Best PlacesBack Bay, Boston, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Back Bay, Boston, 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.
Back Bay, Boston ranks 1,482nd of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Back Bay, Boston
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.
Back Bay, Boston's strengths and weaknesses
Where Back Bay, Boston ranks high
- TransitBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than 95% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of neighborhoods
- Health outlookBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
Where Back Bay, Boston ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 2% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$2,304 a month, better than only 2% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than only 7% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than only 15% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than only 18% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Back Bay, Boston
A household needs to earn about $378,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Back Bay, Boston home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $141,377, 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 Back Bay, Boston's effective rate of 0.75%, 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 Back Bay, Boston
Back Bay, Boston 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 Back Bay, Boston.
Who works in Back Bay, Boston, and how
Work in Back Bay, Boston centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 17%
- Work from home 30%
- Transit, walk, or bike 53%
Life in Back Bay, Boston
Back Bay, Boston has more restaurants and bars per resident than 88% of neighborhoods and more parkland per resident than 78% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 8 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Back Bay, Boston and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Back Bay, Boston, month by month
Back Bay, Boston 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 Back Bay, Boston
General Edward Lawrence Logan International sits about 4 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 Back Bay, Boston
Schools across Back Bay, Boston average a C−, better than 28% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Eliot K-8 Innovation SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Amigos SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- MorseB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Vassal Lane Upper SchoolB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Boston Latin SchoolA · 77% proficient
- Quincy Upper SchoolD · 18% proficient
- Snowden International High SchoolD · 18% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Back Bay, Boston school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Back Bay, Boston 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 Back Bay, Boston against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Who Back Bay, Boston suits
Common questions about living in Back Bay, Boston
Is Back Bay, Boston a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Back Bay, Boston ranks 1,482nd of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on transit, an educated workforce, and walkability, and lowest on noise and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Back Bay, Boston expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,454,095. The overall cost of living runs about 105% above the national average. Set against a $141,377 median income, cost of living beats 52% of neighborhoods.
Is Back Bay, Boston safe?
Back Bay, Boston is safer than 43% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $547 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Back Bay, Boston?
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 25% of neighborhoods.
Is Back Bay, Boston good for families?
Schools beat 28% of neighborhoods, crime safety beats 43%, and childcare runs $2,304 a month.
Compare Back Bay, Boston with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Back Bay, Boston. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Back Bay, Boston 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.
Back Bay, Boston detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Back Bay, Boston: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Back Bay, Boston: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Back Bay, Boston: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Back Bay, Boston: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Back Bay, Boston 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.