Residents affirm that the Town of Rockport is a visitors' mecca located at the tip of Cape Ann. The town is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean on three sides with the City of Gloucester on the fourth side and is about 40 miles from Boston. The major industry is tourism and Rockport supports an active Chamber of Commerce.

The population is 7000 year round, but during the summer months that can escalate to as high as 20,000. Rockport has a five-member board of selectmen which meets weekly, a full-time police department and a volunteer fire department. The Department of Public Works is headed by a director and the town continues to work on improving its water supply. Rockport also maintains its own sewage treatment plant.

The Rockport Art Association is very active and there are a number of fine artists' studios and galleries about town. Bearskin Neck draws thousands of visitors to the many and varied shops. There are many hotels, motels, inns and restaurants, and visitors soon learn that Rockport is a dry town. Other attractions include the sandy and rocky beaches, the Paper House, the Old Castle, the Historical Society Museum and the Babson Museum. Recreation is promoted by Halibut Point State Park, Millbrook Meadow and various playing fields used by school as well as community leagues.

A nationally known point of interest is Motif #1, a picturesque building on Bradley Wharf at the entrance to Rockport's main harbor which for decades has been painted, sketched and photographed by generations of artists. Rockport has two other harbors where pleasure boats and fishing vessels moore. The town has one school complex which includes K-12, and eight churches, and is renovating a former school building as a new library.