Best PlacesArlington, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Arlington, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Arlington ranks 16th of 2,098 U.S. cities 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 Arlington
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.
The best areas in Arlington
The parts of Arlington, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
North Cambridge
Arlington Heights
Arlington Center
Scores across Arlington run from about the 81st to the 100th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Arlington's strengths and weaknesses
Where Arlington ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of cities
- BikingBetter than 99% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 96% of cities
- Household income$167,124 median, better than 95% of cities
Where Arlington ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,897 a month, better than only 4% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 13% of cities
- Short commute32.2 minutes each way, better than only 14% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 66 pleasant days a year, better than only 18% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 27% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Arlington
A household needs to earn about $253,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Arlington home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $167,124, 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 Arlington's effective rate of 0.99%, 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 Arlington
Arlington runs older 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 Arlington.
Who works in Arlington, and how
Work in Arlington centers on professional & technical and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 47%
- Work from home 34%
- Transit, walk, or bike 19%
Life in Arlington
Arlington has more parkland per resident than 86% of cities. The coast is about 14 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Arlington and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Arlington, month by month
Arlington sees roughly 66 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 Arlington
General Edward Lawrence Logan International sits about 9 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 Arlington
Schools across Arlington average an A, better than 95% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- BrackettA+ · 75% proficient
- Cyrus E DallinA · 67% proficient
- John A BishopA · 67% proficient
Top middle schools
- Gibbs SchoolA+ · 68% proficient
- Ottoson MiddleA · 67% proficient
- Putnam Avenue Upper SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Arlington HighA+ · 82% proficient
- Cambridge Rindge And LatinA− · 65% proficient
- Somerville HighB+ · 51% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Arlington school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Arlington 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 Arlington against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Arlington suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 81% of cities and 34% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Arlington
Is Arlington a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Arlington ranks 16th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on an educated workforce, biking, and health care access, 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 Arlington expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $942,266. The overall cost of living runs about 40% above the national average. Set against a $167,124 median income, cost of living beats 81% of cities.
Is Arlington safe?
Yes, Arlington is safer than 81% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $216 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Arlington?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 20. That works out to about 66 pleasant days a year, more than 18% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Arlington?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are North Cambridge, Arlington Heights, and Arlington Center. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Arlington with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Arlington. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Arlington 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.
Arlington detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Arlington: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Arlington: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Arlington: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Arlington: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Arlington 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.