Best Places01985, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 01985, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
01985 ranks 948th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 01985
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
01985's strengths and weaknesses
Where 01985 ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Household income$185,385 median, better than 99% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 96% of zip codes
Where 01985 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,897 a month, better than only 2% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 62 pleasant days a year, better than only 11% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than only 21% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than only 22% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 01985
A household needs to earn about $220,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 01985 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $185,385, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 01985's effective rate of 1.16%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 01985
01985 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 01985.
Who works in 01985, and how
Work in 01985 centers on professional & technical and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 25%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in 01985
The coast is about 14 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 01985, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 01985, month by month
01985 sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 30° | 21° |
| April | 61° | 48° | 37° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 64° |
| October | 67° | 55° | 45° |
Flying in and out of 01985
The nearest airport, Portsmouth International at Pease, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 30 miles away.
The best schools in and around 01985
Schools across 01985 average a B+, better than 78% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Dr John C Page SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Edward G. Molin Elementary SchoolB · 49% proficient
- Elmer S BagnallB · 44% proficient
Top middle schools
- Rupert A Nock MiddleB+ · 50% proficient
- Triton Regional Middle SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Amesbury MiddleB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Newburyport HighA+ · 80% proficient
- Pentucket Regional Sr HighA · 70% proficient
- Amesbury HighA− · 65% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 01985 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
01985 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 01985 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 01985
Is 01985 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 01985 ranks 948th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on health care access, high incomes, and low crime, and lowest on childcare costs and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 01985 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $803,881. The overall cost of living runs about 26% above the national average. Set against a $185,385 median income, cost of living beats 97% of zip codes.
Is 01985 safe?
Yes, 01985 is safer than 98% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $132 per resident a year.
Compare 01985 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 01985. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 01985 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
01985 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 01985: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 01985: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 01985: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 01985: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
01985 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.