Best Places01128, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 01128, 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.
01128 ranks 7,355th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 01128
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.
01128's strengths and weaknesses
Where 01128 ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 86% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 83% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 81% of zip codes
Where 01128 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,385 a month, better than only 10% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 14% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 65 pleasant days a year, better than only 16% of zip codes
- School gradeC−, better than only 23% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 01128
A household needs to earn about $78,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 01128 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $99,174, 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 01128's effective rate of 1.56%, 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 01128
01128 runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 01128.
Who works in 01128, and how
Work in 01128 centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in 01128
01128 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 84% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 01128 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 01128, month by month
01128 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 01128
Bradley International sits about 15 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 01128
Schools across 01128 average a C−, better than 23% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Daniel B BruntonD · 17% proficient
- Springfield Public Day Elementary SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Top middle schools
- Chestnut Accelerated Middle School (talented And Gifted)C+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 01128 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
01128 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 01128 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 01128
Is 01128 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 01128 ranks 7,355th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low crime, few empty homes, and big-city access, and lowest on childcare costs and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 01128 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $270,648. The overall cost of living runs about 6% above the national average. Set against a $99,174 median income, cost of living beats 64% of zip codes.
Is 01128 safe?
Yes, 01128 is safer than 97% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $155 per resident a year.
Compare 01128 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 01128. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 01128 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.
01128 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 01128: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 01128: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 01128: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 01128: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
01128 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.