Impact Essex County

Why is this important?

Asthma is a serious condition that inflames the lungs and airways, making it difficult for a child to breathe. It can be triggered by physical activity or environmental factors. Asthma causes physical and social challenges that result in a lowered potential for learning, fatigue, or an overall feeling of frustration. Children with asthma have lower attendance rates at school and visit the emergency room more frequently. Asthma is more common among certain populations, including low-income children and racial minorities, with lack of access to health care and substandard housing conditions thought to play a role.

How is our county doing?

In Essex County, 8% of children in grades K-8 had asthma in 2025, slightly less than the state rate of 10%. Among local areas, the city of Haverhill (12%) and the Town of Wenham (11%) had the highest rates while Georgetown (2%), and West Newbury, Groveland and Salisbury (all at 3%) had the lowest.

Since 2012, the rate of asthma among school children in Essex and the state decreased by 3 and 2 percentage points, respectively. Rates declined or remained flat from 2012 for most municipalities with the exception of Wenham, which increased 4 percentage points and Hamilton and Merrimac (each up 2 percentage points).

Notes about the data

School nurses gather this information annually from students school health record, physician reports, and parent information forms. A variety of factors can impact asthma rates, including socioeconomic factors. Therefore, when comparing rates across geographic areas, information such as access to medical care must also be considered. The figures are not age-adjusted, so some of the differences may be due to differences in the age distribution of students in each community.

Prevalence of Children with Asthma

	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2023	2024	2025
Essex County, MA	11%	11%	12%	11%	11%	11%	10%	8%	8%	8%
Amesbury	8%	9%	8%	7%	6%	6%	5%	4%	4%	9%
Beverly	10%	12%	10%	12%	10%	10%	8%	5%	5%	5%
Gloucester	11%	11%	9%	11%	11%	10%	10%	8%	7%	8%
Haverhill	12%	14%	13%	13%	13%	16%	14%	12%	12%	12%
Lawrence	19%	19%	18%	17%	18%	17%	15%	9%	9%	8%
Lynn	13%	13%	14%	13%	13%	12%	12%	10%	9%	9%
Methuen	9%	8%	8%	9%	8%	8%	7%	8%	9%	8%
Newburyport	10%	9%	11%	6%	10%	10%	8%	5%	7%	6%
Peabody	9%	10%	8%	7%	7%	6%	6%	5%	8%	8%
Salem	11%	9%	11%	12%	12%	12%	12%	11%	7%	8%
Andover	11%	10%	10%	11%	10%	11%	10%	9%	9%	10%
Boxford	12%	6%	10%	9%	8%	7%	8%	7%	7%	8%
Danvers	8%	11%	12%	8%	10%	10%	9%	8%	6%	6%
Essex	6%	6%	6%	5%	8%	6%	6%	4%	7%	7%
Georgetown	7%	5%	7%	7%	7%	8%	8%	3%	2%	2%
Groveland	9%	8%	7%	10%	10%	11%	9%	3%	4%	3%
Hamilton	8%	8%	9%	6%	6%	6%	7%	5%	9%	10%
Ipswich	7%	7%	8%	7%	7%	9%	9%	7%	4%	6%
Lynnfield	9%	9%	10%	11%	10%	11%	10%	10%	7%	7%
Manchester	13%	7%	10%	9%	8%	9%	9%	8%	8%	8%
Marblehead	5%	6%	7%	6%	7%	7%	7%	7%	6%	6%
Merrimac	7%	8%	10%	9%	8%	8%	12%	7%	7%	8%
Middleton	12%	9%	11%	10%	10%	11%	11%	8%	7%	9%
Nahant	10%	11%	10%	7%	5%	9%	8%	5%	6%	7%
Newbury	7%	7%	7%	7%	6%	8%	4%	5%	6%	7%
North Andover	11%	11%	12%	11%	11%	9%	9%	8%	9%	9%
Rockport	14%	14%	14%	11%	11%	12%	12%	10%	7%	6%
Rowley	10%	9%	9%	10%	9%	11%	9%	4%	3%	4%
Salisbury	5%	5%	6%	4%	6%	7%	7%	4%	3%	3%
Saugus	13%	12%	12%	12%	13%	13%	14%	10%	13%	9%
Swampscott	12%	8%	10%	9%	8%	6%	7%	4%	5%	5%
Topsfield	9%	8%	10%	8%	8%	7%	8%	5%	5%	8%
Wenham	7%	6%	8%	8%	4%	7%	5%	10%	10%	11%
West Newbury	7%	7%	11%	8%	6%	7%	N/A	4%	5%	3%
Middlesex County, MA	11%	11%	11%	11%	11%	11%	11%	9%	8%	8%
Massachusetts	12%	12%	12%	12%	12%	12%	12%	10%	10%	10%

Source: Massachusetts Department of Public Health

Number of of Children with Asthma

	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2023	2024	2025
Essex County, MA	9,671	9,755	9,804	9,441	9,457	9,252	8,705	6,456	6,463	6,426
Amesbury	149	154	137	114	106	102	80	58	59	117
Beverly	364	427	365	404	368	372	289	167	164	163
Gloucester	272	264	203	243	238	209	209	171	159	161
Haverhill	842	936	901	873	928	992	1,002	781	794	756
Lawrence	2,045	2,108	2,064	1,979	2,091	1,950	1,837	1,026	1,019	942
Lynn	1,413	1,463	1,580	1,585	1,522	1,501	1,457	1,139	1,120	1,101
Methuen	471	458	466	489	454	407	388	381	428	397
Newburyport	190	184	206	126	177	182	149	82	98	87
Peabody	436	462	379	330	322	282	258	232	352	368
Salem	413	338	388	411	444	428	398	325	220	241
Andover	487	538	466	519	470	508	427	387	371	427
Boxford	135	70	109	95	86	71	81	74	69	77
Danvers	222	282	309	201	270	247	240	217	146	165
Essex	23	23	24	20	34	26	26	16	25	27
Georgetown	78	57	74	73	64	74	77	29	19	22
Groveland	77	66	52	73	70	71	57	18	25	19
Hamilton	80	80	80	60	53	58	62	50	77	83
Ipswich	106	107	109	98	88	110	113	72	47	66
Lynnfield	144	149	158	177	162	178	168	168	121	119
Manchester	83	53	75	66	57	61	58	42	40	40
Marblehead	139	170	179	147	180	189	168	139	126	117
Merrimac	54	58	66	59	47	46	66	44	42	52
Middleton	119	96	114	103	96	101	99	71	60	79
Nahant	28	29	25	17	11	20	15	10	12	13
Newbury	53	49	48	47	33	45	22	25	26	33
North Andover	401	400	458	411	390	337	303	248	286	283
Rockport	79	79	76	60	60	63	57	43	27	22
Rowley	68	61	57	64	57	64	51	20	16	22
Salisbury	36	38	38	28	42	48	48	22	15	16
Saugus	320	291	273	279	305	287	299	226	306	208
Swampscott	191	133	151	144	118	94	110	62	78	77
Topsfield	74	65	77	63	63	62	65	42	41	64
Wenham	36	30	39	42	23	34	25	50	52	51
West Newbury	43	37	58	41	28	33	N/A	19	23	11
Middlesex County, MA	16,677	16,972	17,475	17,183	17,433	17,213	16,788	12,950	12,295	12,236
Massachusetts	82,548	83,568	85,364	83,854	84,230	82,279	79,838	62,631	60,715	62,103

Source: Massachusetts Department of Public Health

INDICATORS	TREND \| ESSEX COUNTY
People 65 or Older Living Alone	Decreasing
Drug Overdose Mortality Rate	Decreasing
Early Prenatal Care by Mother's Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Prevalence of Overweight Adults	Not Applicable
Preterm Births	Maintaining
Infant Mortality Rate	Maintaining
Children with Elevated Blood Lead Levels	Decreasing
Children Living in Poverty	Decreasing
Children Living in Poverty by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Disengaged Youth	Increasing
Live Births to Teen Mothers	Decreasing
Youth Arrests	Decreasing
Arts, Entertainment and Recreation Establishments	Maintaining
Arts, Entertainment and Recreation Employment	Maintaining
Tourism Spending	Increasing
Voter Participation Rate	Increasing
Charitable Contributions	Maintaining
Protected Land	Not Applicable
Days with Good Air Quality	Increasing
Beach Contamination	Increasing
Daily Water Use per Resident	Maintaining
Crimes Against People	Maintaining
Crimes Against Property	Decreasing
Drug-Related Arrests	Maintaining
Reports of Domestic Violence	Maintaining
Incarceration Rates	Decreasing
Recidivism	Decreasing
Households Without Vehicles	Decreasing
Means of Transportation to Work	Not Applicable
Traffic Injuries and Fatalities	Maintaining
Households With Internet Access	Increasing
Change in Total Population	Increasing
Change in Population by Age/Sex	Not Applicable
People with Disabilities	Maintaining
Households by Type	Not Applicable
Single-Parent Families by Sex	Not Applicable
Single-Parent Families by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Change in Population by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Foreign-Born Population	Increasing
Language Diversity	Increasing
Change in Total Jobs	Increasing
Change in Jobs by Sector	Not Applicable
Change in Average Salary	Increasing
Change in Average Salary by Sector	Not Applicable
Average Salary by Sector	Not Applicable
Median Earnings by Occupation by Gender	Not Applicable
People Entering/Leaving County for Work	Not Applicable
Employer Size	Not Applicable
Self-Employment Revenue	Increasing
Business Ownership by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Unemployment Rate	Increasing
Unemployment Rate by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Prekindergarten Participation	Not Applicable
Female Enrollment in School	Not Applicable
Chronically Absent Students	Increasing
Per-Student Spending	Increasing
Bullying	Maintaining
Student Performance on Grade 3 Reading	Not Applicable
Student Performance on Grade 8 Math by Student Group	Not Applicable
Student Performance on Grade 10 Math	Not Applicable
Student Performance on Grade 10 English Language Arts	Not Applicable
High School Cohort Graduation Rate	Increasing
High School Cohort Graduation Rate by Student Group	Not Applicable
Education Levels of Adults	Not Applicable
Bachelor's Degree or Higher by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Income in Relation to Poverty Level	Not Applicable
People Living in Poverty by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Median Household Income	Increasing
Median Household Income by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Median Household Income by Household Type	Not Applicable
Living Wage Rate by Household Type	Not Applicable
Access to Financial Services, by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Households Receiving Temporary Assistance	Increasing
Households Receiving Federal Food Assistance	Increasing
Participation in Food Assistance by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Earned Income Tax Credit Participation	Decreasing
Economically Disadvantaged Students	Increasing
Median Home Value	Increasing
Cost of Homeownership	Increasing
Cost of Renting	Increasing
Homeownership Rates	Maintaining
Homeownership Rates by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Homeless Persons	Not Applicable
People Without Health Insurance	Decreasing
Medical Care Expenses	Increasing
Prevalence of Children with Asthma	Decreasing
Prevalence of Overweight Children	Decreasing
Diabetes Incidence	Decreasing
Chronic Disease Among Older Adults	Increasing
Cancer Incidence	Decreasing
Cancer Mortality Rate	Decreasing
Heart Disease Mortality Rate	Decreasing
Mortality Rate	Maintaining
People who Smoke	Not Applicable
Use of Illegal Drugs	Not Applicable
Youth Use of Illegal Drugs	Not Applicable
Substance Abuse Treatment Admissions	Not Applicable
Prevalence of Mental Illness	Maintaining
Suicide Rate	Maintaining
Children Living in Poverty by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Single-Parent Families by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Change in Population by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Unemployment Rate by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Student Performance on Grade 3 Reading	Not Applicable
Student Performance on Grade 8 Math by Student Group	Not Applicable
Student Performance on Grade 10 Math	Not Applicable
Student Performance on Grade 10 English Language Arts	Not Applicable
High School Cohort Graduation Rate by Student Group	Not Applicable
Bachelor's Degree or Higher by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
People Living in Poverty by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Median Household Income by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Participation in Food Assistance by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Homeownership Rates by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable

INDICATORS

TREND | ESSEX COUNTY