Best Places01109, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 01109, 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.
01109 ranks 27,780th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 01109
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.
01109's strengths and weaknesses
Where 01109 ranks high
- TransitBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 89% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 86% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 83% of zip codes
- Short commute21.0 minutes each way, better than 81% of zip codes
Where 01109 ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 10% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 01109
A household needs to earn about $60,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 01109 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $54,131; 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 01109's effective rate of 1.31%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 01109
01109 runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 01109.
Who works in 01109, and how
Work in 01109 centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in 01109
01109 has more parkland per resident than 90% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 01109 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 01109, month by month
01109 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 01109
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 01109
Schools across 01109 average a C−, better than 20% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Springfield International Academy At JohnsonD+ · 25% proficient
- Frank H FreedmanD+ · 25% proficient
- Homer StreetD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Chestnut Accelerated Middle School (talented And Gifted)C+ · 37% proficient
- Stem Middle AcademyD− · 16% proficient
- Rise Academy At Van SickleF · 10% proficient
Top high schools
- Roger L. Putnam Vocational Technical AcademyB− · 41% proficient
- Springfield Central HighC · 34% proficient
- John J Duggan AcademyD · 18% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 01109 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
01109 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 01109 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 01109 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 9% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in 01109
Is 01109 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 01109 ranks 27,780th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on transit, cell coverage, and big-city access, and lowest on an overheated housing market and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 01109 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $215,624. The overall cost of living runs about 1% below the national average. Set against a $54,131 median income, cost of living beats 6% of zip codes.
Is 01109 safe?
01109 is safer than 29% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $402 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 01109?
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 01109 good for families?
Schools beat 20% of zip codes, crime safety beats 29%, and childcare runs $1,385 a month.
Compare 01109 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 01109. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 01109 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.
01109 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 01109: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 01109: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 01109: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 01109: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
01109 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.