Worcester / Holyoke
Holyoke has 37,813 residents (give or take 39) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=060XX00US2501330840, checked 2026-10-19), about 1,786 people per square mile.
Holyoke is about 43 miles from the Census center point for Worcester in a straight line and covers 21.169 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 Holyoke that is 01040 (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 Holyoke is $53,605 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=060XX00US2501330840, checked 2026-10-19); many state and utility heat pump rebate programs set higher incentive tiers for income-qualifying households, so the household income on the application, not the town median, decides which level applies.
33% of Holyoke homes are single-family detached, 21% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 38% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=060XX00US2501330840, checked 2026-10-19).
59% of Holyoke homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US2501330840, checked 2026-10-19), so beside the 33% detached houses there is a real share of jobs where the landlord, not the resident, signs the quote.
Holyoke has 23 points fewer detached houses than Hampden County overall (56%) and 20 points more five-plus-unit buildings than the county's 18% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US25013, checked 2026-10-19).
59% of Holyoke homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US2501330840, 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 15,618 occupied homes in Holyoke, 49% heat with natural gas, 15% with heating oil, 31% with electricity and 3% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=060XX00US2501330840, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas leads in Holyoke at 49%, but 18% of homes still burn delivered oil or propane, and those 2,811 or so homes are where a heat pump pays back fastest.
Holyoke has 7 points less oil heat than Hampden County as a whole, where 22% of homes burn oil, and 10 points more electric heat than the county's 21% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US25013, checked 2026-10-19).
Holyoke is also on the state table of towns served by a municipal light plant, Holyoke Gas & Electric Department (Massachusetts municipally-owned electric companies, https://www.mass.gov/info-details/massachusetts-municipally-owned-electric-companies, checked 2026-10-19).
Mass Save heat pump rebates are for electric accounts with Cape Light Compact, Eversource, National Grid or Unitil, so a Holyoke home billed by Holyoke Gas & Electric Department asks the plant for its heat pump rebate instead.
Mass Save whole-home heat pump rebate, run by Mass Save, is a live program for Massachusetts addresses and publishes its terms without one headline figure (registry row 1 verified 2026-10-14, https://www.masssave.com/residential/rebates-and-incentives/heating-and-cooling/heat-pumps, checked 2026-10-16); confirm eligibility for the Holyoke address before counting it. With 31% of Holyoke homes already on electric heat and 67% on gas, oil or propane, the row that applies depends on the name on the electric bill and the fuel coming out.
Holyoke has 17,057 housing units, 43% built before 1940 and 84% before 1980, with 4% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=060XX00US2501330840, checked 2026-10-19).
Holyoke has 15 points more pre-1940 homes than Hampden County as a whole (28%) and 4 points fewer homes built after 2000 than the county's 8% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US25013, checked 2026-10-19). An older stock means more insulation upgrades before the heat pump goes in.
The median Holyoke home was built in 1950 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=060XX00US2501330840, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 4.8 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=060XX00US2501330840, checked 2026-10-19).
43% of Holyoke homes were built before 1940 and 84% before 1980 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=060XX00US2501330840, checked 2026-10-19), so insulation is the first sizing question: an older home leaks more heat per square foot, and the installer runs a room-by-room heat-loss calculation to size the system for what the walls and windows actually hold in, not just the floor plan.
Heating design temperature: -3F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Hampden 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 -3F figure is the Hampden County cold-day number a Holyoke heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at -3F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask whether the quote is whole-home or partial-home, because with 49% of Holyoke on gas and 31% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; a Holyoke house from before 1940 (43% of the 17,057 units) rarely matches a square-footage rule of thumb.
The form on this page is the follow-up for Holyoke. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Holyoke yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.