Topsfield, MA
Essex County42.6391°N, 70.9507°W
Tracking 2,550 properties across Topsfield, Massachusetts — a community where the median home dates to 1966 and the oldest to 1668. Every parcel mapped with building characteristics, environmental exposure, hazard risk, and ownership history assembled from 140+ sources.
2,550
Properties Tracked
1966
Median Year Built
$824K
Median Assessed Value
32%
FEMA Flood Zone
1.12M
NEP Data Facts Tracked
Zone 1
Radon Zone
Click any parcel to view intelligence
Topsfield, MAInc. 1635
Topsfield is a small, affluent town known for the Topsfield Fair — the oldest agricultural fair in America, running continuously since 1818 — and for a housing stock that emphasizes single-family homes on generous lots. The town retains a rural character with horse farms, conservation land, and the Ipswich River running through its eastern sections. The village center is compact and historic, but most of the town's residential properties are set back from the road on wooded lots.
For property professionals, Topsfield's profile is similar to neighboring Hamilton and Boxford: high-value single-family homes, limited commercial activity, rural infrastructure (private wells, septic systems in many areas), and the fire protection considerations that come with low density and long driveways. The Ipswich River creates some flood zone exposure in the eastern sections, but the majority of properties sit on well-drained upland.
Risk Profile
FEMA flood zones, fire protection grades, radon — parcel by parcel
FEMA Flood Zones
805 properties (32%) are in FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas, where flood insurance is required for federally-backed mortgages.
X
1,745
AE
461
A
344
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
Grade B
625
Grade C
1,475
Grade D
293
Grade E
155
Zone 1
Radon Risk
123 mph
Design Wind Speed
ASCE 7 standard
50 psf
Ground Snow Load
ASCE 7 standard
Relatively Moderate
FEMA Risk Index
NRI composite rating
The Property Landscape
2,550 properties · Median year built 1966 · Avg 2,542 sf
Property Types
Single Family
1,890
Institutional
139
Other
132
Vacant Land
111
Condominium
76
Commercial
65
Multi-Family
56
Mixed Use
28
Industrial
27
Two-Family
15
Construction by Era
Pre-1800
31
1800-1849
55
1850-1899
92
1900-1949
189
1950-1979
1,233
1980-1999
372
2000+
198
Architectural Styles
Colonial
900
Cape Cod
291
Ranch
284
Conventional
195
Raised Ranch
147
Condominium
70
Contemporary
58
Church / Synagogue
28
Market Activity
Recorded transactions from Essex County Registry of Deeds
41
Sales (12 mo)
Arms-length transactions
$889K
Median Sale Price
Past 12 months
75%
Owner-Occupied
1%
Out-of-State Owners
NE Provenance tracks recorded deeds, mortgages, and liens for 93% of Topsfield 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
7,409 municipal building permits on file · 69% of properties
NE Provenance tracks 7,409 building permits across 1,747 Topsfield properties — 69% coverage. 1,261 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.
7,409
Permits on File
69%
Coverage
Properties with permits
1,261
Active (5yr)
Recent permit activity
85%
Condition Rated
NEP assessment
Living in Topsfield
Essex County · Massachusetts
Zip Codes01983
6,569
Population
2020 Census
2,550
Properties
$824K
Median Assessed
75%
Owner-Occupied
12.8
Square Miles
Topsfield covers 12.8 square miles in Essex County, Massachusetts. The median assessed property value is $824K.
Single-family homes account for 1,890 of Topsfield's 2,550 properties and 71 multi-family buildings. There are 65 commercial properties and 111 parcels of vacant land. About 75% of properties are owner-occupied.
Assessed values range widely — the middle 50% of properties fall between $664K and $986K, with the highest assessed property at $49.1M. 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 83% have public water service. Electric service is provided by National Grid (Massachusetts Electric). 377 properties have identified commercial activity — restaurants, retail, professional offices, and services that give Topsfield its character.
Environmental note: Topsfield has an average EPA lead paint indicator at the 53th percentile nationally, consistent with 178 properties built before 1900 when lead paint was standard.
What Topsfield Property Intelligence Means for Professionals
Insurance & Underwriting
Topsfield's fire protection grade distribution (2 Grade A, 625 Grade B) directly affects premium calculation. Parcel-level hazard data provides the granularity that ZIP-level aggregation misses.
Insurance solutionsReal Estate & Appraisal
Topsfield's 10 property types, spanning construction from 1668 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. 32% of Topsfield 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
7,409 permits across 69% of properties means most Topsfield inspection assignments can start with documented renovation and system history, not a blank slate.
Inspection solutionsExplore Topsfield property intelligence.
2,550 Topsfield 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/topsfield-ma. For references or attribution, please link back to this page or neprovenance.com. Thank you, we appreciate it.