Moving to Beverly, Massachusetts

What Is It Like to Live in Beverly, MA?

Day-to-day life in Beverly changes depending on where you are. Downtown, near Cabot Street, you'll find a genuinely walkable strip of restaurants, coffee shops, the Cabot Theatre, and independent stores, with the Beverly Public Library and City Hall nearby. It has more of an urban, year-round feel than the tourist-driven downtowns you'll find in Salem or Gloucester.

Head toward the water and the character shifts. Lynch Park, on the Beverly Cove side, has formal gardens, a small beach, and ocean views that draw both residents and visitors in the summer. Dane Street Beach sits closer to downtown and is a popular spot for families who want beach access without a long drive. Further out along Route 127, Beverly Farms and Prides Crossing have a quieter, more estate-like feel, with rocky coastline, private beach associations, and some of the largest lots in the city.

Inland, neighborhoods like North Beverly, Centerville, and Ryal Side read much more like a traditional suburban city — single-family homes on residential streets, closer to Wenham, Hamilton, and Danvers, and generally a shorter drive to Route 128. Beverly also has a working Beverly Municipal Airport and an active harbor with commercial fishing and boatyards, which gives the waterfront a more genuine, working character than a purely recreational one.

How Long Is the Commute from Beverly to Boston?

Beverly is well served by the MBTA Commuter Rail. Beverly Depot, in the heart of downtown, is the city's main stop on the Newburyport/Rockport Line, and the ride into Boston's North Station generally runs somewhere in the 35- to 45-minute range, depending on the train and time of day.

Three other stops give different parts of the city their own rail access: North Beverly station, near Enon and Dodge Streets, serves the northern residential neighborhoods; and Montserrat and Beverly Farms stations, on the Gloucester Branch, serve the villages along Route 127. Having four stops within one city is unusual on the North Shore and means your commute options can genuinely factor into which neighborhood makes sense for you.

By car, Beverly connects to Route 128/I-95 and Route 1A, putting most of the North Shore's other communities — Salem, Danvers, Peabody, Wenham — within a short drive, and Logan Airport is roughly 25–30 miles away depending on traffic.

Beverly Schools & Family Life

Beverly operates its own single school district, Beverly Public Schools, with several elementary schools feeding into one district-wide middle school and one high school, Beverly High School, home of the Panthers. Families researching the district will find performance that generally lands in the average-to-above-average range compared with other Massachusetts districts, with some individual elementary schools — Ayers/Ryal Side and North Beverly Elementary among them — drawing particular praise from families for their test performance.

Outside the classroom, families have access to the Beverly Public Library, Lynch Park and Dane Street Beach for recreation, active youth sports leagues, and community programming through the Beverly Boys & Girls Club and the Council on Aging. Beverly's size also means more organized recreation infrastructure than some of its smaller neighbors.

Is Beverly, MA a Safe Place to Live?

Beverly generally reports crime levels that are lower than the national average and roughly comparable to or somewhat below the statewide Massachusetts average, based on published FBI-sourced crime data. As with any city of its size, rates vary somewhat by neighborhood and year, so buyers who want current, block-level detail should ask about a specific address or check the Beverly Police Department's own published data.

What Are Beverly's Main Neighborhoods?

Beverly is large enough, and varied enough, that it's really worth thinking of it as several distinct areas rather than one uniform city.

How Expensive Is It to Live in Beverly, MA?

Beverly's housing stock reflects its history: you'll find antique Colonials and Capes downtown, Victorians and multi-families in the older neighborhoods, mid-century ranches and split-levels further inland, condominiums concentrated near downtown and the waterfront, and, along the water in Beverly Farms and Prides Crossing, larger custom and estate-style homes. New construction is limited and tends to appear as infill or teardown-rebuild rather than large subdivisions.

As of recent data, Beverly's housing market has favored sellers, with homes typically moving quickly and multiple-offer situations common on move-in-ready listings, particularly downtown and in North Beverly. Condo inventory has been somewhat more balanced than the single-family market. Ask me for current, address-specific comps — market conditions shift by neighborhood and by month.

Beverly, MA Property Taxes

Beverly's residential property tax rate was $10.99 per $1,000 of assessed value for fiscal year 2025, with the City Council historically approving the maximum allowable tax shift toward commercial and industrial property to ease the residential burden. The average single-family tax bill has been trending upward as assessed values rise, even when the rate itself moves only modestly.

Keep in mind that your assessed value is not the same as your purchase price, and Beverly, like other Massachusetts communities, offers exemptions for qualifying seniors, veterans, surviving spouses, and blind residents. I'm happy to walk through what a specific property's tax bill is likely to look like, but for exact numbers or exemption eligibility, the City Assessor's Office is the right source, and I'd always recommend confirming with a tax professional for anything beyond a general estimate.

Frequently Asked Questions About Moving to Beverly, MA