Best Places02169, MA Best Neighborhoods

2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026

Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 02169, 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.

See the map of best neighborhoods

02169 ranks 6,700th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.

#6,700
of 33,110 zip codes
BestNeighborhood rank
Defaults weight crime safety, affordability, schools, and weather highest: the things hardest to change after a move
N/A
of 33,110 zip codes
Your rank
Set your priorities to see your rank

The best neighborhoods in 02169

Map of the best neighborhoods in the 02169 area, with better matches in green and worse matches in red
Click the map to explore
National median
Worse match Better match
Colorblind friendly off
Popular priorities:

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.

02169's strengths and weaknesses

Top 5%Transit
Top 10%Walkability
Top 10%Biking
Each measure against the national median. Bars to the right beat the median; bars to the left fall short. Percentiles compare 02169 with other zip codes.

Where 02169 ranks high

  • TransitBetter than 95% of zip codes
  • WalkabilityBetter than 95% of zip codes
  • BikingBetter than 94% of zip codes
  • Big-city accessBetter than 92% of zip codes
  • Health outlookBetter than 89% of zip codes

Where 02169 ranks low

  • Cheap childcare$2,403 a month, better than only 1% of zip codes
  • Short commute35.6 minutes each way, better than only 10% of zip codes
  • QuietBetter than only 12% of zip codes
  • Voter turnoutBetter than only 16% of zip codes
  • Local economyBetter than only 18% of zip codes

What it costs to buy a home in 02169

A household needs to earn about $159,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 02169 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $103,023, so buying stretches a typical household.

Income to buy the median home
$159,000
a year, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate
Estimated monthly payment
$3,715
principal, interest, tax, and insurance on a $594,509 home
Median rent
$2,107
a month, across all home sizes

Where the monthly payment goes

Principal & interest$3,031
Property tax$486
Homeowners insurance$198

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 02169'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.

Cumulative cost of renting versus owning the median home, first 10 years. Illustrative estimate.

Who lives in 02169

02169's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.

Median age
40
about the U.S. median of 41
Residents 65 and older
18%
versus 18% nationally
Average household
2.2
below the U.S. average of 2.6

Residents by age

Under 1815%
18 to 3428%
35 to 4922%
50 to 6418%
65 and older18%

Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 02169.


Who works in 02169, and how

Work in 02169 centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.

Work from home
23%
above the national average
Unemployment
6.9%
above the national average
Job growth
−0.6%
/y 2019-2023, slower than the national pace

Largest industries

Health care & social18%
Professional & technical13%
Retail trade10%
Education10%
Finance & insurance7%

How people get to work

  • Drive or carpool 58%
  • Work from home 23%
  • Transit, walk, or bike 19%

Life in 02169

02169 has more parkland per resident than 80% of zip codes. The coast is about 14 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of 02169 and thins out in others, which the map shows.

Places to eat and drink
257
restaurants, bars, and fast food, about 40.6 per 10,000 residents, more than 58% of zip codes
Coffee shops
45
about 7.1 per 10,000 residents, more than 76% of zip codes
Parkland
395 acres
about 6.2 acres per 1,000 residents, more than 80% of zip codes
Open past 10pm
~39
food and drink venues open late, about 6.1 per 10,000 residents, more than 47% of zip codes
To the coast
14 min
drive to the nearest ocean beaches

What the weather is like in 02169, month by month

02169 sees roughly 69 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.

Average daily high, mean, and low in degrees Fahrenheit, NOAA station data 2016 to 2025.
Show the monthly temperatures
MonthAvg highAvgAvg low
January42°32°25°
April60°49°40°
July86°75°67°
October67°57°49°

Flying in and out of 02169

General Edward Lawrence Logan International sits about 8 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 21.1 million passengers in 2025, with 199 nonstop destinations.

Nearest airport
BOS
General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 8 miles
Airport size
Large hub
16th-busiest in the US, 199 nonstop destinations
Average drive
11 min
from the area, with no traffic

The best schools in and around 02169

Schools across 02169 average a B−, better than 58% of zip codes.

Top elementary schools

Top middle schools

Top high schools

Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 02169 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.


02169 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 02169 against the other 33,109 zip codes.


Who 02169 suits

Families

Schools beat 58% of zip codes and crime safety beats 73%.

See the families priority ↑

Remote workers

Internet is fast and widely advertised and 23% already work from home.

See the remote-work priority ↑

Retirees

Health care access beats 63%.

See the retirees priority ↑


Common questions about living in 02169

Is 02169 a good place to live?

Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 02169 ranks 6,700th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on transit, walkability, and biking, and lowest on childcare costs and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.

Is 02169 expensive to live in?

The median home is worth $594,509. The overall cost of living runs about 28% above the national average. Set against a $103,023 median income, cost of living beats 47% of zip codes.

Is 02169 safe?

Yes, 02169 is safer than 73% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $236 per resident a year.

What is the weather like in 02169?

July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 42 with lows near 25. That works out to about 69 pleasant days a year, more than 24% of zip codes.

Is 02169 good for families?

Schools beat 58% of zip codes, crime safety beats 73%, and childcare runs $2,403 a month.


Compare 02169 with other zip codes


Sources and methodology

Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 02169. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 02169 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.

02169 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:

  1. Walk Grade for 02169: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
  2. Noise in 02169: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
  3. Conservative vs liberal map of 02169: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
  4. Mobile and cell coverage in 02169: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.

02169 detail on related sites:

  1. CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
  2. ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
  3. CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.

Federal and public data:

  1. 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.
  2. NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
  3. FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
  4. Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
  5. FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
  6. U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
  7. FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
  8. CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
  9. National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
  10. FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
  11. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
  12. Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.