Boston–Cambridge–Newton

60 cities and suburbs across Boston, each scored out of 100 on the same national scales. The metro's median home is $646,300 and its mean commute 30.3 min. Brookline scores highest overall at 77. Lexington leads on schools, Peabody leads on cost of living.

Places

Median score

Poll responses

Ian Howard · CC BY 2.5

Boston →

Beyond My Ken · CC BY-SA 4.0

Cambridge →

Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0

Lowell →

Coverage

60 places
in Boston

One of 50 metros graded so far, on the same national scales.

10 mi

20 mi

30 mi

Downtown Boston

Downtown Cambridge

Brookline

Newton

Portsmouth

Wilmington

Woburn

Dedham

Danvers

Franklin Town

Newburyport

Norwood

Dover

Quincy

Peabody

Weymouth Town

Malden

Methuen

Amesbury

Hudson

Framingham

Abington

Gloucester

Bridgewater Town

Derry

Lowell

Haverhill

Marlborough

Rochester

Lynn

Lawrence

Brockton

Dot size = overall scoreA B C D Positions plotted from place centroids · rings measured from Downtown Boston

Every suburb of Boston, ranked

#	Place	Score	Hous	Scho	Cost	Comm	Amen	Empl	Resi
1	Brookline	77 B	C+	A	B−	B−	A+	B	—
2	Wellesley	76 B	A−	A+	C+	C	B−	B	—
3	Newton	75 B	B−	A+	C+	B−	B	B	—
4	Lexington	75 B	B+	A+	C+	C	C+	B+	—
5	Cambridge	74 B	C−	B	B	B	A+	B−	—
6	Arlington	74 B	C	A	B	C−	A−	B+	—
7	Belmont	73 B	B−	A+	C	C	A−	B	—
8	Winchester	73 B	B	A+	C	C−	B−	B+	—
9	Needham	73 B	B	A+	C+	C	C+	B	—
10	Portsmouth	72 B−	D−	A−	B+	B+	B+	C+	—
11	Reading	69 B−	C+	A	B−	C−	C+	B	—
12	Melrose	68 B−	C−	A−	B	D	B+	B−	—
13	Watertown	68 B−	D+	B−	C+	B−	A+	C+	—
14	Stoneham	68 B−	C−	B	B	C	B	B−	—
15	Burlington	67 C+	C	B	C+	C	B−	C+	—
16	Lynnfield	67 C+	B−	A	C+	D−	C−	B	—
17	Somerville	67 C+	C−	C−	B	C−	A+	B+	—
18	Wakefield	66 C+	C−	B+	B+	D	B	C+	—
19	Waltham	65 C+	D+	C−	B+	B	B+	C+	—
20	Medford	65 C+	C−	C	B−	C	A	C+	—
21	Wilmington	64 C+	C+	B	B−	D	C−	B−	—
22	Milton	64 C+	C−	A−	C+	C−	D	B−	—
23	Woburn	63 C+	D+	C+	B+	C+	B+	D	—
24	Marblehead	63 C+	C+	B+	B−	D+	F	B+	—
25	Dedham	63 C+	D+	B−	B−	D+	B	B−	—
26	Braintree Town	63 C+	C−	B	B	D	C+	C+	—
27	Danvers	62 C	D+	C	B	D+	B	C	—
28	Franklin Town	62 C	C−	B+	B−	D−	C	C+	—
29	Newburyport	61 C	C−	B−	B−	D+	C	C	—
30	Norwood	61 C	D	C+	B+	D	B−	C+	—
31	Swampscott	61 C	C−	B	B−	D	C−	C−	—
32	Dover	59 C	F	C−	B	B	B−	C	—
33	Quincy	58 C	D−	B−	B−	D−	A−	D	—
34	Peabody	57 C−	D	D+	A−	C−	C+	D+	—
35	Beverly	56 C−	D	C+	B+	D+	F	C	—
36	Weymouth Town	55 C−	D	D+	B+	D−	B−	C−	—
37	Salem	55 C−	F	D−	B	C	A−	D+	—
38	Malden	55 C−	D−	D	B−	D−	A	C−	—
39	Methuen	55 C−	D−	D+	B	D+	B−	D+	—
40	Amesbury	54 C−	D−	C	B	D	D	C	—
41	Hudson	54 C−	F	D+	B+	D	B−	D+	—
42	Saugus	54 C−	D+	D	C+	D+	B−	C−	—
43	Framingham	53 C−	D	D	C+	D	B−	C−	—
44	Boston	53 C−	D−	D−	B	D+	B−	D+	—
45	Abington	53 C−	D	C+	B−	F	D	C	—
46	Gloucester	52 D+	F	D+	B+	C+	D+	D−	—
47	Bridgewater Town	50 D+	D+	C−	B−	F	F	D+	—
48	Derry	50 D+	F	C−	A−	D	F	C	—
49	Lowell	50 D+	F	F	B+	D+	B+	D−	—
50	Winthrop Town	49 D+	D	C−	B−	F	D−	D+	—
51	Everett	49 D+	F	F	B−	F	A+	D	—
52	Haverhill	49 D+	F	D−	B	D+	C	D	—
53	Marlborough	49 D+	F	D−	B−	D	C	D+	—
54	Rochester	48 D+	F	F	B	C−	C−	C−	—
55	Lynn	46 D	F	F	B−	D−	B−	D−	—
56	Revere	46 D	F	D−	B−	F	C+	D−	—
57	Chelsea	46 D	F	F	B	D−	A	F	—
58	Randolph Town	46 D	D−	D−	C+	F	C+	D−	—
59	Lawrence	45 D	F	F	B+	C	B−	F	—
60	Brockton	43 D	F	F	B	D−	B−	F	—

— for Residents: fewer than 8 poll responses, so the category is not yet counted. Those places' overall scores are computed on the other six categories, re-normalised to 100%. 60 of 60 are currently below the threshold.

Six Boston lists

Best Boston suburbs for families Most affordable Boston suburbs Best Boston suburbs for schools Shortest commutes to Downtown Boston Most walkable Boston suburbs Best Boston suburbs for young professionals

8 head-to-heads

Boston vs Winthrop Town Cambridge vs Somerville Lowell vs Lawrence Brockton vs Abington Quincy vs Braintree Town Lynn vs Saugus Newton vs Watertown Lawrence vs Methuen

5 guides

What "median home value" hides when you compare suburbsWhat a school proficiency percentile actually measuresWhat a two-mile amenity count can and cannot seeReading an effective property tax rateWhat the scores deliberately do not coverAll guides →