Essex County, Massachusetts
County seat: Salem · Population 826,653 (2025) · 493 sq mi
Essex County is the 3rd most populous of Massachusetts's 14 counties, with 826,653 people (2025 estimate). Its county seat is Salem. The map shows its 10 cities and towns and the 4 neighboring counties.
Essex County facts
- County seat
- Salem
- Population (2025 estimate)
- 826,653 +2.1% since 2020
- Land area
- 493 sq mi 9th largest of 14
- Water area
- 336 sq mi
- Population density
- 1,678 per sq mi
- Established
- 1643
- Same name
- One of 5 Essex Counties in the US
- Named after
- Essex ceremonial county in England (use Q21272241 for administrative non-metropolitan county)
- Largest city
- Lynn 104,236
- Median household income
- $101,883
- Cities and towns
- 10 plus 14 CDPs
- ZIP codes
- 46
- Time zone
- Eastern
- FIPS code
- 25009
Cities and towns in Essex County
Essex County has 10 incorporated cities, towns and villages. Populations count the people living inside Essex County; cities that cross a county line also list the other counties.
| Name | Type | Population 2025 | Also in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lynn | City | 104,236 | |
| Lawrence | City | 89,320 | |
| Haverhill | City | 68,361 | |
| Peabody | City | 55,953 | |
| Methuen | City | 54,584 | |
| Salem (county seat) | City | 45,381 | |
| Beverly | City | 43,363 | |
| Gloucester | City | 30,627 | |
| Newburyport | City | 19,148 | |
| Amesbury | City | 17,588 |
Unincorporated communities (CDPs)
Census-designated places are communities without their own city government; the county provides their services.
| Community | Population | Also in |
|---|---|---|
| Saugus | 28,773 | |
| Danvers | 28,098 | |
| Marblehead | 20,413 | |
| Swampscott | 15,277 | |
| Lynnfield | 13,064 | |
| Andover | 9,451 | |
| Salisbury | 5,656 | |
| Ipswich | 4,924 | |
| Rockport | 4,704 | |
| Nahant | 3,325 | |
| Topsfield | 2,624 | |
| Boxford | 2,284 | |
| Rowley | 1,708 | |
| Essex | 1,688 |
ZIP codes in Essex County
46 ZIP codes reach into Essex County. ZIP codes ignore county lines, so some also cover a neighboring county.
- 01810
- 01826 also Middlesex County
- 01830
- 01832
- 01833
- 01834
- 01835
- 01840
- 01841
- 01843
- 01844
- 01845
- 01860
- 01876 also Middlesex County
- 01901
- 01902
- 01904
- 01905
- 01906
- 01907
- 01908
- 01913
- 01915
- 01921
- 01922
- 01923
- 01929
- 01930
- 01937
- 01938
- 01940
- 01944
- 01945
- 01949
- 01950
- 01951
- 01952
- 01960
- 01965
- 01966
- 01969
- 01970
- 01982
- 01983
- 01984
- 01985
Population of Essex County, 2020–2025
Essex County grew by 16,710 people (+2.1%) between April 2020 and July 2025: 5,093 more births than deaths and a net gain of 11,443 people from migration.
| Year (July 1) | Population |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 807,799 |
| 2021 | 807,387 |
| 2022 | 810,054 |
| 2023 | 817,647 |
| 2024 | 826,170 |
| 2025 | 826,653 |
Neighboring counties
- Middlesex County west · 1,669,979 people
- Rockingham County, New Hampshire northwest · 324,077 people
- Suffolk County southwest · 791,891 people
- Hillsborough County, New Hampshire northwest · 433,415 people
Printable Essex County map
The PDF is a vector file with real text: it prints sharp on Letter paper and you can search it for a town. The PNG is 2400 pixels wide for slides and documents. Both are free to use with a credit to WhichCounty.
- PDF (Letter) (134 KB)
- PNG (2400 px) (115 KB)
Paste this code to embed the map on your site:
Sources
- Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Cartographic Boundary Files (1:500,000).
- Population: Census Bureau county and city estimates, Vintage 2025. CDP populations: American Community Survey 2020–2024.
- Places and ZIP codes: Census Bureau 2026 Gazetteer and 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Area relationship files.
- County seat, founding year and name origin: Wikidata (CC0), checked against state sources.
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