Best Places01879, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 01879, 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.
01879 ranks 1,941st of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 01879
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.
01879's strengths and weaknesses
Where 01879 ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Household income$142,543 median, better than 95% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 93% of zip codes
Where 01879 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,897 a month, better than only 2% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 62 pleasant days a year, better than only 12% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 20% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 24% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 26% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 01879
A household needs to earn about $158,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 01879 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $142,543; 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 01879's effective rate of 1.30%, 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 01879
01879 runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 01879.
Who works in 01879, and how
Work in 01879 centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in 01879
01879 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 95% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 75% of zip codes. The coast is about 39 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 01879 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 01879, month by month
01879 sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 28° | 18° |
| April | 61° | 48° | 36° |
| July | 87° | 74° | 62° |
| October | 66° | 53° | 42° |
Flying in and out of 01879
The nearest airport, Manchester Boston Regional, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 30 miles away.
The best schools in and around 01879
Schools across 01879 average a B+, better than 77% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Tyngsborough ElementaryB− · 44% proficient
- Brookside ElementaryC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Tyngsborough MiddleB · 44% proficient
- Justus C. Richardson Middle SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
Top high schools
- Tyngsborough High SchoolA · 73% proficient
- Dracut Senior HighB+ · 58% proficient
- Innovation Academy Charter SchoolB · 46% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 01879 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
01879 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 01879 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 01879
Is 01879 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 01879 ranks 1,941st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low crime, high incomes, and few empty homes, and lowest on childcare costs and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 01879 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $565,308. The overall cost of living runs about 21% above the national average. Set against a $142,543 median income, cost of living beats 87% of zip codes.
Is 01879 safe?
Yes, 01879 is safer than 98% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $140 per resident a year.
Compare 01879 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 01879. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 01879 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.
01879 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 01879: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 01879: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 01879: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 01879: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
01879 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.