Best Places01104, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 01104, 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.
01104 ranks 27,532nd of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 01104
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.
01104's strengths and weaknesses
Where 01104 ranks high
- TransitBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Short commute16.7 minutes each way, better than 94% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 87% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 85% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 83% of zip codes
Where 01104 ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 9% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 01104
A household needs to earn about $65,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 01104 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $58,031, 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 01104's effective rate of 1.23%, 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 01104
01104 runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 01104.
Who works in 01104, and how
Work in 01104 centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in 01104
01104 has more parkland per resident than 81% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 01104 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 01104, month by month
01104 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 01104
Bradley International sits about 14 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 01104
Schools across 01104 average a D+, better than 10% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Alfred G. Zanetti Montessori Magnet SchoolB · 44% proficient
- Springfield Preparatory Charter SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Mary O PottengerC− · 27% proficient
Top middle schools
- Chestnut Accelerated Middle School (talented And Gifted)C+ · 37% proficient
- Emergence AcademyD+ · 25% proficient
- Van Sickle AcademyF · 11% proficient
Top high schools
- The Springfield Renaissance School An Expeditionary LearningC− · 28% proficient
- Baystate Academy Charter Public SchoolF · 11% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 01104 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
01104 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 01104 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 01104 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 8% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in 01104
Is 01104 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 01104 ranks 27,532nd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on transit, short commutes, and walkability, and lowest on noise 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 01104 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $233,008. The overall cost of living runs about 3% above the national average. Set against a $58,031 median income, cost of living beats 8% of zip codes.
Is 01104 safe?
01104 is safer than 29% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $392 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 01104?
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 01104 good for families?
Schools beat 10% of zip codes, crime safety beats 29%, and childcare runs $1,385 a month.
Compare 01104 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 01104. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 01104 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.
01104 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 01104: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 01104: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 01104: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 01104: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
01104 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.