Best Places01031, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 01031, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
01031 ranks 23,848th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. Childcare costs pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on health care access.
The best neighborhoods in 01031
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.
01031's strengths and weaknesses
Where 01031 ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 88% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 85% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 85% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 84% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 82% of zip codes
Where 01031 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,641 a month, better than only 3% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 12% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than only 15% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 16% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 01031
A household needs to earn about $82,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 01031 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $65,761, 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 01031's effective rate of 1.25%, 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 01031
01031 runs older 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 01031.
Who works in 01031, and how
Work in 01031 centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in 01031
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 01031.
What the weather is like in 01031, month by month
01031 sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 28° | 19° |
| April | 58° | 46° | 36° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 63° |
| October | 64° | 53° | 44° |
Flying in and out of 01031
The nearest airport, Worcester Regional, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 36 miles away.
The best schools in and around 01031
Schools across 01031 average a C+, better than 47% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Hardwick ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
- Stanley M Koziol Elementary SchoolD · 21% proficient
Top middle schools
- Quabbin Regional Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Ware Middle SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
Top high schools
- Quabbin Regional High SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Ware Junior/senior High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- North Brookfield HighD− · 15% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 01031 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
01031 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 01031 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 01031
Is 01031 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 01031 ranks 23,848th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on health care access, big-city access, and clean air, and lowest on childcare costs and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 01031 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $295,658. The overall cost of living runs about 12% above the national average. Set against a $65,761 median income, cost of living beats 12% of zip codes.
Is 01031 safe?
01031 is safer than 43% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $336 per resident a year.
Compare 01031 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 01031. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 01031 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.
01031 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 01031: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 01031: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 01031: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 01031: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
01031 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.