Reading, MA
Middlesex County42.5260°N, 71.1020°W
Tracking 9,472 properties across Reading, Massachusetts — a community where the median home dates to 1959 and the oldest to 1740. Every parcel mapped with building characteristics, environmental exposure, hazard risk, and ownership history assembled from 140+ sources.
9,472
Properties Tracked
1959
Median Year Built
$836K
Median Assessed Value
2%
FEMA Flood Zone
2.95M
NEP Data Facts Tracked
Zone 1
Radon Zone
Click any parcel to view intelligence
Reading, MAInc. 1639
Reading is a suburban town north of Boston with excellent MBTA commuter rail service that makes it popular with Boston-bound commuters. The town center has a classic New England character with a town common, surrounding historic homes, and a walkable commercial district. The residential neighborhoods are predominantly single-family homes, with construction concentrated in the post-war decades but including significant pre-1940 housing near the center.
For property professionals, Reading is a solid inner-suburban market with strong schools, good transit access, and assessed values that reflect its position in the competitive north-of-Boston market. The mix of housing ages creates meaningful variation in building condition and systems — newer homes in the western neighborhoods present different considerations than the older stock near the town center.
Risk Profile
FEMA flood zones, fire protection grades, radon — parcel by parcel
FEMA Flood Zones
184 properties (2%) are in FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas, where flood insurance is required for federally-backed mortgages.
X
9,288
AE
135
A
49
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
1,927
Grade B
4,848
Grade C
2,557
Grade D
139
Grade E
1
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
9,472 properties · Median year built 1959 · Avg 2,516 sf
Property Types
Single Family
6,599
Condominium
1,964
Institutional
396
Commercial
191
Vacant Land
180
Multi-Family
74
Mixed Use
27
Other
19
Industrial
15
Residential Other
6
Construction by Era
Pre-1800
12
1800-1849
80
1850-1899
489
1900-1949
2,481
1950-1979
3,269
1980-1999
1,169
2000+
1,420
Architectural Styles
Colonial
2,483
Condominium
1,720
Cape Cod
1,279
Old Style
1,013
Ranch
774
Split Level
584
Multi-Family
311
Church / Synagogue
273
Market Activity
Recorded transactions from Middlesex County Registry of Deeds
153
Sales (12 mo)
Arms-length transactions
$815K
Median Sale Price
Past 12 months
81%
Owner-Occupied
1%
Out-of-State Owners
NE Provenance tracks recorded deeds, mortgages, and liens for 99% of Reading properties. Ownership intelligence includes transaction history, entity detection, portfolio identification, and lien analysis — assembled from public registry records into a single property-level profile.
Building Permits & Maintenance
75,443 municipal building permits on file · 78% of properties
NE Provenance tracks 75,443 building permits across 7,351 Reading properties — 78% coverage. 4,321 properties have permit activity in the last five years.
Each permit record reveals maintenance decisions: roof replacements, electrical upgrades, kitchen renovations, solar installations. For insurance, lending, and appraisal professionals, permit history is the most objective evidence of property condition available from public records.
75,443
Permits on File
78%
Coverage
Properties with permits
4,321
Active (5yr)
Recent permit activity
94%
Condition Rated
NEP assessment
Living in Reading
Middlesex County · Massachusetts
Zip Codes018670188001887
25,518
Population
2020 Census
9,472
Properties
$836K
Median Assessed
81%
Owner-Occupied
10.0
Square Miles
Reading covers 10.0 square miles in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The median assessed property value is $836K.
Single-family homes account for 6,599 of Reading's 9,472 properties, with 1,964 condominiums and 75 multi-family buildings. There are 191 commercial properties and 180 parcels of vacant land. About 81% of properties are owner-occupied.
Assessed values range widely — the middle 50% of properties fall between $689K and $1.0M, with the highest assessed property at $64.6M. For professionals working in this market, the value spread tells you a lot about what you'll encounter door to door.
Most of Reading (100%) is on municipal sewer. Electric service is provided by TOWN OF READING - (MA). 910 properties have identified commercial activity — restaurants, retail, professional offices, and services that give Reading its character. 238 properties have swimming pools.
What Reading Property Intelligence Means for Professionals
Insurance & Underwriting
Reading's fire protection grade distribution (1,927 Grade A, 4,848 Grade B) directly affects premium calculation. Parcel-level hazard data provides the granularity that ZIP-level aggregation misses.
Insurance solutionsReal Estate & Appraisal
Reading's 10 property types, spanning construction from 1740 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. 2% of Reading 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
75,443 permits across 78% of properties means most Reading inspection assignments can start with documented renovation and system history, not a blank slate.
Inspection solutionsExplore Reading property intelligence.
9,472 Reading 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/reading-ma. For references or attribution, please link back to this page or neprovenance.com. Thank you, we appreciate it.