Worcester / Fitchburg
Fitchburg has 41,798 residents (give or take 32) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=060XX00US2502723875, checked 2026-10-19), about 1,502 people per square mile.
Fitchburg is about 23 miles from the Census center point for Worcester in a straight line and covers 27.824 square miles of land (Census 2024 Gazetteer internal points and land area, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2024_Gazetteer/, checked 2026-10-19).
The quote form takes a ZIP code; for Fitchburg that is 01420 (Census 2020 ZCTA to county subdivision and ZCTA to place relationship files, ZIP areas at least 20% inside the town, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/rel2020/zcta520/tab20_zcta520_cousub20_natl.txt and https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/rel2020/zcta520/tab20_zcta520_place20_natl.txt, checked 2026-10-19).
Median household income in Fitchburg is $73,040 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=060XX00US2502723875, checked 2026-10-19); Mass Save's enhanced heat pump incentives are income-based and decided household by household, so the town median only hints at how many neighbors qualify.
42% of Fitchburg homes are single-family detached, 31% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 20% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=060XX00US2502723875, checked 2026-10-19).
46% of Fitchburg homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US2502723875, checked 2026-10-19), so beside the 42% detached houses there is a real share of jobs where the landlord, not the resident, signs the quote.
Fitchburg has 15 points fewer detached houses than Worcester County overall (57%) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US25027, checked 2026-10-19).
46% of Fitchburg homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US2502723875, checked 2026-10-19), so the market splits between resident-led jobs where the occupant picks the system and landlord-led jobs where they do not, and the rebate paperwork differs.
Of the 16,659 occupied homes in Fitchburg, 50% heat with natural gas, 26% with heating oil, 18% with electricity and 3% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=060XX00US2502723875, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas leads in Fitchburg at 50%, but 29% of homes still burn delivered oil or propane, and those 4,831 or so homes are where a heat pump pays back fastest.
Fitchburg has 12 points less oil heat than Worcester County as a whole, where 38% of homes burn oil, and 2 points less electric heat than the county's 20% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US25027, checked 2026-10-19).
No electric utility is on file for Fitchburg on this door yet, so this page does not name one; the name on the bill decides which rebate path applies.
If the Fitchburg electric bill comes from one of the Mass Save sponsors (Cape Light Compact, Eversource, National Grid, Unitil), the whole-home heat pump rebate is $2,650 per ton up to $8,500, and the partial-home rebate is $1,125 per ton up to $8,500; for projects installed on or after January 1, 2027, the whole-home figure drops to $2,350 per ton capped at $7,500 (Mass Save air-source heat pump rebates, https://www.masssave.com/residential/rebates-offers-services/heating-and-cooling/heat-pumps/air-source-heat-pumps, checked 2026-10-19).
Fitchburg has 17,744 housing units, 43% built before 1940 and 79% before 1980, with 10% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=060XX00US2502723875, checked 2026-10-19).
Fitchburg has 16 points more pre-1940 homes than Worcester County as a whole (27%) and 5 points fewer homes built after 2000 than the county's 15% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US25027, checked 2026-10-19). An older stock means more insulation upgrades before the heat pump goes in.
The median Fitchburg home was built in 1950 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=060XX00US2502723875, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 5.1 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=060XX00US2502723875, checked 2026-10-19).
With 43% of homes built before 1940 and only 10% new enough to pass on age, the first question for a Fitchburg house is insulation: the whole-home rebate wants proof the house is weatherized, and a no-cost home energy assessment is the usual way an older home shows it.
Heating design temperature: -2F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Worcester County row, 99% heating, PDF page 56 of 141 (Revised 11/11/2020), https://www.energystar.gov/sites/default/files/Design%20Temperature%20Limit%20Reference%20Guide%20(2019%20Ed)%20-%20ENERGY%20STAR%20Single-Family%20New%20Homes_Rev11.pdf, fetched 2026-10-19, 99%.
That -2F figure is the Worcester County cold-day number a Fitchburg heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at -2F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask whether the quote is whole-home or partial-home, because with 50% of Fitchburg on gas and 18% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; a Fitchburg house from before 1940 (43% of the 17,744 units) rarely matches a square-footage rule of thumb.
The form on this page is the follow-up for Fitchburg. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Fitchburg yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.