Best PlacesAllston, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Allston, 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.
Allston ranks 9,562nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Allston
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.
Allston's strengths and weaknesses
Where Allston ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of towns
- TransitBetter than 99% of towns
- BikingBetter than 99% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 99% of towns
Where Allston ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,304 a month, better than only 1% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 1% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 7% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 12% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Allston
A household needs to earn about $184,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Allston home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $85,787, 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 Allston's effective rate of 0.74%, 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 Allston
Allston runs younger than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Allston.
Who works in Allston, and how
Work in Allston centers on education 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 27%
- Work from home 25%
- Transit, walk, or bike 49%
Life in Allston
Allston has more restaurants and bars per resident than 92% of towns and more late-night spots per resident than 96% of towns. The coast is about 11 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Allston and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Allston, month by month
Allston sees roughly 70 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 Allston
General Edward Lawrence Logan International sits about 6 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 Allston
Schools across Allston average a D+, better than 12% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Michael DriscollA · 68% proficient
- Martin Luther King Jr.A · 65% proficient
- Florida Ruffin Ridley SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Putnam Avenue Upper SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Boston Latin SchoolA · 77% proficient
- Cambridge Rindge And LatinA− · 65% proficient
- Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter SchoolF · 9% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Allston school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Allston 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 Allston against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Allston suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 25% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Allston
Is Allston a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Allston ranks 9,562nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, 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 Allston expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $709,971. The overall cost of living runs about 44% above the national average. Set against a $85,787 median income, cost of living beats 13% of towns.
Is Allston safe?
Allston is safer than 29% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $381 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Allston?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 42 with lows near 25. That works out to about 70 pleasant days a year, more than 27% of towns.
Is Allston good for families?
Schools beat 12% of towns, crime safety beats 29%, and childcare runs $2,304 a month.
Compare Allston with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Allston. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Allston 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.
Allston detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Allston: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Allston: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Allston: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Allston: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Allston 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.