 6,923 properties and 4,580 multi-family buildings. There are 432 commercial properties and 316 parcels of vacant land. About 48% of properties are owner-occupied, and 3% are owned by someone out of state.
Assessed values range widely — the middle 50% of properties fall between $346K and $733K, with the highest assessed property at $520.0M. For professionals working in this market, the value spread tells you a lot about what you'll encounter door to door.
Most of Chelsea (100%) is on municipal sewer. Electric service is provided by NSTAR ELECTRIC COMPANY. 892 properties have identified commercial activity — restaurants, retail, professional offices, and services that give Chelsea its character.
Environmental note: Chelsea has an average EPA lead paint indicator at the 83th percentile nationally, consistent with 598 properties built before 1900 when lead paint was standard. 6,834 properties exceed at least one EPA environmental justice threshold — a factor in lending compliance and environmental due diligence.
What Chelsea Property Intelligence Means for Professionals
Insurance & Underwriting
With 12% of properties in FEMA flood zones and 94% in the coastal zone, Chelsea concentrates several major underwriting variables. Parcel-level hazard data provides the granularity that ZIP-level aggregation misses.
Insurance solutionsReal Estate & Appraisal
Chelsea's 9 property types, spanning construction from 1659 to present, require local market knowledge for accurate comparable selection and valuation. NEP assembles building characteristics, environmental exposure, and condition signals into a single property profile.
Real estate solutionsLending & Title
Collateral assessment requires flood zone verification, environmental screening, and ownership chain validation. 12% of Chelsea properties are in SFHAs where flood insurance is a federal lending requirement. NEP provides property-level compliance data from public records.
Lending solutionsInspection & Property Services
Understanding a property's construction era, environmental exposure, and building characteristics before arriving on site transforms inspection from discovery to verification.
Inspection solutionsExplore Chelsea property intelligence.
6,923 Chelsea properties — each with risk profiles, building data, permit history, and ownership analysis from 140+ sources. Open any property and see the full picture.
Newburyport, MA · Federalist · 3,524 sq ft · 4 bed / 3 bath · Built 1800 · Historic District
NEP Property Intelligence Summary
ConditionC1Fire ClassBFlood ZoneXOwnerIndividualOccupancyOwner-Occupied
Purchased2018 (8yr)Permits11 totalSystems3 updatedLiensClearAssessed$1.6MOcean0.3 mi
EraPre-1940HistoricDesignatedRenovationRecentRadonZone 1
Cite this data
Source: NE Provenance, “Professional Property Intelligence for New England,” neprovenance.com/insights/town/chelsea-ma. For references or attribution, please link back to this page or neprovenance.com. Thank you, we appreciate it.