Housing & affordability
18% of the score · 40/100
D−
Median home value$633,500
Boston $646,300
Median rent$2,204/mo
Boston $2,023/mo
Cost-burdened households41%
Boston 36%
Malden
Middlesex County65,906 residentsMalden
55
C−
Suburbgrade score
38th of 60 Boston suburbs. Strongest on amenities, held back by commute & transport.
55
Boston median 61
0 · F
A+ · 100
Launch-day rule. Residents is not counted for Malden yet: no poll responses so far. The overall score of 55 is computed on the other six categories, re-normalised to 100%. Answer the poll →
What living here is actually like
Written summary in preparation This page is waiting for its written summary, and for a person to check it. Until then it is excluded from search engines.
What Malden is like to live in, by category
Bars show Malden against Boston. Weights are published in full.Schools
18% of the score · 46/100
D
Within-state proficiency30th pct
Boston median 47th pct
Student–teacher ratio14.0
Boston median 11.8
Graduation rate80%
Boston median 91%
Cost of living
14% of the score · 69/100
B−
Housing cost index102
Boston 100
Eff. tax rate0.79%
Boston 1.01%
Local sales tax6.25%
Boston median 6.25%
Commute & transport
14% of the score · 38/100
D−
Mean commute34.4 min
Boston 30.3 min
Under 30 minutes38%
Boston 52%
Transit stops / sq mi40
Boston median 8.1 · within 2 miles
Amenities
12% of the score · 92/100
A
Restaurants & cafés172
Boston median 51 · within 2 miles
Groceries17
Boston median 4 · within 2 miles
Parks173
Boston median 65 · within 2 miles
Employment & income
12% of the score · 55/100
C−
Median household income$100,606
Boston $115,863
Unemployment5.4%
Boston 4.9%
Professional occupations50%
Boston 54%
Residents
12% of the score · inactive
—
No responses yet. Residents is excluded from the score until eight people answer.
Ask the people who live here
Twelve yes/no questions, one tap each. No dataset knows whether the yards are kept or whether anyone talks to their neighbours. Answers feed the Residents grade, which needs eight responses before it counts.
Nobody has answered for Malden yet. If you live here, you can be the first.
Is it quiet at night?
—
Do you feel safe walking after dark?
—
Can you walk to a grocery store?
—
Is it good for young children?
—
Are yards and streets well kept?
—
Tap either button to answer — no account neededAll twelve questions →
Better than Malden on commute & transport
Malden's weakest grade is D−. Six suburbs are within 25 miles and score higher on the same four inputs.
SuburbCommuteOverall
Cambridge5 mi from MaldenB 74 B Waltham10 mi from MaldenB 65 C+ Newton10 mi from MaldenB− 75 B Brookline8 mi from MaldenB− 77 B Watertown7 mi from MaldenB− 68 B− Gloucester23 mi from MaldenC+ 52 D+ Mean commute: ACS 2020–24 · Commuting under 30 minutes: ACS 2020–24
Common questions about living in Malden
Is Malden, MA a good place to live?
Malden scores 55 out of 100, 38th of 60 Boston suburbs. It is strongest on amenities and weakest on commute & transport. Every weight behind that score is published on the methodology page.
Is Malden expensive to live in?
Cost of living grades B−. The median home is $633,500, 2% below the Boston median, and the effective property tax rate is 0.79%. $2,204/mo is the median gross rent.
How good are the schools in Malden?
Schools grade D. The districts serving Malden sit at the 30th pct within-state proficiency percentile, with a 80% graduation rate and a 14.0 student–teacher ratio. Malden is served by Malden. Proficiency is only ever compared inside the same state.
How long is the commute from Malden?
The mean commute is 34.4 min, with 38% of workers travelling under 30 minutes and 20% working from home. Transit density is 40 stops per square mile.
Can you walk anywhere in Malden?
Within two miles there are 17 groceries, 172 restaurants and cafés and 173 parks, which grades A on amenities.
Are the homes in Malden old or new?
The median home in Malden was built in 1950 — older than the Boston median of 1964. That is a median, so a town can be half post-war and half new-build and still land there. 31% of homes are houses rather than flats.
Every answer is built from the figures on this page, with their sources and as-of dates on the methodology page.