Best Places01036, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 01036, 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.
01036 ranks 3,743rd 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 01036
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.
01036's strengths and weaknesses
Where 01036 ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 93% of zip codes
Where 01036 ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 9% 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
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 28% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 01036
A household needs to earn about $104,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 01036 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $107,152, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 01036's effective rate of 1.65%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in 01036
01036 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 01036.
Who works in 01036, and how
Work in 01036 centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in 01036
01036 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 97% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 89% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 01036 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 01036, month by month
01036 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 01036
Bradley International sits about 16 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 01036
Schools across 01036 average a B, better than 70% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Mountain ViewB · 49% proficient
- Soule RoadB · 48% proficient
- Green Meadows ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Birchland ParkB · 47% proficient
- Kiley AcademyF · 9% proficient
Top high schools
- Minnechaug Regional HighA · 69% proficient
- Somers High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- East Longmeadow HighB+ · 56% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 01036 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
01036 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 01036 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 01036
Is 01036 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 01036 ranks 3,743rd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low crime, health care access, and few empty homes, 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 01036 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $358,062. The overall cost of living runs about 5% above the national average. Set against a $107,152 median income, cost of living beats 78% of zip codes.
Is 01036 safe?
Yes, 01036 is safer than 99% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $126 per resident a year.
Compare 01036 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 01036. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 01036 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.
01036 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 01036: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 01036: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 01036: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 01036: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
01036 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.