Best PlacesAmherst Center, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Amherst Center, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Amherst Center ranks 8,347th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Amherst Center
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.
Amherst Center's strengths and weaknesses
Where Amherst Center ranks high
- TransitBetter than 99% of towns
- BikingBetter than 99% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of towns
Where Amherst Center ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,385 a month, better than only 6% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Amherst Center
A household needs to earn about $147,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Amherst Center home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $78,334, 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 Amherst Center's effective rate of 1.48%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Amherst Center
Amherst Center 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 Amherst Center.
Who works in Amherst Center, and how
Work in Amherst Center centers on education and hospitality & food. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 27%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 53%
Life in Amherst Center
Amherst Center has more restaurants and bars per resident than 76% of towns and more parkland per resident than 94% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Amherst Center and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Amherst Center, month by month
Amherst Center sees roughly 65 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 28° | 18° |
| April | 62° | 48° | 35° |
| July | 88° | 74° | 61° |
| October | 68° | 53° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Amherst Center
Bradley International sits about 32 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 3.3 million passengers in 2025, with 92 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Amherst Center
Schools across Amherst Center average an A−, better than 88% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Hadley ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Crocker Farm ElementaryB · 47% proficient
- Wildwood ElementaryB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Amherst Regional Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top high schools
- Amherst Regional HighA+ · 80% proficient
- Hopkins AcademyB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Amherst Center school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Amherst Center 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 Amherst Center against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Amherst Center suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 20% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Amherst Center
Is Amherst Center a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Amherst Center ranks 8,347th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on transit, biking, and population health, and lowest on a weak job market and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Amherst Center expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $516,451. The overall cost of living runs about 11% above the national average. Set against a $78,334 median income, cost of living beats 17% of towns.
Is Amherst Center safe?
Amherst Center is safer than 44% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $329 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Amherst Center?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 39 with lows near 18. That works out to about 65 pleasant days a year, more than 15% of towns.
Is Amherst Center good for families?
Schools beat 88% of towns, crime safety beats 44%, and childcare runs $1,385 a month.
Compare Amherst Center with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Amherst Center. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Amherst Center 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.
Amherst Center detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Amherst Center: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Amherst Center: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Amherst Center: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Amherst Center: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Amherst Center 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.