Best Places02557, MA Best Neighborhoods

2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026

Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 02557, 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.

See the map of best neighborhoods

02557 ranks 3,174th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.

#3,174
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
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The best neighborhoods in 02557

Map of the best neighborhoods in the 02557 area, with better matches in green and worse matches in red
Click the map to explore
National median
Worse match Better match
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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.

02557's strengths and weaknesses

Top 3%Short commutes
Top 5%High incomes
Top 10%Biking
Each measure against the national median. Bars to the right beat the median; bars to the left fall short. Percentiles compare 02557 with other zip codes.

Where 02557 ranks high

  • Short commute13.5 minutes each way, better than 98% of zip codes
  • Household income$146,306 median, better than 95% of zip codes
  • BikingBetter than 94% of zip codes
  • Voter turnoutBetter than 93% of zip codes
  • Healthcare accessBetter than 92% of zip codes

Where 02557 ranks low

  • Housing crash safetyBetter than only 2% of zip codes
  • Cheap childcare$1,514 a month, better than only 5% of zip codes
  • Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
  • Local economyBetter than only 14% of zip codes
  • State fiscal healthBetter than only 27% of zip codes

What it costs to buy a home in 02557

A household needs to earn about $290,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 02557 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $146,306, so buying stretches a typical household.

Income to buy the median home
$290,000
a year, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate
Estimated monthly payment
$6,765
principal, interest, tax, and insurance on a $1,151,496 home

Where the monthly payment goes

Principal & interest$5,871
Property tax$510
Homeowners insurance$384

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 02557's effective rate of 0.53%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.


Who lives in 02557

02557 runs older than the country.

Median age
47
older than the U.S. median of 41
Residents 65 and older
23%
versus 18% nationally
Average household
2.8
above the U.S. average of 2.6

Residents by age

Under 1819%
18 to 3417%
35 to 4920%
50 to 6422%
65 and older23%

Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 02557.


Who works in 02557, and how

Work in 02557 centers on construction and professional & technical. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.

Work from home
8%
below the national average
Unemployment
18.0%
above the national average
Job growth
−2.7%
/y 2019-2023, slower than the national pace

Largest industries

Construction35%
Professional & technical10%
Education9%
Admin & support services8%
Arts & entertainment7%

How people get to work

  • Drive or carpool 72%
  • Work from home 8%
  • Transit, walk, or bike 20%

Life in 02557

02557 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 92% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 95% of zip codes. The coast is about 2 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 02557 and thins out in others, which the map shows.

Places to eat and drink
76
restaurants, bars, and fast food, about 155.8 per 10,000 residents, more than 92% of zip codes
Coffee shops
8
about 16.4 per 10,000 residents, more than 90% of zip codes
Parkland
80 acres
about 16.5 acres per 1,000 residents, more than 95% of zip codes
To the coast
2 min
drive to the nearest ocean beaches

What the weather is like in 02557, month by month

02557 sees roughly 91 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 43, 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
January43°34°25°
April58°47°37°
July82°72°63°
October67°57°46°

Flying in and out of 02557

The nearest airport, Martha's Vineyard, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 67 miles away.

Nearest airport
MVY
Martha's Vineyard, about 4 miles
Airport size
Nonhub
242nd-busiest in the US, 17 nonstop destinations
Average drive
8 min
from the area, with no traffic

The best schools in and around 02557

Schools across 02557 average a B+, better than 72% of zip codes.

Top elementary schools

Top high schools

Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 02557 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.


02557 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 02557 against the other 33,109 zip codes.


Common questions about living in 02557

Is 02557 a good place to live?

Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 02557 ranks 3,174th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on short commutes, high incomes, and biking, and lowest on an overheated housing market and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.

Is 02557 expensive to live in?

The median home is worth $1,151,496. The overall cost of living runs about 36% above the national average. Set against a $146,306 median income, cost of living beats 82% of zip codes.

Is 02557 safe?

Yes, 02557 is safer than 70% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $299 per resident a year.


Compare 02557 with other zip codes


Sources and methodology

Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 02557. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 02557 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.

02557 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:

  1. Walk Grade for 02557: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
  2. Noise in 02557: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
  3. Conservative vs liberal map of 02557: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
  4. Mobile and cell coverage in 02557: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.

02557 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.