Best Places01655, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 01655, 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.
01655 ranks 23,063rd of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 01655
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.
01655's strengths and weaknesses
Where 01655 ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 93% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 89% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 86% of zip codes
Where 01655 ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,648 a month, better than only 3% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 11% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 01655
A household needs to earn about $93,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 01655 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $85,905; 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 01655's effective rate of 1.38%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 01655
01655 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 01655.
Who works in 01655, and how
Work in 01655 centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 62%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 20%
Life in 01655
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 01655.
What the weather is like in 01655, month by month
01655 sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 28° | 19° |
| April | 58° | 46° | 36° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 63° |
| October | 64° | 53° | 44° |
Flying in and out of 01655
The nearest airport, Worcester Regional, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 39 miles away.
The best schools in and around 01655
Schools across 01655 average a D+, better than 15% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Jacob Hiatt MagnetC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Worcester East MiddleF · 11% proficient
Top high schools
- North HighD · 19% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 01655 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
01655 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 01655 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 01655
Is 01655 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 01655 ranks 23,063rd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on walkability, cell coverage, and transit, and lowest on noise 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 01655 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $329,200. The overall cost of living runs about 14% above the national average. Set against a $85,905 median income, cost of living beats 31% of zip codes.
Is 01655 safe?
01655 is safer than 26% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $401 per resident a year.
Compare 01655 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 01655. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 01655 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.
01655 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 01655: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 01655: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 01655: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 01655: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
01655 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.