Rowley, MA
Essex County42.7137°N, 70.8818°W
Tracking 2,974 properties across Rowley, Massachusetts — a community where the median home dates to 1982 and the oldest to 1660. Every parcel mapped with building characteristics, environmental exposure, hazard risk, and ownership history assembled from 140+ sources.
2,974
Properties Tracked
1982
Median Year Built
$632K
Median Assessed Value
34%
FEMA Flood Zone
1.30M
NEP Data Facts Tracked
5%
Coastal Zone
Click any parcel to view intelligence
Rowley, MAInc. 1638
Rowley is a small, largely rural town along the Route 1 corridor between Ipswich and Newbury. The town's eastern half is dominated by the salt marshes of the Great Marsh — one of the largest contiguous salt marsh ecosystems in New England — while the western sections are a mix of residential neighborhoods, farmland, and conservation land. The village center retains a handful of historic buildings, but most of Rowley's housing stock consists of single-family homes dispersed along country roads.
For property professionals, Rowley's environmental landscape is the defining factor. The marshland creates extensive FEMA flood zones and environmental constraints, and properties near the marsh face different risk profiles than those on higher ground to the west. The town has limited municipal infrastructure — no public sewer in most areas — and fire protection coverage reflects the low-density, spread-out development pattern.
Risk Profile
FEMA flood zones, fire protection grades, radon, coastal exposure, storm surge — parcel by parcel
FEMA Flood Zones
1,004 properties (34%) are in FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas, where flood insurance is required for federally-backed mortgages.
X
1,970
A
673
AE
330
VE
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
5
Grade B
237
Grade C
1,786
Grade D
595
Grade E
351
Coastal & Water Exposure
148 properties (5%) are within 3 miles of the ocean. 660 are classified as waterfront. The closest property is 1.5 mi from the coastline.
256
SLR 1 ft
Properties affected
270
SLR 3 ft
Properties affected
287
SLR 6 ft
Properties affected
358
Surge Exposure
Cat 1/2/3/4
268
Estuary
Waterfront
141
Pond
Waterfront
5
Lake
Waterfront
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
2,974 properties · Median year built 1982 · Avg 2,132 sf
Property Types
Single Family
1,768
Institutional
284
Vacant Land
276
Two-Family
160
Condominium
115
Commercial
94
Multi-Family
85
Agricultural / Open Space
73
Mixed Use
48
Industrial
40
Construction by Era
Pre-1800
49
1800-1849
50
1850-1899
138
1900-1949
215
1950-1979
613
1980-1999
661
2000+
514
Architectural Styles
Colonial
729
Vacant Land
340
Cape Cod
287
Ranch
222
Condominium
207
Conventional
170
Split Level
119
Government Land
116
Market Activity
Recorded transactions from Essex County Registry of Deeds
24
Sales (12 mo)
Arms-length transactions
$838K
Median Sale Price
Past 12 months
61%
Owner-Occupied
3%
Out-of-State Owners
NE Provenance tracks recorded deeds, mortgages, and liens for 97% of Rowley 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
3,154 municipal building permits on file · 34% of properties
NE Provenance tracks 3,154 building permits across 1,002 Rowley properties — 34% coverage. 952 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.
3,154
Permits on File
34%
Coverage
Properties with permits
952
Active (5yr)
Recent permit activity
75%
Condition Rated
NEP assessment
Living in Rowley
Essex County · Massachusetts
Zip Codes01969
6,161
Population
2020 Census
2,974
Properties
$632K
Median Assessed
61%
Owner-Occupied
18.5
Square Miles
Rowley covers 18.5 square miles in Essex County, Massachusetts. The median assessed property value is $632K.
Single-family homes account for 1,768 of Rowley's 2,974 properties, with 115 condominiums and 248 multi-family buildings. There are 94 commercial properties and 276 parcels of vacant land. About 61% 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 $375K and $816K, with the highest assessed property at $18.3M. 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 88% have public water service. Electric service is provided by Rowley Municipal Lighting Plant. 383 properties have identified commercial activity — restaurants, retail, professional offices, and services that give Rowley its character.
Environmental note: Rowley has an average EPA lead paint indicator at the 56th percentile nationally, consistent with 237 properties built before 1900 when lead paint was standard.
What Rowley Property Intelligence Means for Professionals
Insurance & Underwriting
With 34% of properties in FEMA flood zones and 5% in the coastal zone, Rowley concentrates several major underwriting variables. Parcel-level hazard data provides the granularity that ZIP-level aggregation misses.
Insurance solutionsReal Estate & Appraisal
Rowley's 10 property types, spanning construction from 1660 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. 34% of Rowley 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
3,154 permits across 34% of properties means most Rowley inspection assignments can start with documented renovation and system history, not a blank slate.
Inspection solutionsExplore Rowley property intelligence.
2,974 Rowley 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/rowley-ma. For references or attribution, please link back to this page or neprovenance.com. Thank you, we appreciate it.