Realtor.com · 2026
Moving to Peabody, MA
The honest relocation guide to 01960 — why the whole country is suddenly looking at Peabody, what a house actually costs here, West Peabody vs. South Peabody vs. downtown, how the commute really works without a train station, and how to win a house in a market that moves in 20 days.
▶The short answer
Is Peabody, MA a good place to live?
Yes — and for the first time, the rest of the country agrees. In August 2026 Realtor.com named Peabody's 01960 the hottest zip code in America: listings here got about four times the national average views and sold in roughly 20 days. Nothing about Peabody changed. People just finally noticed what it is: a 55,000-person city on 16 square miles where a real single-family with a yard trades around $700,000, twenty miles from Boston, with on-ramps to Route 128, I-95, Route 1, and Route 114.
What you're buying is house per dollar. Not a beach, not a train station, not a postcard downtown — those are next door in Salem, Swampscott, and Lynn, and this page will send you there if that's what you want. Peabody is where you go when you want more bedrooms, a driveway, a lower tax rate, and a commute that works in every direction. The catch is that being the hottest zip code means everyone else read the same headline. Come prepared.
In this guide
The numbers
Peabody at a glance
Everything a relocating buyer usually asks in the first ten minutes.
#1
Hottest zip code in the U.S. (Realtor.com, 2026)
~$700K
Single-family median
20 days
Typical time on market
$9.47
FY2026 tax rate per $1,000
55K
Residents
4
Highways with a Peabody on-ramp (128, I-95, 1, 114)
Price and pace figures reflect 2026 market snapshots (MLS, Redfin, Realtor.com) and the City of Peabody's FY2026 rate; updated periodically. For a number specific to your street, call Marc.
See it yourself
Peabody, on camera
Photos flatter. Video doesn't. The Townie Show went to Peabody the week the ranking came out to figure out what the fuss is about — Peabody Square, West Peabody, the mall, the farm, and the honest version of what a house costs here.
Full episode▶The Townie Show: Peabody — 01960, America's #1 Hottest Zip Code
Short▶Peabody in 60 secondsThe Townie Show
The full Peabody episode: the 1863 monument in Peabody Square, Main Street's Leather City bones, a drive out Lowell Street into West Peabody, Brooksby Farm, Crystal Lake, and a real conversation about why a city with no train and no beach just became the most-watched housing market in the country.
Quick looks & Shorts
Sixty-second versions for when you're deciding between three towns on your phone. If Peabody's on your list, this is the fastest way to know whether it deserves a Saturday.
Homes & Market
Walkthroughs of real Peabody homes — West Peabody colonials, South Peabody capes, downtown two-families — plus plain-English updates on what the hottest-zip-code headline actually did to offers, days on market, and what you need to bring to win.
Straight talk
What I tell people before they move here
I sell Peabody for a living and I still won't oversell it. Here's the version I give friends.
What people love
✔ The most house per dollar within 20 miles of Boston — real yards, real driveways, real square footage
✔ Highway access in every direction: 128, I-95, Route 1, and 114 all have Peabody on-ramps
✔ $9.47 per $1,000 — one of the lowest residential tax rates on the North Shore
✔ Its own municipal light plant, so the electric bill is usually the pleasant surprise
✔ Brooksby Farm, Crystal Lake, and the Independence Greenway — more open space than people expect
✔ Every errand within ten minutes: the Northshore Mall, Route 1, Route 114, and a real Main Street
What to go in knowing
◻ No commuter rail station in the city — the train means Salem or Lynn, or the 434 express bus
◻ It's a car city. Downtown is walkable; West Peabody and South Peabody are not
◻ "Hottest zip code" means competition: 20 days on market, multiple offers, and homes trading at or over asking
◻ Route 1 and Route 114 traffic is real, and it's the wild card in every commute estimate on this page
◻ Housing stock skews 1950s–1980s: capes, ranches, and splits that often need a kitchen, a roof, or both
◻ Schools are solid and improving, but families comparing to Lynnfield or Swampscott should visit before deciding
Budget
Cost of living in Peabody, MA
In Greater Boston, housing is the whole ballgame. Peabody's edge is that the house costs less, the taxes cost less, and the electric bill costs less — and that adds up faster than people expect. Here is where it actually sits.
| What you're buying | Typical Peabody range | What it gets you |
| Single-family home | $550K – $850K | Capes, ranches, and colonials in South Peabody and downtown at the low end; three- and four-bed colonials and splits in West Peabody at the high end |
| Condo | $300K – $600K | Garden-style and townhouse complexes along the Route 128 corridor, converted mill and Victorian units downtown |
| Two-family | $700K – $1M | Mostly downtown and South Peabody near the Salem and Lynn lines — a tenant covers a real chunk of the payment |
| West Peabody / larger lot | $850K – $1.4M+ | Updated colonials on half-acre lots, newer construction, and the Crystal Lake and Brooksby Farm side streets |
| Rent (2 bedroom) | $2,300 – $3,000/mo | More supply than the coastal towns: two-family units downtown, complexes near the mall, and newer apartments along Route 1 |
| Property tax | $9.47 / $1,000 | FY2026 residential rate. A home assessed at $650,000 pays roughly $6,150 a year — well under the same house in Lynn, Salem, or Swampscott |
The tax angle people miss
Peabody carries a split tax rate: commercial property on Route 1 and at the mall pays $18.85, which is what lets homeowners pay $9.47. Compare that to $12.00 in Swampscott. On a $650,000 house the difference is roughly $1,600 a year, every year, before you've done anything.
The electric bill
Peabody runs its own utility, the Peabody Municipal Light Plant. It isn't glamorous, but municipal light plants in Massachusetts typically bill well under the investor-owned utilities, and it's the line item my clients notice first after they move in.
The hidden cost
A lot of Peabody's housing was built between 1950 and 1985 and hasn't been touched since. The house that costs $150,000 less than Danvers often needs $60,000 of kitchen, bath, and roof. Budget for the real inspection and price the updates before you bid, not after.
Run the numbers
What does a Peabody home actually cost per month?
Slide to the house you're picturing. Peabody's FY2026 tax rate and a North Shore insurance estimate are already baked in, so the number you see is closer to the real one than a generic mortgage calculator.
Estimates only. Tax uses the FY2026 Peabody residential rate applied to purchase price as a proxy for assessed value; insurance is a North Shore estimate and varies by property and any flood zone. PMI shown as a typical rate under 20% down. Not a loan offer or pre-approval.
Where it sits
Peabody vs. the towns next door
Recent 2026 single-family price snapshots across the North Shore. Peabody is the middle of the inland tier — under Lynnfield, Swampscott, and Beverly, roughly even with Danvers and Saugus, and above Salem and Lynn.
Read this chart two ways. Coming from Lynnfield, Swampscott, or Beverly, Peabody is the same commute — often a better one — for $100,000 to $400,000 less, and the house is usually bigger. Coming from Salem or Lynn, you're paying $120,000 to $130,000 more, and what it buys is a yard, a lower tax rate, a quieter street, and the on-ramp. Neither answer is wrong. But the first group is who pushed 01960 to number one, and they're your competition at the open house.
Getting around
Commuting from Peabody to Boston
Peabody is a highway city, not a train city. That's the whole commute story, and it cuts both ways. Tap your commute style for the real answer.
Driving — Route 1, I-95 / Route 128, and Route 114
30 min off-peak / 50–70 rush
This is why people move here. Route 1 runs straight down through Saugus into the Tobin Bridge and downtown; I-95 and Route 128 split at the Peabody interchange, so Burlington, Waltham, Woburn, and the 128 tech belt are a reverse commute; Route 114 gets you to Salem in ten minutes and Danvers in five. Twenty miles to downtown Boston is an easy half hour at 6am and a genuine Greater Boston commute at 8am, with Route 1 through Saugus and the Tobin as the wild cards.
Marc's take: Peabody is the best North Shore address for anyone whose job is on 128 instead of downtown — Burlington, Waltham, Bedford, Woburn, Beverly. If you work in the Financial District, price in parking or read the next two tabs.
Know your block
Peabody neighborhoods, on the map
Sixteen square miles, six very different Peabodys. Tap a neighborhood on the map — or use the buttons — to see what it's actually like to live there.
corridor
Proctor
The suburb inside the city
West Peabody
The largest and priciest section of the city, west of Route 128 off Lowell Street and Russell Street. Quiet suburban streets, half-acre lots, colonials and splits from the 1960s through the 1990s, Crystal Lake, and city-owned Brooksby Farm at the end of the road. This is the Peabody that Lynnfield buyers cross over for.
Typical range: $750K – $1.4M+
Move here if: You want the yard and the square footage, and your job is on 128 or you're fine driving to the train
Commute note: 2–5 minutes to I-95; 15 minutes to Salem Station; car required
See homes for sale in Peabody →Housing stock
What your budget actually buys in Peabody
Rough guidance, not gospel — but this is how the tiers break down in practice.
Under $500K
The entry point
Condos — garden-style and townhouse complexes along the 128 corridor and near the mall, converted units downtown. Also the occasional small cape or ranch in South Peabody that needs everything. This is how first-time buyers get into 01960.
$500K – $750K
The sweet spot
Three-bedroom capes, ranches, and colonials in South Peabody, downtown, and the Lowell Street side streets. This is the tier that made Peabody the hottest zip in America — expect company, and expect to go over asking on the good ones.
$750K – $1M
West Peabody & two-families
Updated four-bed colonials and splits on real lots in West Peabody, and the downtown two-families that let a tenant carry part of the mortgage. Where the house finally feels bigger than what the same money buys in Swampscott or Beverly.
$1M+
The top of the market
Newer construction and fully renovated colonials on the largest West Peabody lots, the Crystal Lake side streets, and the handful of estate-style homes near the Lynnfield line. Still $300,000 to $500,000 under the equivalent house across that line.
★★★★★
"He came prepared with an abundance of knowledge of the current market, the town and what it has to offer. Absolutely recommend Marc Fiore Real Estate."
— Google review
Families
Schools in Peabody, MA
Peabody families get more choices than most North Shore towns — and, honestly, more homework.
Peabody Public Schools serves roughly 5,800 students in eight neighborhood elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school. The elementaries are genuinely neighborhood schools — West Memorial and Burke on the West Peabody side, South Memorial and Brown to the south, Center and Carroll near downtown, McCarthy and Welch in between — so unlike Swampscott, which street you buy on decides which K–5 building your kids walk into. Ask before you bid.
Everyone funnels into J. Henry Higgins Middle School and then Peabody Veterans Memorial High School, a big comprehensive high school on Lowell Street with about 1,300 students, a strong performing-arts program, and Northeastern Conference athletics. Peabody is also a member community of Essex North Shore Agricultural & Technical School in Danvers, one of the best vocational-technical options in the state, and Bishop Fenwick, the Catholic high school, is in Peabody itself.
Here's the honest part: Peabody's schools are solid, well-funded, and improving, but families cross-shopping Lynnfield or Swampscott are usually paying that premium for the district. What Peabody offers instead is choice — a neighborhood elementary, a vocational path, a parochial path — and a house payment that leaves room for the rest of life. Tour the elementary for the streets you're looking at, not the district average.
Daily life
What a weekend in Peabody actually looks like
Not a chamber-of-commerce list. This is what my clients actually do here.
Get organized
Your move-to-Peabody checklist
Tick these off as you go — your progress saves on this device.
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60–90 days out
30–60 days out
Moving month
Questions
Moving to Peabody: FAQ
Why is Peabody the hottest zip code in America?+−
Realtor.com ranks zip codes on two things: how many people view each listing and how fast homes sell. In the first half of 2026, Peabody listings drew roughly four times the national average views and went under agreement in about 20 days, and 01960 came out number one in the country. The reasons aren't mysterious — single-family homes around $700,000 twenty miles from Boston, four highways with Peabody on-ramps, and bigger houses and lots than the coastal towns next door. About 70% of the people looking were already in Greater Boston. They didn't discover Peabody; they got priced out of everywhere around it.
Is Peabody, MA a good place to live?+−
If you want the most house per dollar within a reasonable commute of Boston, yes. Peabody is about 55,000 people on 16 square miles that behaves like a handful of suburbs: West Peabody with big lots and Crystal Lake, South Peabody near the Lynn line, a walkable downtown around Peabody Square, and the 128 corridor with the mall. One of the lowest tax rates on the North Shore, its own light plant, a city-owned farm, and highway access in every direction. It is not a beach town and it doesn't have a train station — if either is a must, look at Salem, Swampscott, or Lynn.
How much does it cost to live in Peabody?+−
Single-families have recently traded around $700,000 — West Peabody higher, often $750,000 to $1.2 million, South Peabody and downtown lower. Condos run from the low $300,000s to the $600,000s and two-families from the $700,000s to about $1 million. The FY2026 residential tax rate is $9.47 per $1,000, below Lynn, Salem, Swampscott, Danvers, and Beverly, and electric comes from the Peabody Municipal Light Plant. Everyday costs otherwise track Greater Boston.
How long is the commute from Peabody to Boston?+−
Driving is the default: about 30 minutes off-peak and 50 to 70 at rush hour via Route 1 or I-95/128. Peabody has no commuter rail station of its own; most train commuters drive or bus to Salem Station, where the Newburyport/Rockport Line reaches North Station in about 35 minutes and there are roughly 700 parking spaces. The 434 express bus runs from Peabody to Haymarket at rush hour, and the 435 and 436 connect Peabody Square and the mall to Lynn and Salem.
West Peabody vs. South Peabody — what's the difference?+−
West Peabody is the largest and most expensive part of the city: suburban streets off Lowell and Russell, half-acre lots, 1960s–90s colonials and splits, Crystal Lake, Brooksby Farm, and I-95 in minutes. South Peabody sits between the square and the Lynn and Salem lines with denser streets, capes, ranches, and older colonials at lower prices, and quick access to Route 1 and 128. Downtown around Peabody Square is the most walkable and the most attainable, with two-families and condos. Use the map above — the differences are real.
Does Peabody have a commuter rail station?+−
No. The nearest stations are Salem, about ten minutes from Peabody Square, and Lynn. That's the single biggest tradeoff versus Swampscott, Salem, and Beverly, and it's a big part of why Peabody costs less than they do. If your job is on 128 rather than downtown, it stops being a tradeoff at all.
How does Peabody compare to Danvers and Lynnfield?+−
All three share the 128 and Route 1 corridor. Danvers runs modestly higher, with a smaller-town feel and its own square. Lynnfield runs roughly $400,000 higher, with a top-rated district, MarketStreet, and very little inventory. Peabody sits in the middle on price and delivers the most house per dollar of the three — which is a large part of why it, and not the other two, topped the hottest-zip list.
Do you need a car in Peabody?+−
Yes. Downtown along Main Street is walkable for coffee, the library, and the square, and the 435 bus runs through it, but West Peabody, South Peabody, and every errand at the mall or on Route 1 are built around driving. Car-light is possible downtown; car-free is not realistic here, and it's not what Peabody is selling.
Reviews
What people who already moved say
Keep exploring
More Peabody & North Shore resources
Also serving: Lynn · Swampscott · Salem · Marblehead · Nahant · Danvers · Lynnfield · Saugus · Beverly
Welcome to the neighborhood.
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Marc Fiore Real Estate · powered by Cameron Real Estate Group
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Serving Peabody, Lynn, Swampscott, Salem, Marblehead, Nahant, Danvers, Lynnfield, Saugus & Beverly, MA