Townsend, MA population, income and ZIP codes

Townsend CDP is a small town in Massachusetts, with 1,082 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #222 of 248 ranked by population — larger than 10% of them. The median age here is 49.2 years against 39.1 nationally, a markedly older profile that usually tracks retirees staying put and younger households leaving for work. At this population the ACS sample is small, so the margin of error around every dollar figure below is wide — treat the numbers as a band, not a point, and expect them to move between annual releases without the place itself changing.

Households in Townsend CDP earn a median of $56,726 a year, 27.8% below the national figure of $78,538 and 43% below the $99,537 median for the 222 Massachusetts cities we cover. Household income here is measured before tax and pooled across everyone at the address, which is why it reads higher than typical individual earnings in the same area. Poverty reaches 15.2% of residents here, above the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in Townsend CDP is valued at $344,400, 13.5% above the national figure and 31% below the $497,400 peer median, while median gross rent runs $947 a month, 32.6% below the national figure, or roughly $11,364 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 20% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is within the standard affordability guideline. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 6.1×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is out of reach on local earnings alone and the ownership market leans on outside income, equity or dual high earners. 49.7% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans more heavily on renters. The rent line includes utilities paid by the tenant, a definition worth remembering when comparing it against a landlord's quoted rate.

Home values sit at 6.1× median household income, far past the 3.9× national mark, so ownership costs here are set by something other than local wages — second homes, retirees with equity, or commuters earning elsewhere.

No figure on this page is estimated by us; each one comes straight from the published ACS tables for this area. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.