Swampscott is a medium-sized coastal town (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Massachusetts. With a population of 15,658 people and four associated neighborhoods, Swampscott is the 137th largest community in Massachusetts. Swampscott has a large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic towns in the country. Swampscott home prices are not only among the most expensive in Massachusetts, but Swampscott real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.Swampscott is a decidedly white-collar town, with fully 90.76% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Swampscott is a town of professionals, managers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Swampscott who work in management occupations (21.92%), business and financial occupations (8.64%), and sales jobs (8.13%). Also of interest is that Swampscott has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 27.22% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. 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. In addition, Swampscott 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. One of the nice things about Swampscott 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. One downside of living in Swampscott is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In Swampscott, the average commute to work is 33.46 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average. On the other hand, local public transit is widely used in the town, so leaving the car at home and taking transit is often a viable alternative. In addition, it is also a pedestrian-friendly town. Many of Swampscott’s neighborhoods are dense enough and have amenities close enough together that people find it feasible to get around on foot. In Swampscott, a lot of people use the train to get to work every day though Swampscott is a relatively small town. Those that ride the train are primarily traveling out of town to good jobs in other cities.If knowledge is power, Swampscott is a pretty powerful place. 62.16% of the adults in Swampscott have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns. The per capita income in Swampscott in 2022 was $78,590, which is wealthy relative to Massachusetts and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $314,360 for a family of four. However, Swampscott contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Swampscott is a somewhat ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Swampscott home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Swampscott residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Swampscott include Irish, Italian, English, Russian, and German. Foreign born people are also an important part of Swampscott's cultural character, accounting for 20.53% of the town’s population. The most common language spoken in Swampscott is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Russian.
