Best Places01002, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 01002, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
01002 ranks 5,001st of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on an educated workforce by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 01002
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
01002's strengths and weaknesses
Where 01002 ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 96% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 92% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 88% of zip codes
Where 01002 ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,385 a month, better than only 10% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 64 pleasant days a year, better than only 14% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 27% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 01002
A household needs to earn about $143,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 01002 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $90,029, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 01002's effective rate of 1.60%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 01002
01002 runs younger than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 01002.
Who works in 01002, and how
Work in 01002 centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 51%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 28%
Life in 01002
01002 has more parkland per resident than 80% of zip codes and more late-night spots per resident than 72% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 01002 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 01002, month by month
01002 sees roughly 64 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 28° | 18° |
| April | 62° | 48° | 35° |
| July | 88° | 74° | 61° |
| October | 68° | 53° | 41° |
Flying in and out of 01002
Bradley International sits about 31 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 3.3 million passengers in 2025, with 92 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 01002
Schools across 01002 average an A−, better than 85% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Hadley ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Shutesbury ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Wolf Swamp RoadB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Amherst Regional Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Chestnut Hill Community SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Jabish Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Amherst Regional HighA+ · 80% proficient
- Belchertown HighB+ · 58% proficient
- Hopkins AcademyB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 01002 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
01002 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 01002 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 01002 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 21% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 01002
Is 01002 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 01002 ranks 5,001st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on an educated workforce, population health, and transit, and lowest on an overheated housing market and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 01002 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $492,162. The overall cost of living runs about 9% above the national average. Set against a $90,029 median income, cost of living beats 50% of zip codes.
Is 01002 safe?
01002 is safer than 53% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $312 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 01002?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 39 with lows near 18. That works out to about 64 pleasant days a year, more than 14% of zip codes.
Is 01002 good for families?
Schools beat 85% of zip codes, crime safety beats 53%, and childcare runs $1,385 a month.
Compare 01002 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 01002. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 01002 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
01002 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 01002: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 01002: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 01002: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 01002: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
01002 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.