Best Places01028, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 01028, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
01028 ranks 3,364th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 01028
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.
01028's strengths and weaknesses
Where 01028 ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than 90% of zip codes
Where 01028 ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,385 a month, better than only 10% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 65 pleasant days a year, better than only 16% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 27% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 27% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 01028
A household needs to earn about $121,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 01028 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $115,456; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 01028's effective rate of 1.71%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 01028
01028 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 01028.
Who works in 01028, and how
Work in 01028 centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in 01028
01028 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 93% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 86% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 01028 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 01028, month by month
01028 sees roughly 65 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 01028
Bradley International sits about 13 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 01028
Schools across 01028 average a B+, better than 70% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Blueberry HillA− · 60% proficient
- Mountain ViewB · 49% proficient
- MapleshadeC+ · 39% proficient
Top middle schools
- Glenbrook MiddleA− · 55% proficient
- Birchland ParkB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Longmeadow HighA · 78% proficient
- East Longmeadow HighB+ · 56% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 01028 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
01028 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 01028 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 01028
Is 01028 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 01028 ranks 3,364th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low crime, health care access, and civic engagement, and lowest on property taxes and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 01028 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $410,365. The overall cost of living runs about 10% above the national average. Set against a $115,456 median income, cost of living beats 80% of zip codes.
Is 01028 safe?
Yes, 01028 is safer than 94% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $175 per resident a year.
Compare 01028 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 01028. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 01028 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.
01028 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 01028: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 01028: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 01028: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 01028: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
01028 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.