Best PlacesBlack Rock, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Black Rock, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Black Rock ranks 294th of 50,333 U.S. towns 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 Black Rock
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.
Black Rock's strengths and weaknesses
Where Black Rock ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of towns
- Household income$247,187 median, better than 99% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of towns
- BikingBetter than 98% of towns
Where Black Rock ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,332 a month, better than only 1% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Short commute40.6 minutes each way, better than only 5% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 24% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Black Rock
A household needs to earn about $427,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Black Rock home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $247,187, 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 Black Rock's effective rate of 0.91%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Black Rock
Black Rock runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Black Rock.
Who works in Black Rock, and how
Work in Black Rock centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 62%
- Work from home 25%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in Black Rock
Black Rock has more parkland per resident than 99% of towns. The coast is about 5 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Black Rock and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Black Rock, month by month
Black Rock sees roughly 71 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 Black Rock
General Edward Lawrence Logan International sits about 12 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 Black Rock
Schools across Black Rock average an A, better than 95% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- East Elementary SchoolA− · 61% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cohasset Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top high schools
- Hingham HighA+ · 87% proficient
- Cohasset High SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Black Rock school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Black Rock 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 Black Rock against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Black Rock
Is Black Rock a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Black Rock ranks 294th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on an educated workforce, high incomes, and what local pay buys, and lowest on childcare costs 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 Black Rock expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,609,850. The overall cost of living runs about 48% above the national average. Set against a $247,187 median income, cost of living beats 99% of towns.
Is Black Rock safe?
Yes, Black Rock is safer than 89% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $173 per resident a year.
Compare Black Rock with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Black Rock. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Black Rock 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.
Black Rock detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Black Rock: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Black Rock: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Black Rock: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Black Rock: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Black Rock 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.