Best Places01420, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 01420, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
01420 ranks 15,660th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. Childcare costs pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on walkability.
The best neighborhoods in 01420
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.
01420's strengths and weaknesses
Where 01420 ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 89% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 88% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 87% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 85% of zip codes
Where 01420 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,648 a month, better than only 3% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- School gradeD, better than only 7% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 16% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 19% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 01420
A household needs to earn about $93,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 01420 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $80,191, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 01420'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 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 01420
01420 runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 01420.
Who works in 01420, and how
Work in 01420 centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in 01420
01420 has more parkland per resident than 92% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 01420 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 01420, month by month
01420 sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 29° | 19° |
| April | 62° | 49° | 36° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 63° |
| October | 67° | 54° | 42° |
Flying in and out of 01420
The nearest airport, Worcester Regional, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 43 miles away.
The best schools in and around 01420
Schools across 01420 average a D, better than 7% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Johnny AppleseedC · 35% proficient
- Crocker ElementaryC · 34% proficient
- Reingold ElementaryD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Memorial Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
- Arthur M Longsjo Middle SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Top high schools
- Montachusett Regional Vocational TechnicalA− · 60% proficient
- Fitchburg HighC · 34% proficient
- Sizer School: A North Central Charter Essential SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 01420 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
01420 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 01420 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 01420 suits
Families
Schools land around the 7th percentile and crime safety beats 79%.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in 01420
Is 01420 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 01420 ranks 15,660th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on walkability, clean air, and biking, and lowest on childcare costs and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 01420 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $331,426. The overall cost of living runs about 10% above the national average. Set against a $80,191 median income, cost of living beats 30% of zip codes.
Is 01420 safe?
Yes, 01420 is safer than 79% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $227 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 01420?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 40 with lows near 19. That works out to about 69 pleasant days a year, more than 22% of zip codes.
Is 01420 good for families?
Schools beat 7% of zip codes, crime safety beats 79%, and childcare runs $1,648 a month.
Compare 01420 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 01420. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 01420 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.
01420 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 01420: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 01420: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 01420: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 01420: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
01420 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.