Best Places01224, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 01224, 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.
01224 ranks 19,491st of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 01224
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.
01224's strengths and weaknesses
Where 01224 ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 87% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 86% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 84% of zip codes
Where 01224 ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 9% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,385 a month, better than only 10% of zip codes
- Short commute30.9 minutes each way, better than only 24% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 01224
A household needs to earn about $95,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 01224 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $85,313; 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 01224's effective rate of 1.68%, 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 01224
01224 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 01224.
Who works in 01224, and how
Work in 01224 centers on hospitality & food and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 95%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 01224
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 01224.
What the weather is like in 01224, month by month
01224 sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 25° | 16° |
| April | 58° | 45° | 34° |
| July | 83° | 71° | 59° |
| October | 63° | 51° | 40° |
Flying in and out of 01224
The nearest airport, Albany International, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 47 miles away.
The best schools in and around 01224
Schools across 01224 average a C, better than 35% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Lanesborough ElementaryB+ · 52% proficient
Top middle schools
- John T Reid MiddleD− · 13% proficient
Top high schools
- Wahconah Regional HighB+ · 53% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 01224 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
01224 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 01224 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 01224
Is 01224 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 01224 ranks 19,491st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on civic engagement, health care access, and clean air, and lowest on crime and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 01224 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $326,000. The overall cost of living runs about 8% above the national average. Set against a $85,313 median income, cost of living beats 43% of zip codes.
Is 01224 safe?
01224 is safer than 8% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $610 per resident a year.
Compare 01224 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 01224. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 01224 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.
01224 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 01224: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 01224: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 01224: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 01224: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
01224 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.