Best PlacesActon, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Acton, 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.
Acton ranks 202nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on an educated workforce by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Acton
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.
Acton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Acton ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of towns
- Household income$170,588 median, better than 98% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 97% of towns
Where Acton ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,897 a month, better than only 1% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 9% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 11% of towns
- Short commute34.3 minutes each way, better than only 16% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 65 pleasant days a year, better than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Acton
A household needs to earn about $230,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Acton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $170,588, 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 Acton's effective rate of 1.58%, 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 Acton
Acton runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Acton.
Who works in Acton, and how
Work in Acton centers on professional & technical and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 58%
- Work from home 36%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Acton
Acton has more restaurants and bars per resident than 66% of towns and more parkland per resident than 92% of towns. The coast is about 36 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Acton and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Acton, month by month
Acton sees roughly 65 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 30° | 20° |
| April | 62° | 48° | 36° |
| July | 87° | 74° | 62° |
| October | 67° | 54° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Acton
General Edward Lawrence Logan International sits about 24 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 Acton
Schools across Acton average an A, better than 97% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Carlisle SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Luther Conant SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
- Paul P Gates Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- Raymond J Grey Junior HighA+ · 73% proficient
- Blanchard MiddleA · 67% proficient
- HaleA · 67% proficient
Top high schools
- Acton-boxborough Regional HighA+ · 89% proficient
- Westford AcademyA+ · 88% proficient
- Littleton High SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Acton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Acton 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 Acton against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Acton suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 97% of towns, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 36% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Acton
Is Acton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Acton ranks 202nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on an educated workforce, population health, and high incomes, and lowest on childcare costs and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Acton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $794,566. The overall cost of living runs about 23% above the national average. Set against a $170,588 median income, cost of living beats 97% of towns.
Is Acton safe?
Yes, Acton is safer than 97% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $144 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Acton?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 20. That works out to about 65 pleasant days a year, more than 17% of towns.
Is Acton good for families?
Schools beat 97% of towns, crime safety beats 97%, and childcare runs $1,897 a month.
Compare Acton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Acton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Acton 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.
Acton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Acton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Acton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Acton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Acton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Acton 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.