ZIP Code 01821

Billerica is located 20 miles (32 km) north-northwest of Boston along the Northwest Expressway (Massachusetts) portion of U.S. Route 3. It takes its name from the town of Billericay in Essex, England. The town was incorporated as Billerica in 1655, on the same day as neighboring Chelmsford and nearby Groton. The oldest remaining homestead in the town is the Manning Manse built in 1696, which was also the residence of William Manning (1747-1814), the author of The Key of Liberty, a critique of Federalist policies. Other notable Revolutionary War era residents included Asa Pollard (1735-1775), the first soldier killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill, and Thomas Ditson (born 1741), who was tarred and feathered by the British in 1775 while on a visit to Boston. The song "Yankee Doodle" supposedly became a term of national pride instead of an insult because of this event. The Shawsheen River and Concord River are the two major waterways within the town. Nuttings Lake offers a public beach and other recreational water activities including canoeing and sailing. Billerica has several small neighborhoods that form villages (or sections) of town. It is located along the Massachusetts Route 128/Interstate 95 High-Technology belt to the south and less than 2 miles (3 km) from the Interstate 495 (Mass Massachusetts) outer belt highway to the north.

History

In 1638, Massachusetts Bay Governor John Winthrop and Lt. Governor Thomas Dudley were granted land along the Concord River in the area. The settlers chose the name Billerica because some of the families originally came from the town of Billericay in Essex, England. The oldest remaining homestead in the town is the Manning Manse built in 1696, which was also the residence of William Manning (1747-1814), the author of The Key of Liberty. Other notable Revolutionary War era residents included Asa Pollard (1735-1775), the first soldier killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill, and Thomas Ditson (born 1741), who was tarred and feathered by the British in 1775 while on a visit to Boston. The town now celebrates "Yankee Doodle Weekend" every September, when the town celebrates the anniversary of the song's first appearance in print in 1777. The song "Yankees Doodle" supposedly became a term of national pride instead of an insult because of this event. The original plantation of Billericas was divided during the colonial period into the towns of Billersica, Bedford, Wilmington, and Tewksbury. The town was incorporated in 1655, on the same day as neighboring Chelmsford and nearby Groton. The first town meeting was held in 1654, and the first town hall meeting was in 1656. The last town meeting took place in 1658, and it was held on the last day of the year.

Geography

Billerica is located 20 miles (32 km) north-northwest of Boston along the Northwest Expressway (Massachusetts) portion of U.S. Route 3. The town is also situated less than 3 miles (5 km) from the Massachusetts Route 128/Interstate 95 High-Technology belt to the south. The Shawsheen River and Concord River are the two major waterways within the town. Billerica borders the following towns: Chelmsford, Lowell, Tewksbury, Wilmington, Burlington, Bedford, and Carlisle. The border with Lowell is at a point in the middle of the Concord River whereBillerica, Chelmsford, Lowell and Tewkbury all meet. Nuttings Lake offers a public beach and other recreational water activities including canoeing and sailing. The Town has a total area of 26.4 square miles (68 km²), of which 25.9 square miles. (67 km²) are land and 0.5 square. miles (1.3 km²): 1.90% of the town's land is water. It has several small neighborhoods that form villages (or sections) of town. It is located on the Massachusetts-New Hampshire border. The city of Boston has a population of 1,816,000 (as of the 2010 Census). The town's population was 1,715,000 as of the 2000 Census. It had a growth rate of 1.7% from 2000 to 2010.

Demographics

Billerica was a contender for CNN Money's "Best Places to Live" in 2009 but did not make the top 100 list for the nation. In 2016, Billerica was on the NeighborhoodScout's "America's Top 100 Safest Cities" list. As of the census of 2000, there were 38,981 people, 12,919 households, and 10,244 families residing in the town. At the 2010 census, the median income for a household was $87,073, and the median incomes for a family was $95,128. About 2.8% of families were below the poverty line, including 4.5% of those under age 18 and 4.3% ofThose age 65 or over. The town is located on the U.S. Turnpike, which runs through the town and into the state of New Mexico. It is located near the junction of the New Mexico Turnpikes, which run through the city and the state line with New Mexico, and New Mexico's Turnpiked County. The turnpike is one of the busiest roads in the state, with a speed limit of 50 miles per hour (80 km/h) The town has a population of 38,000, with 13,071 housing units. The racial makeup of the town was 94.68% White, 1.11% African American, 0.10% Native American, 2.76% Asian,0.04% Pacific Islander and 0.99% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.54% of the population.

Education

The Billerica public school system consists of five elementary schools, two middle schools, and one high school. A sixth elementary school, Eugene C. Vining Elementary, closed permanently at the end of the 2019 school year. The town is home to a regional technical high school, Shawsheen Valley Technical Highschool. There are no parochial or private schools in the town ofBillerica. However, there are several in neighboring towns including: Arlington Catholic High School, Arlington; grades 912; St. Agnes School,lington; grades K8; Austin Preparatory School, Reading; grades 612; and Lowell Catholic High school, Lowell;grades 912 and 912. The school system is funded by the state of New Hampshire and the local school district. It is the only school system in the state to operate both primary and secondary schools. It also operates a Vocational School, which serves the town and four neighboring towns: Bedford, Burlington, Tewksbury, and Wilmington. The high school is located in the neighboring town of Bedford and serves students from pre-K to 12th grade. It was built in the 1970s and is the largest high school in New Hampshire. It opened in the early 1980s and has been there ever since. It has an enrollment of about 1,500 students. The district has a budget of more than $20 million for the 2014-15 school year and $16 million for 2015-16. It operates a high school and a vocational school as well.

Sports and recreation

In celebrating Sports Illustrated's 50th anniversary, the magazine named Billerica one of the nation's top fifty towns for sports and recreation and the "Sportstown for the Bay State" The town is home to the New England Patriots, the New York Yankees, and the Boston Red Sox. The town has a population of more than 50,000 people. It is located on the Massachusetts Turnpike, which runs through the town's downtown area. It also has a number of beaches and parks, including the famous Mystic River and the Mystic River State Park, which was named a National Register of Historic Places site in the 1960s and 1970s. The city is also known for its baseball and softball teams, which have won numerous state championships. The Town is also home to New England's only professional baseball team, the Red Sox, who have won four state titles in the last six years. The Red Sox also have a baseball team that has won three state championships in the past five years. It has a football team that won its first state championship in 1967. The team won the Super Bowl in 1968 and the state's first state title in 1968. It was also the first state to win the World Series in the history of the sport in the United States. The state has won the state championship four times in a row in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the last two in the 20th century and the first in the 21st century. The U.S. women's team has won two state titles, the first of which was in 1903.

Transportation

The Middlesex Canal, which flowed through Billerica between 1795 and 1852, was used to transport goods between Lowell and Boston. In the 1840s, the Boston and Lowell Railroad's main line was built and passed through the town's villages of NorthBillerica and EastBillerrica. North Billerrica station is still an active station on the MBTA Commuter Rail. The Lowell Regional Transit Authority provides bus service in parts of the town. The town is also geographically close to the Wilmington (MBTA station) and the Anderson Regional Transportation Center in Woburn. The city is located on the Massachusetts Turnpike, which was built in the 1800s to connect Boston with New York City. It is also on Massachusetts Route 3A, which runs from Boston to Pinehurst, and the Middlesex Turnpikes, which run from Lowell to Cambridge. It also has a shopping center located in Riverdale, where it is possible to get to and from the town via the Massachusetts Mall, which is located in the nearby town of Riverdale. The town has a population of about 2,000 people, with the majority of its residents living in the southern part of the city. The majority of the population lives in the north and south portions of the community, with most of the rest in the east and southeast. The population is about 3,000. It was the site of the Battle of the Bulge, which took place in 1864. The Battle was followed by the Civil War, which ended in 1875.

Economy

E Ink Corporation, a privately held manufacturer of electrophoretic displays (EPDs) that powers tablets such as the Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook, has two large offices in Billerica. L3 Technologies, a $15 billion American company that supplies command and control, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C3ISR) systems and products, has an office on Concord Road. Pan Am Railways, New England's largest railroad, is headquartered in NorthBillerica, Massachusetts. Lantheus Medical Imaging Inc., a medical imaging company, "sealed a new purchasing deal with Ottawa-based MDS Nordion for a rare imaging isotope, molybdenum-99." American Science & Engineering received a $6.7 million order for its X-ray detection technology that will be used by the US government for counterterrorism missions. L2 Technologies, an American company which makes avionics, ocean products, training devices and services, instrumentation, space, and navigation products, is based in New England. L1 Technologies is a $3.3 billion specialty chemicals and performance materials company, has its primary Research and Development facility in Billersica. Avaya Inc, a. privately held $8 billion global provider of business communications and collaboration systems has its New England headquarters in Billierica. GE Measurement & Control, an energy technology unit of General Electric, recently moved its headquarters to Billericas. The EMD Serono, Inc, the US biopharmaceutical division of Merck Group, Darmstadt, Germany, is undergoing a $75-million expansion of their BillerICA facility.

Government

Billerica is governed through a representative town meeting. The town government is made up of a legislative branch and an executive branch. The Middlesex House of Correction and Jail is under the jurisdiction of the Middlesex County Sheriff's Office. It is a part of Massachusetts's 6th congressional district. It has a population of 2,000 people. The mayor of the town is John G. O'Neill. The city is located in Massachusetts's 6th congressional district and is in the state's Middlesex county. It was founded in 1838. It is part of Massachusetts and is located in the Middletown and Middlesex  counties. It also has a section of Massachusetts in Minn and Moorhead counties, which is part of the Suffolk state of Massachusetts. The city is part of the Massachusetts Bay Commission and the Massachusetts Northeastern County Commissioner of Administration of the Board of Superior and Sheriff's Jurisdiction of Middlesex. Its police and sheriff's officials are based in the town of Middlesex, Massachusetts. Its mayor is John G. O'Neill, who is also the mayor of the city of Somerville and serves as the chairman of the board of superior officers for the town.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Billerica, Middlesex County, Massachusetts = 43.5. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 43. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 10. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Billerica = 3.5 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 2,898 individuals with a median age of 38.5 age the population grows by 10.14% in Billerica, Middlesex County, Massachusetts population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 620/km 2 (1,600 residents per square mile of area). There are average 2.88 people per household in the 14,463 households with an average household income of $82,484 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 8.40% of the available work force and has dropped -4.40% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 22.80%. The number of physicians in Billerica per 100,000 population = 389.3.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Billerica = 45.5 inches and the annual snowfall = 56 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 130. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 201. 83 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 15.5 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 49, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Billerica, Middlesex County, Massachusetts which are owned by the occupant = 82.71%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 37 years with median home cost = $285,020 and home appreciation of 1.34%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $11.70 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $6,998 per student. There are 14.9 students for each teacher in the school, 966 students for each Librarian and 698 students for each Counselor. 9.23% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 15.79% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 7.81% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).