Salem, MA
Tracking 13,905 properties across Salem, Massachusetts — a community where the median home dates to 1925 and the oldest to 1629. Every parcel mapped with building characteristics, environmental exposure, hazard risk, and ownership history assembled from 140+ sources.
Salem, MAInc. 1626
Salem is a city whose name is recognized worldwide thanks to the witch trials of 1692, but its property landscape is shaped by a much longer and more complex history. Salem was one of the wealthiest ports in early America — the Peabody Essex Museum, founded in 1799, houses the art and artifacts that sea captains brought back from the China and East Indies trade. Chestnut Street's row of Federal-era mansions is among the finest streetscapes in the country.
The city's housing stock is dense and varied: historic homes in the McIntire District and Federal Street area, triple-deckers and multi-family buildings in the Point and Derby Street neighborhoods, and newer development near the universities and along the waterfront. Salem has been in the midst of significant redevelopment, with former industrial waterfront properties being converted to residential and mixed-use. For property professionals, Salem combines historic preservation constraints, coastal flood exposure along the harbor, and the density and diversity of an older city — making property-level intelligence particularly valuable.
Risk Profile
FEMA flood zones, fire protection grades, radon, coastal exposure, storm surge — parcel by parcel
FEMA Flood Zones
2,183 properties (16%) are in FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas, where flood insurance is required for federally-backed mortgages.
Fire Protection Grades
Fire protection grades reflect proximity to fire stations and hydrant infrastructure. Grade affects insurance pricing in every New England state.
Coastal & Water Exposure
13,458 properties (97%) are within 3 miles of the ocean. 1,516 are classified as waterfront. The closest property is 0 ft from the coastline.
The Property Landscape
13,905 properties · Median year built 1925 · Avg 3,483 sf
Property Types
Construction by Era
Architectural Styles
Market Activity
Recorded transactions from Essex County Registry of Deeds
NE Provenance tracks recorded deeds, mortgages, and liens for 90% of Salem 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
29,025 municipal building permits on file · 31% of properties
NE Provenance tracks 29,025 building permits across 4,363 Salem properties — 31% coverage. 2,482 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.
Living in Salem
Essex County · Massachusetts
Salem covers 16.4 square miles in Essex County, Massachusetts. The median assessed property value is $570K.
Single-family homes account for 5,002 of Salem's 13,905 properties, with 3,015 condominiums and 3,145 multi-family buildings. There are 572 commercial properties and 267 parcels of vacant land. About 70% of properties are owner-occupied, and 2% are owned by someone out of state.
Assessed values range widely — the middle 50% of properties fall between $469K and $696K, with the highest assessed property at $248.4M. For professionals working in this market, the value spread tells you a lot about what you'll encounter door to door.
Most of Salem (100%) is on municipal sewer. Electric service is provided by National Grid (Massachusetts Electric). 1,764 properties have identified commercial activity — restaurants, retail, professional offices, and services that give Salem its character.
Environmental note: Salem has an average EPA lead paint indicator at the 78th percentile nationally, consistent with 2,837 properties built before 1900 when lead paint was standard. 3,378 properties exceed at least one EPA environmental justice threshold — a factor in lending compliance and environmental due diligence.
What Salem Property Intelligence Means for Professionals
Insurance & Underwriting
With 16% of properties in FEMA flood zones and 97% in the coastal zone, Salem concentrates several major underwriting variables. Parcel-level hazard data provides the granularity that ZIP-level aggregation misses.
Insurance solutionsReal Estate & Appraisal
Salem's 10 property types, spanning construction from 1629 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. 16% of Salem 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
29,025 permits across 31% of properties means most Salem inspection assignments can start with documented renovation and system history, not a blank slate.
Inspection solutionsExplore Salem property intelligence.
13,905 Salem properties — each with risk profiles, building data, permit history, and ownership analysis from 140+ sources. Open any property and see the full picture.
Source: NE Provenance, “Professional Property Intelligence for New England,” neprovenance.com/insights/town/salem-ma. For references or attribution, please link back to this page or neprovenance.com. Thank you, we appreciate it.