Best PlacesBelmont, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Belmont, 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.
Belmont ranks 11th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Belmont
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 Belmont
The parts of Belmont, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
Cushing Square
Strawberry Hill
Waverley Square
North Cambridge
Scores across Belmont run from about the 90th to the 100th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Belmont's strengths and weaknesses
Where Belmont ranks high
- BikingBetter than 99% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of cities
- Household income$197,578 median, better than 99% of cities
- School gradeA+, better than 98% of cities
Where Belmont ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,897 a month, better than only 4% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 14% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 65 pleasant days a year, better than only 17% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 21% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 24% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Belmont
A household needs to earn about $324,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Belmont home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $197,578, 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 Belmont's effective rate of 1.11%, 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 Belmont
Belmont runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Belmont.
Who works in Belmont, and how
Work in Belmont centers on professional & technical and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 52%
- Work from home 32%
- Transit, walk, or bike 16%
Life in Belmont
Belmont has more parkland per resident than 83% of cities. The coast is about 16 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Belmont and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Belmont, month by month
Belmont 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 Belmont
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 Belmont
Schools across Belmont average an A+, better than 98% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Winn BrookA+ · 83% proficient
- Mary Lee BurbankA+ · 78% proficient
- BrackettA+ · 75% proficient
Top middle schools
- Winthrop L Chenery MiddleA+ · 71% proficient
- Ottoson MiddleA · 67% proficient
Top high schools
- Belmont HighA+ · 89% proficient
- Arlington HighA+ · 82% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Belmont school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Belmont 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 Belmont against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Belmont suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 91% of cities and 32% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Belmont
Is Belmont a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Belmont ranks 11th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on biking, an educated workforce, and health care access, and lowest on childcare costs and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Belmont expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,188,493. The overall cost of living runs about 46% above the national average. Set against a $197,578 median income, cost of living beats 91% of cities.
Is Belmont safe?
Yes, Belmont is safer than 72% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $237 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Belmont?
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 cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Belmont?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Cushing Square, Strawberry Hill, and Waverley Square. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Belmont with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Belmont. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Belmont 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.
Belmont detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Belmont: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Belmont: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Belmont: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Belmont: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Belmont 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.