Boxford has one high school, Masconomet Regional High School, named after Chief Masconomet, sagamore of the Agawam tribe, who lived in Essex County at the time of English colonization. Masconomet is a regional school, serving the towns of Boxford, Middleton, and Topsfield. The school is commonly believed to be in Topsfield because it has a Topsfield street address. However, the school, which is located on Endicott Road, lies entirely within Boxford. Students may also elect to attend North Shore Technical High School in Middleton or Essex Agricultural and Technical High School in Danvers. Nearby private schools include The Governor's Academy in Byfield; St. John's Preparatory School (boys only) in Danvers; Phillips Academy in Andover; and Brooks School in North Andover.

Masconomet Regional Middle School is also located in Boxford, and is attached to the high school. There are also three elementary schools in Boxford. The Harry Lee Cole School, which serves Preschool through Grade 2, is located near East Boxford center. The Spofford Pond School, serving Grades 3 through 6, is located on the western side of the town's geographic center. Boxford Academy, Preschool - 5th grade, is located in First Church Congregational Boxford on Georgetown Road.

• Boxford State Forest, near Interstate 95 and the towns of Topsfield and Middleton, boasts numerous walking trails that weave through heavily forested areas.

• Commercial landmarks in and around town include Benson's Ice Cream, Paisley's Farm Stand and West Village Provisions in West Boxford center, Ingaldsby Farm, the Boxford Community store in East Boxford (also known as "Jack's" or "Wayne's", after its former and current owners), and the Boxford House of Pizza, which lies near the border of Boxford and Georgetown. Boxford is also well known for its Apple Festival, happening each fall. "Witch Hollow Farm", (a.k.a. the Tyler-Wood House) build c. 1727 by Capt. John Tyler the son of Moses Tyler whose sister-in-law, Rebecca Eames was tried in the famous 1693 Salem Witch Trials, found at the intersection of Main Street and Ipswich Road in Boxford. The house gets its name from a hollow that was on the Tyler property in the 1690s where Rebecca Eames claimed, in her trial, that she was bewitched by the Devil. It is a nationally recognized "Haunted House".

• The town has a retirement community called Four Mile Village which sits adjacent to Four Mile Pond. The waiting list to get into this community is significant, and prospective applicants must either be former Boxford residents, or primary family members of current Boxford residents.

• Boxford's centrally located Stiles Pond is the site for the town beach, where membership can be purchased by Boxford residents only, each season for a nominal fee through the Boxford Athletic Association (BAA). The adjacent ballpark and play area were recently designated by unanimous vote at Town Meeting as "Keith Koster Memorial Baseball Park" in memory of one of Boxford's beloved young people, a former Boxford beach lifeguard and baseball player, victim of a senseless act of crime in 2006.

• Baldpate Pond, and the adjacent state recreation area, is another popular swimming, fishing, boating, and hiking location.

• Camp Rotary is a popular summer co-ed boarding camp located on Stiles Pond off Ipswich Road in Boxford. Danvers YMCA holds another popular summer day camp on Stiles Pond, next to the town beach.

Boxford was first settled in 1646 as a part of Rowley Village by Abraham Redington. When it was officially incorporated in 1685, about forty families resided in Boxford. Farming was the primary occupation of the early settlers although craftsmen were also found among the townspeople. The largest industry in Boxford was the match factory (located on Lawrence Road) which operated from 1866 to 1905. The original building of the First Church was built in 1701 in East Boxford Village. As the population of West Boxford expanded, the legislature designated this section as precinct 2 in 1735. Town meetings alternated between East and West parishes. The first West Boxford church building was erected in 1774.

Boxford employs the open town meeting form of government, and is led by a board of selectmen and a town executive secretary. Boxford has a police department, a fire department with two branches in the main villages, two post offices, a public works department and a library, which is located within the town hall. A second library was located in West Boxford, but due to budget constraints it was closed in 2008. The nearest hospitals are Merrimack Valley Hospital in Haverhill to the north, Lawrence General to the west, and Beverly Hospital to the south.

On the state level, Boxford is under the jurisdiction of the Central District Court of Essex County, located in Haverhill. It is patrolled by the Newbury station of Troop A of the Massachusetts State Police. The town is represented by two representatives, from the Second and Eighteenth Essex districts, in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, and as part of the First Essex and Middlesex district in the Massachusetts Senate. On the national level, the town is part of Massachusetts's 6th congressional district.

The eastern end of Boxford is crossed by Interstate 95, with three exits lying within the town. Route 133 crosses through the northern part of town, from North Andover to Georgetown, and Route 97 crosses through the eastern part of town, from Topsfield to Georgetown. The town does not have any means of mass transportation. The Newburyport/Rockport Line of the MBTA Commuter Rail passes through neighboring Rowley and Ipswich to the east, and the Haverhill/Reading Line passes to the north. The nearest small airport is Lawrence Municipal Airport, located in North Andover, and the nearest domestic and international air service is Logan International Airport.

Boxford is divided into Boxford Village (commonly called East Boxford) and West Boxford Village, corresponding to the respective East and West Boxford centers. It is heavily forested and criss-crossed by various streams and brooks, many of which empty into the Ipswich River on Boxford's southern border. A number of ponds dot town as well, among them Stiles Pond, Cedar Pond, Spofford Pond, Lowe Pond, Four Mile Pond and Baldpate Pond. Throughout Boxford there are also a number of scenic hiking trails. The highest natural point in Boxford is Bald Hill, at an elevation of 243 feet (74 m). It sits in a corner of the Boxford State Forest, near Interstate 95 and the town's border with Middleton.

Small farms are interspersed throughout Boxford. Stone walls, remnants of old farming land boundaries, meander through the area. One major farm located in Boxford is Small Oxx farm, a branch of the main farm, Smolak's, located in North Andover.