Chester, MA
Hampden County42.2794°N, 72.9821°W
Tracking 1,155 properties across Chester, Massachusetts — a community where the median home dates to 1940 and the oldest to 1700. Every parcel mapped with building characteristics, environmental exposure, hazard risk, and ownership history assembled from 140+ sources.
1,155
Properties Tracked
1940
Median Year Built
$137K
Median Assessed Value
14%
FEMA Flood Zone
302,244
NEP Data Facts Tracked
Zone 1
Radon Zone
Click any parcel to view intelligence
Chester, MAInc. 1760
Chester is a small, mountainous town in the Berkshire foothills along the Westfield River, with the Chester-Blandford State Forest covering much of its land area. The town is rugged and remote, with a compact village center and dispersed rural homes.
For property professionals, Chester is one of the most remote markets in Hampden County — very small, very rural, with property values reflecting the distance from employment centers.
Risk Profile
FEMA flood zones, fire protection grades, radon — parcel by parcel
FEMA Flood Zones
164 properties (14%) are in FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas, where flood insurance is required for federally-backed mortgages.
X
930
AE
163
NOT DIGITIZED
61
A
1
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
3
Grade B
200
Grade C
103
Grade D
389
Grade E
460
Zone 1
Radon Risk
123 mph
Design Wind Speed
ASCE 7 standard
50 psf
Ground Snow Load
ASCE 7 standard
Relatively Low
FEMA Risk Index
NRI composite rating
The Property Landscape
1,155 properties · Median year built 1940 · Avg 1,910 sf
Property Types
Single Family
479
Vacant Land
259
Institutional
179
Mixed Use
68
Multi-Family
60
Agricultural / Open Space
39
Residential Other
32
Commercial
15
Industrial
11
Other
10
Construction by Era
Pre-1800
16
1800-1849
22
1850-1899
62
1900-1949
179
1950-1979
65
1980-1999
108
2000+
59
Market Activity
Recorded transactions from Hampden County Registry of Deeds
19
Sales (12 mo)
Arms-length transactions
$291K
Median Sale Price
Past 12 months
30%
Owner-Occupied
12%
Out-of-State Owners
NE Provenance tracks recorded deeds, mortgages, and liens for 94% of Chester 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 Chester
Hampden County · Massachusetts
Zip Codes0100801011010500109801223
1,228
Population
2020 Census
1,155
Properties
$137K
Median Assessed
30%
Owner-Occupied
37.2
Square Miles
Chester covers 37.2 square miles in Hampden County, Massachusetts. The median assessed property value is $137K.
Single-family homes account for 479 of Chester's 1,155 properties and 62 multi-family buildings. There are 259 parcels of vacant land. About 30% of properties are owner-occupied, and 12% are owned by someone out of state.
Assessed values range widely — the middle 50% of properties fall between $29K and $236K. For professionals working in this market, the value spread tells you a lot about what you'll encounter door to door.
Most properties rely on private septic systems, and 25% have public water service. Electric service is provided by NSTAR ELECTRIC COMPANY. 59 properties have identified commercial activity — restaurants, retail, professional offices, and services that give Chester its character.
What Chester Property Intelligence Means for Professionals
Insurance & Underwriting
Chester's fire protection grade distribution (3 Grade A, 200 Grade B) directly affects premium calculation. Parcel-level hazard data provides the granularity that ZIP-level aggregation misses.
Insurance solutionsReal Estate & Appraisal
Chester's 10 property types, spanning construction from 1700 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. 14% of Chester 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 Chester property intelligence.
1,155 Chester 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/chester-ma. For references or attribution, please link back to this page or neprovenance.com. Thank you, we appreciate it.