Worcester / Worcester
Worcester has 207,055 residents (give or take 50) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=060XX00US2502782000, checked 2026-10-19), about 5,542 people per square mile.
Worcester is the city this door is named for; it covers 37.36 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 Worcester that is 01602, 01603, 01604, 01605, 01606, 01607, 01608, 01609 and 1 more (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 Worcester is $70,102 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=060XX00US2502782000, 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.
5,542 people per square mile puts Worcester in suburban density, where the outdoor unit usually sits in a side yard and the noise is not an issue for neighbors.
32% of Worcester homes are single-family detached, 34% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 29% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=060XX00US2502782000, checked 2026-10-19).
57% of Worcester homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US2502782000, checked 2026-10-19), so beside the 32% detached houses there is a real share of jobs where the landlord, not the resident, signs the quote.
Worcester has 25 points fewer detached houses than Worcester County overall (57%) and 12 points more five-plus-unit buildings than the county's 17% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US25027, checked 2026-10-19).
57% of Worcester homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=060XX00US2502782000, 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 79,501 occupied homes in Worcester, 51% heat with natural gas, 14% with heating oil, 29% with electricity and 4% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=060XX00US2502782000, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas leads in Worcester at 51%, but 18% of homes still burn delivered oil or propane, and those 14,310 or so homes are where a heat pump pays back fastest.
Worcester has 24 points less oil heat than Worcester County as a whole, where 38% of homes burn oil, and 9 points more 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 Worcester on this door yet, so this page does not name one; the name on the bill decides which rebate path applies.
If the Worcester 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).
Worcester has 85,876 housing units, 41% built before 1940 and 75% before 1980, with 9% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=060XX00US2502782000, checked 2026-10-19).
Worcester has 14 points more pre-1940 homes than Worcester County as a whole (27%) and 6 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 Worcester home was built in 1951 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=060XX00US2502782000, 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=060XX00US2502782000, checked 2026-10-19).
With 41% of homes built before 1940 and only 9% new enough to pass on age, the first question for a Worcester 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 Worcester 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 51% of Worcester on gas and 29% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; a Worcester house from before 1940 (41% of the 85,876 units) rarely matches a square-footage rule of thumb.
The form on this page is the follow-up for Worcester. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Worcester yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.