Photo: Wikipedia
Demographics of Beverly, MA
Affluence Level in Beverly, MA
An upper-middle-class area. Household wealth, education levels, and homeownership run ahead of national benchmarks.
People of Beverly, MA
The people of Beverly, Massachusetts, today number 42,408, forming a dense, historic coastal city with a distinctly New England character—rooted in maritime and industrial heritage, yet increasingly shaped by professionals commuting to Boston and the North Shore’s tech and healthcare sectors. With a population that is 85.4% white, a foreign-born share of just 4.2%, and a college-educated rate of 52.3%, Beverly is predominantly native-born, well-educated, and relatively homogeneous compared to nearby Lynn or Salem. Its identity is a blend of old Yankee stock, 19th-century immigrant waves, and a modest but growing Hispanic (5.7%) and East/Southeast Asian (1.5%) presence, giving it a stable, family-oriented feel with pockets of diversity.
How the city was settled and grew
Beverly was first settled in 1626 by English Puritans from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, who were drawn by the sheltered harbor and abundant cod fisheries. The original settlement clustered around what is now Bass River and the Cove neighborhoods, where early families like the Balch and Woodberrys built farms and wharves. By the 18th century, Beverly became a major privateering and shipbuilding center during the American Revolution, with the Ryal Side neighborhood emerging as a hub for ship captains and merchants. The 19th century brought the shoe and leather industry, which drew waves of Irish immigrants fleeing the Great Famine in the 1840s and 1850s. These Irish families settled heavily in the Beverly Farms and Montserrat areas, working in the tanneries and factories along the Bass River. Later, French-Canadian and Italian immigrants arrived in the 1880s–1910s, taking jobs in the expanding shoe and machinery plants, with many settling in the Downtown and North Beverly neighborhoods near the rail lines. By 1920, Beverly’s population had swelled to over 22,000, a mix of Yankee Protestants, Irish Catholics, and smaller French and Italian enclaves.
Modern era (post-1965)
After the 1965 Hart-Cellar Act, Beverly’s foreign-born population remained low—today just 4.2%—as the city did not become a primary destination for post-1965 immigration. Instead, the major demographic shift was domestic: suburbanization drew middle-class families from Boston and Lynn into Beverly’s single-family homes, particularly in the Beverly Farms and Prides Crossing neighborhoods, which became commuter havens for professionals. The city’s white share stayed above 90% through the 1990s, but since 2000, modest diversification has occurred. The Hispanic population (5.7%) is concentrated in the Downtown and North Beverly areas, often in rental housing near Route 128, while the East/Southeast Asian community (1.5%) is scattered but visible in the Beverly Cove neighborhood, where many work in tech or healthcare. The Black population (2.4%) and Indian-subcontinent population (0.5%) remain small, with no single dominant enclave. Notably, Beverly has not experienced the rapid ethnic succession seen in nearby cities like Lynn; instead, it has absorbed new groups gradually, with most growth coming from domestic migration of college-educated whites (52.3% have a bachelor’s degree or higher) seeking good schools and coastal amenities.
The future
Beverly’s population is heading toward slow, steady homogenization with a slight diversification tail. The white share is projected to decline gradually—perhaps to 80–82% by 2040—as the Hispanic and East/Southeast Asian shares inch upward, but the foreign-born rate is unlikely to exceed 6–7% given the city’s high housing costs (median home value over $600,000) and limited rental stock. The Downtown and North Beverly neighborhoods will likely absorb most new immigrant and minority households, while Beverly Farms and Prides Crossing remain overwhelmingly white and affluent. The city is not tribalizing into distinct ethnic enclaves; rather, it is slowly assimilating new groups into a predominantly white, college-educated, professional-class fabric. The biggest demographic pressure is domestic: young families priced out of Boston are moving to Beverly, keeping the population stable and the school-age cohort healthy. For a conservative-leaning individual or parent moving in now, Beverly offers a stable, safe, and increasingly expensive community where the population is becoming more educated and slightly more diverse, but where the core character—historic, coastal, and family-oriented—is unlikely to change dramatically in the next decade.
Bottom-line: Beverly is becoming a more expensive, slightly more diverse commuter suburb for the professional class, with a population that is aging in place in its historic neighborhoods while slowly absorbing modest Hispanic and Asian growth. For someone moving in now, the city offers a stable, low-crime environment with strong schools and a deep sense of place, but the high cost of entry and limited rental options mean that demographic change will be gradual and incremental, not transformative.
* Values derived from national, state, county, city and local statistics and may differ in a specific area. Last updated: 2026-04-24T12:09:36.000Z
Narrative content on this page is AI-generated and may contain mistakes. Verify any details that matter before acting on them.
ReloMaps may earn a commission from affiliate links at no extra cost to you.
