Best Places01242, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 01242, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
01242 ranks 4,851st of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 01242
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.
01242's strengths and weaknesses
Where 01242 ranks high
- Short commute12.5 minutes each way, better than 98% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Household income$131,604 median, better than 93% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 92% of zip codes
Where 01242 ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,385 a month, better than only 10% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 13% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 18% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 01242
A household needs to earn about $117,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 01242 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $131,604, 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 01242's effective rate of 0.95%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 01242
01242 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 01242.
Who works in 01242, and how
Work in 01242 centers on health care & social and other services. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 69%
- Work from home 28%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 01242
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 01242.
What the weather is like in 01242, month by month
01242 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 01242
Bradley International sits about 40 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 01242
Schools across 01242 average a B−, better than 60% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- MorrisB · 50% proficient
- Lee ElementaryC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Lenox Memorial HighB+ · 55% proficient
- Lee Middle/high SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 01242 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
01242 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 01242 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 01242
Is 01242 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 01242 ranks 4,851st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on short commutes, health care access, and an educated workforce, and lowest on cell coverage and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 01242 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $437,093. The overall cost of living runs about 11% above the national average. Set against a $131,604 median income, cost of living beats 92% of zip codes.
Is 01242 safe?
Yes, 01242 is safer than 88% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $191 per resident a year.
Compare 01242 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 01242. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 01242 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.
01242 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 01242: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 01242: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 01242: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 01242: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
01242 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.