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Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA

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Overview


Manchester-by-the-Sea is a somewhat small coastal town (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Massachusetts. With a population of 5,396 people and just one neighborhood, Manchester-by-the-Sea is the 243rd largest community in Massachusetts. Manchester-by-the-Sea has an unusually large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic towns.

Manchester-by-the-Sea home prices are not only among the most expensive in Massachusetts, but Manchester-by-the-Sea real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.

Occupations and Workforce

Manchester-by-the-Sea is a decidedly white-collar town, with fully 93.90% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Manchester-by-the-Sea is a town of managers, professionals, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Manchester-by-the-Sea who work in management occupations (21.22%), business and financial occupations (17.74%), and sales jobs (13.83%).

Also of interest is that Manchester-by-the-Sea has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

Of important note, Manchester-by-the-Sea is also a town of artists. Manchester-by-the-Sea has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Manchester-by-the-Sea’s character.

A relatively large number of people in Manchester-by-the-Sea telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 30.50% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Setting & Lifestyle

In addition, Manchester-by-the-Sea is home to many people who could be described as "urban sophisticates", which are people who are not only wealthy and employed in professional occupations, but highly educated to boot. Urban sophisticates have urbane tastes - whether they reside in a big or small city, a suburb, or a little town. Urban sophisticates support bookstores, quality clothing stores, enjoy luxury travel, and in big cities, they are truly the patrons of the arts, attending and supporting institutions such as opera, symphony, ballet, and theatre.

Because of many things, Manchester-by-the-Sea is a great place for families with children to consider. First of all, many other families with children live here, making Manchester-by-the-Sea a place where both parents and children are more likely to develop social ties with other families, as well as find family-oriented services and community. The town’s good public school district and large population of college-educated adults provide an environment conducive to academic values. With regard to real estate, Manchester-by-the-Sea has a high rate of owner-occupied single family homes, which tends to reflect stability in the local community. Finally, Manchester-by-the-Sea’s overall crime rate ranks among the lowest in the country, making it one of the safest places to raise a family.

One of the nice things about Manchester-by-the-Sea is that it is nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Because of this, visitors and locals will often go to these areas to take in the scenery or to enjoy waterfront activities.

In Manchester-by-the-Sea, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 30.61 minutes each day getting to work, which is significantly higher than the national average. One bright side is that local public transit is widely used, so it may be an option to avoid the headache of driving in the heavy traffic by leaving the car at home and taking transit.

Despite being a small town, Manchester-by-the-Sea has a lot of people using the train to get to and from work every day. Most of these people on the train are using it to get to good jobs in other cities.

Demographics

Do you have a 4-year college degree or graduate degree? If so, you may feel right at home in Manchester-by-the-Sea. 84.02% of adults here have a 4-year degree or graduate degree, whereas the national average for all cities and towns is just 21.84%.

The per capita income in Manchester-by-the-Sea in 2022 was $100,726, which is wealthy relative to Massachusetts and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $402,904 for a family of four.

Manchester-by-the-Sea is a somewhat ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Manchester-by-the-Sea home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Manchester-by-the-Sea residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Manchester-by-the-Sea include English, Irish, Italian, German, and French.

The most common language spoken in Manchester-by-the-Sea is English. Other important languages spoken here include Slavic languages and Italian.

Notable & Unique Neighborhood Characteristics

The way a neighborhood looks and feels when you walk or drive around it, from its setting, its buildings, and its flavor, can make all the difference. This neighborhood has some really cool things about the way it looks and feels as revealed by NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research. This might include anything from the housing stock to the types of households living here to how people get around.

Real Estate

is a neighborhood that is on the ocean, a bay, or inlet. Many times, such places have amenities that bring locals and visitors to the waterfront for recreational activities or to check out the scenery. In some densely populated areas that are less financially well-off, the neighborhood waterfront can be relatively industrial and less open to recreation. In addition to being coastal, is a very nautical neighborhood, meaning that it is somewhat historic, walkable, densely populated and on the water. This gives the neighborhood a very nautical feel, with some seaside and shipping feel, which some may really enjoy the sights and sounds of.

People

Wealth makes most things in life easier, and a few things harder. If you are wealthy and enjoy keeping up with the Jones', this neighborhood will interest you. In fact, according to NeighborhoodScout's research, the neighborhood is wealthier than 97.9% of the neighborhoods in the United States. Residents here are truly in a unique situation even when compared to other Americans, based on the sheer amount of wealth concentrated here. Even in times of economic downturn, residents of this neighborhood, as a group, suffered less and recovered more quickly. This is indeed a stand-out characteristic of this neighborhood. As one would expect in a considerably wealthy neighborhood such as this, also has one of the lowest ratings of child poverty in the nation.

In addition, if you are planning to retire in Massachusetts, this neighborhood should be on your must-see list. For many reasons, may be considered a retiree's dream neighborhood. According to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis and metrics, it's peaceful and quiet, has above average safety from crime compared to other neighborhoods in Massachusetts, while also offering a diverse range of housing options. This, along with the vibrant mix of very educated seniors and other age groups who choose to live here, makes the neighborhood more retiree-friendly than 99.9% of neighborhoods in MA. If a Massachusetts retirement is in your future, this neighborhood should be one of the places you visit. In addition to being an excellent choice for active retirees, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for highly educated executives and urban sophisticates.

Also, do you like to read, write, and learn? Are you curious about the world? If so, this neighborhood may be a good fit for you. NeighborhoodScout's research revealed that a full 84.0% of the adults living in the neighborhood have earned at least a bachelor's degree. This is a higher rate than NeighborhoodScout found in 98.7% of U.S. neighborhoods. In this way, this neighborhood truly stands out.

Occupations

The neighborhood has a higher proportion of its residents employed as executives, managers and professionals than 96.2% of the neighborhoods in America. In fact, 72.2% of the employed people here make a living as an executive, a manager, or other professional. With such a high concentration, this truly shapes the character of this neighborhood, and to a large degree defines what this neighborhood is about.

Modes of Transportation

If you like to ride the train to work, this neighborhood may be for you. NeighborhoodScout's research revealed that 9.3% of the neighborhood's commuters ride the train to and from work each day, which is more than we found in 95.1% of America's neighborhoods.

Also, a unique way of commuting is simply not to. And in the neighborhood, analysis shows that 30.5% of the residents work from home, avoiding a commute altogether. This may not seem like a large number, but it is a higher proportion of people working from home than is found in 95.0% of the neighborhoods in the United States. One thing NeighborhoodScout's research reveals is that the wealthier and/or more isolated the neighborhood, the greater the proportion of residents who choose to work from home.

Diversity

Did you know that the neighborhood has more Canadian and Yugoslav ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 4.0% of this neighborhood's residents have Canadian ancestry and 1.2% have Yugoslav ancestry.

is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 1.1% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Japanese at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 97.7% of the neighborhoods in America.

The Neighbors

There are two complementary measures for understanding the income of a neighborhood's residents: the average and the extremes. While a neighborhood may be relatively wealthy overall, it is equally important to understand the rate of people - particularly children - who are living at or below the federal poverty line, which is extremely low income. Some neighborhoods with a lower average income may actually have a lower childhood poverty rate than another with a higher average income, and this helps us understand the conditions and character of a neighborhood.

The neighbors in the neighborhood in Manchester-by-the-Sea are wealthy, making it among the 15% highest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 97.9% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 0.0% of the children seventeen and under living in this neighborhood are living below the federal poverty line, which is a lower rate of childhood poverty than is found in 100.0% of America's neighborhoods.

What we choose to do for a living reflects who we are. Each neighborhood has a different mix of occupations represented, and together these tell you about the neighborhood and help you understand if this neighborhood may fit your lifestyle.

In the neighborhood, 72.2% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants, with 16.8% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (5.4%), and 4.9% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.

Languages

The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 95.6% of households.

Ethnicity / Ancestry

Culture is shared learned behavior. We learn it from our parents, their parents, our houses of worship, and much of our culture – our learned behavior – comes from our ancestors. That is why ancestry and ethnicity can be so interesting and important to understand: places with concentrations of people of one or more ancestries often express those shared learned behaviors and this gives each neighborhood its own culture. Even different neighborhoods in the same city can have drastically different cultures.

In the neighborhood in Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as English (20.5%). There are also a number of people of Irish ancestry (18.3%), and residents who report Italian roots (9.2%), and some of the residents are also of German ancestry (7.6%), along with some French ancestry residents (6.2%), among others.

Getting to Work

How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (34.8% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.

Here most residents (51.1%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also take the train to get to work (9.3%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.


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