Best Places01226, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 01226, 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.
01226 ranks 7,971st of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 01226
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.
01226's strengths and weaknesses
Where 01226 ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than 89% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 88% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 87% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 86% of zip codes
Where 01226 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,385 a month, better than only 10% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 14% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 19% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 20% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 27% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 01226
A household needs to earn about $84,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 01226 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $95,706, 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 01226's effective rate of 1.44%, 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 01226
01226 runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 01226.
Who works in 01226, and how
Work in 01226 centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in 01226
01226 has more parkland per resident than 90% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 01226 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 01226, month by month
01226 sees roughly 72 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 01226
The nearest airport, Albany International, is about 38 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 44 miles away.
The best schools in and around 01226
Schools across 01226 average a B−, better than 53% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- WilliamsB · 47% proficient
- CranevilleC · 35% proficient
- KittredgeC · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- Nessacus Regional Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Theodore Herberg MiddleD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Wahconah Regional HighB+ · 53% proficient
- Pittsfield HighB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 01226 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
01226 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 01226 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 01226
Is 01226 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 01226 ranks 7,971st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on civic engagement, low crime, and health care 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 01226 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $296,914. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $95,706 median income, cost of living beats 74% of zip codes.
Is 01226 safe?
Yes, 01226 is safer than 89% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $186 per resident a year.
Compare 01226 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 01226. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 01226 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.
01226 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 01226: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 01226: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 01226: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 01226: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
01226 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.