Best Places01906, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 01906, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
01906 ranks 7,335th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 01906
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.
01906's strengths and weaknesses
Where 01906 ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 93% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 90% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 89% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 87% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than 87% of zip codes
Where 01906 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,905 a month, better than only 1% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 19% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 27% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 71 pleasant days a year, better than only 27% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 28% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 01906
A household needs to earn about $161,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 01906 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $106,711, 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 01906's effective rate of 0.98%, 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 01906
01906 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 01906.
Who works in 01906, and how
Work in 01906 centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in 01906
01906 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 77% of zip codes and more late-night spots per resident than 74% of zip codes. The coast is about 7 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 01906 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 01906, month by month
01906 sees roughly 71 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 32° | 25° |
| April | 60° | 49° | 40° |
| July | 86° | 75° | 67° |
| October | 67° | 57° | 49° |
Flying in and out of 01906
General Edward Lawrence Logan International sits about 7 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 21.1 million passengers in 2025, with 199 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 01906
Schools across 01906 average a C+, better than 40% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Huckleberry HillA · 70% proficient
- WinthropA · 65% proficient
- Horace MannA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Melrose MiddleA− · 54% proficient
- Galvin Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Saugus Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- Melrose HighA · 69% proficient
- Wakefield Memorial HighA− · 67% proficient
- Revere HighB · 49% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 01906 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
01906 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 01906 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 01906 suits
Families
Schools land around the 40th percentile and crime safety beats 75%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 14% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 01906
Is 01906 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 01906 ranks 7,335th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on big-city access, transit, and biking, and lowest on childcare costs and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 01906 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $601,226. The overall cost of living runs about 23% above the national average. Set against a $106,711 median income, cost of living beats 55% of zip codes.
Is 01906 safe?
Yes, 01906 is safer than 75% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $234 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 01906?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 42 with lows near 25. That works out to about 71 pleasant days a year, more than 27% of zip codes.
Is 01906 good for families?
Schools beat 40% of zip codes, crime safety beats 75%, and childcare runs $1,905 a month.
Compare 01906 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 01906. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 01906 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.
01906 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 01906: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 01906: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 01906: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 01906: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
01906 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.