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 15,280 people and four associated neighborhoods, Swampscott is the 137th largest community in Massachusetts. Swampscott has an unusually large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic towns. Housing costs in Swampscott are among some of the highest in the nation, although real estate prices here don't compare to real estate prices in the most expensive communities in Massachusetts.Swampscott is a decidedly white-collar town, with fully 90.30% 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 (21.20%), teaching (10.73%), and business and financial occupations (8.45%). 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: 20.55% 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". Urban sophisticates are people who are both educated and wealthy, and thus tend to be older, richer, and more established than young professionals. "Urban sophisticates" is not just about being educated and well-off financially: it is a point of view and state of mind, one that you might call 'urbaneness'. But such people can and do regularly live in small towns, suburbs and rural areas, as well as in big cities. They read, support the arts and high-end shops, and love travel. Swampscott is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Quite often, nautical areas such as these attract visitors and locals who come to enjoy the scenery and various waterfront activities. In Swampscott, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 34.51 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. In addition, the town is also quite pedestrian-friendly, because many neighborhoods are very dense and have amenities close enough together that people find it feasible to get around on foot. Despite being a small town, Swampscott 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.If knowledge is power, Swampscott is a pretty powerful place. 63.67% 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 $72,512, which is wealthy relative to Massachusetts and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $290,048 for a family of four. 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 Asian. 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 19.91% of the town’s population. The most common language spoken in Swampscott is English. Other important languages spoken here include Russian and Spanish.
