Essex County, Massachusetts


Essex County is a county in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of the 2010 census, the total population was 743,159, making it the third-most populous county in the state. It is part of the Greater Boston area. The largest city in Essex County is Lynn. The county was named after the English county of Essex.
It has two traditional county seats: Salem and Lawrence. Prior to the dissolution of the county government in 1999, Salem had jurisdiction over the Southern Essex District, and Lawrence had jurisdiction over the Northern Essex District, but currently these cities do not function as seats of government. However, the county and the districts remain as administrative regions recognized by various governmental agencies, which gathered vital statistics or disposed of judicial case loads under these geographic subdivisions, and are required to keep the records based on them. The county has been designated the Essex National Heritage Area by the National Park Service.

History

The county was created by the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony on May 10, 1643, when it was ordered "that the whole plantation within this jurisdiction be divided into four sheires". Named after the county in England, Essex then comprised the towns of Salem, Lynn, Wenham, Ipswich, Rowley, Newbury, Gloucester, and Andover. In 1680, Haverhill and Salisbury, both located north of the Merrimack River, were annexed to Essex County. These communities had been part of Massachusetts' colonial-era Norfolk County. The remaining four towns within colonial Norfolk County, which included Exeter and what is now Portsmouth, were transferred to what became Rockingham County in the Province of New Hampshire. The ten large founding Massachusetts-based settlements were then subdivided over the centuries to produce Essex County's modern composition of cities and towns.
Essex County is where Elbridge Gerry created a legislative district in 1812 that gave rise to the word gerrymandering.
Due to a confluence of floods, hurricanes, and severe winter storms, Essex County has had more disaster declarations than most other U.S. counties, from 1964 to 2016.

Law and government

From the founding of the Republican Party until the New Deal, Essex County was a Republican stronghold in presidential elections. Since 1936, it has trended Democratic, with Dwight Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956 and Ronald Reagan in 1980 and 1984 being the only Republicans to carry the county since.
Like several other Massachusetts counties, Essex County exists today only as a historical geographic region, and has no county government. All former county functions were assumed by state agencies in 1999. The sheriff and some other regional officials with specific duties are still elected locally to perform duties within the county region, but there is no county council, commissioner, or county employees. Communities are now granted the right to form their own regional compacts for sharing services. See also: .

Geography

Essex County is roughly diamond-shaped and occupies the northeastern corner of the state of Massachusetts.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water. Essex County is adjacent to Rockingham County, New Hampshire to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Suffolk County to the south, Middlesex County to the west and a very small portion of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire to the far north west in Methuen. All county land is incorporated into towns or cities.
Essex County includes the North Shore, Cape Ann, and the lower portions of the Merrimack Valley.

Transportation

These routes pass through Essex County:
The Lawrence Municipal Airport and Beverly Municipal Airport are regional airports within the county; the nearest commercial airports are Logan Airport in Boston and Manchester-Boston Regional Airport in Manchester, NH.
The MBTA commuter rail has two lines operating in Essex County: the Haverhill Line and the Newburyport Line, both of which go toward Boston. Close to Boston, MBTA buses also exist. The MVRTA is a bus company that connects cities within the Merrimack Valley portion of Essex County.

National protected areas

Because of Essex County's rich history, which includes 17th century colonial history, maritime history spanning its existence, and leadership in the expansions of the textile industry in the 19th century, the entire county has been designated the Essex National Heritage Area by the National Park Service.
The following areas of national significance have also been preserved:
As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 743,159 people, 285,956 households, and 188,005 families residing in the county. The population density was. There were 306,754 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the county was 81.9% white, 3.8% black or African American, 3.1% Asian, 0.4% American Indian, 8.2% from other races, and 2.6% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 16.5% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 23.3% were Irish, 17.1% were Italian, 12.6% were English, 6.1% were German, and 3.6% were American.
Of the 285,956 households, 32.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.9% were married couples living together, 13.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 34.3% were non-families, and 28.1% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 3.14. The median age was 40.4 years.
The median income for a household in the county was $64,153 and the median income for a family was $81,173. Males had a median income of $58,258 versus $44,265 for females. The per capita income for the county was $33,828. About 7.7% of families and 10.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.3% of those under age 18 and 9.4% of those age 65 or over.

Demographic breakdown by town

Income

The ranking of unincorporated communities that are included on the list are reflective if the census designated locations and villages were included as cities or towns. Data is from the 2007-2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.
RankTownPer capita
income		Median
household
income		Median
family
income		PopulationNumber of
households
1Manchester-by-the-SeaTown$69,930$114,639$131,1365,1372,047
2BoxfordTown$67,601$137,159$145,6917,9502,665
BoxfordCDP$65,327$112,656$121,0002,406763
3MarbleheadTown$55,778$99,574$122,67919,8117,898
4WenhamTown$55,054$139,856$159,6884,8311,311
TopsfieldCDP$53,247$116,667$125,1562,788976
5West NewburyTown$52,882$104,931$123,2374,2221,497
6AndoverTown$52,404$113,936$142,41332,94511,929
7NahantTown$51,308$77,243$134,8753,4201,531
8TopsfieldTown$50,689$116,122$122,7946,0752,039
9SwampscottTown$48,013$90,148$108,00413,8265,577
10North AndoverTown$47,092$95,199$121,56328,15610,223
11NewburyportCity$46,327$80,861$117,30518,20210,534
12LynnfieldTown$44,969$101,921$115,72611,5484,069
13NewburyTown$44,349$89,107$120,8706,6472,516
EssexCDP$43,589$77,188$121,3431,581669
14RockportTown$43,201$71,447$98,5877,0213,020
15GeorgetownTown$42,683$106,765$125,4178,0832,790
16IpswichTown$42,494$84,609$100,00013,1275,473
AndoverCDP$41,811$72,440$105,0008,7993,640
17AmesburyCity$41,142$79,293$94,94616,2676,543
18EssexTown$40,213$79,492$115,0483,4701,383
RowleyCDP$39,483$69,243$75,4811,370615
19DanversTown$39,067$78,593$98,72326,30310,282
20RowleyTown$38,592$79,449$103,1975,8152,254
21HamiltonTown$38,157$103,774$113,0007,8092,532
22GrovelandTown$37,173$91,080$100,9726,4012,372
23BeverlyCity$36,889$67,733$90,67239,45515,278
SalisburyCDP$36,812$65,205$77,1194,7352,117
IpswichCDP$36,687$70,970$86,3973,9511,831
24MerrimacTown$36,643$76,936$90,8126,2972,442
25MiddletonTown$36,194$93,415$100,2888,8392,621
RockportCDP$36,099$56,250$97,2414,9522,137
26GloucesterCity$35,080$59,061$76,61028,86912,310
MassachusettsState$35,051$65,981$83,3716,512,2272,522,409
Essex CountyCounty$34,858$65,785$83,047739,505284,940
27SalisburyTown$34,755$68,194$82,3538,2123,399
28SaugusTown$34,076$75,258$93,12526,5169,917
29PeabodyCity$32,442$65,471$80,85950,82420,890
30SalemCity$30,961$56,203$64,76941,16317,690
31HaverhillCity$30,574$60,611$76,75460,54424,334
32MethuenCity$29,778$65,799$81,19046,78517,508
United StatesCountry$27,915$52,762$64,293306,603,772114,761,359
33LynnCity$22,190$44,367$51,38490,00634,018
34LawrenceCity$17,068$31,478$35,60675,76127,004

Politics

Education

Essex County is home to numerous libraries and schools, both public and private.

Libraries

Public schools

Private schools

Higher education

Economy

Employment

As of 2015, the county had total employment of 282,412. The largest employer in the county is Massachusetts General Hospital, with over 5,000 employees.

Banking

Based on deposits in the county, the five largest banks are TD Bank, N.A., Salem Five Cents Bank, Institution for Savings, Bank of America, and Eastern Bank.

Essex National Heritage Area

On November 12, 1996, Essex National Heritage Area was authorized by Congress. The heritage area consists of all of Essex County, MA a area between the Atlantic Coast and the Merrimack Valley. The area includes 34 cities and towns; two National Historic Sites ; and thousands of historic sites and districts that illuminate colonial settlement, the development of the shoe and textile industries, and the growth and decline of the maritime industries, including fishing, privateering, and the China trade. The Essex National Heritage Area is one of 49 heritage areas designated by Congress, affiliated with the National Park Service.
The Essex National Heritage Commission is a non-profit organization chartered to promote tourism and cultural awareness of the area, connecting people to the places of Essex County, MA. The Commission's mission is to promote and preserve the historic, cultural and natural resources of the ENHA by rallying community support around saving the character of the area. This is accomplished through the commission's projects and programs, which include Partnership Grant Program, Explorers membership program, photo safaris, and the annual September weekend event Trails & Sails, as well as other important regional partnership building projects like the Essex Heritage Scenic Byway, and the Border to Boston trail.

Communities

The towns and cities of Essex County are listed below.

Cities

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