Best PlacesBridgewater, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bridgewater, 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.
Bridgewater ranks 671st of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Bridgewater
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.
Bridgewater's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bridgewater ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 89% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 87% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 83% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 79% of cities
Where Bridgewater ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 7% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 10% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than only 13% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,514 a month, better than only 14% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 17% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Bridgewater
A household needs to earn about $145,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bridgewater home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $118,530, 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 Bridgewater's effective rate of 1.10%, 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 Bridgewater
Bridgewater's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Bridgewater.
Who works in Bridgewater, and how
Work in Bridgewater centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Bridgewater
Bridgewater has more parkland per resident than 86% of cities. The coast is about 29 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Bridgewater and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Bridgewater, month by month
Bridgewater sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 31° | 20° |
| April | 62° | 49° | 37° |
| July | 87° | 74° | 62° |
| October | 69° | 56° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Bridgewater
General Edward Lawrence Logan International sits about 26 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 Bridgewater
Schools across Bridgewater average a B, better than 68% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Rose L MacdonaldB+ · 55% proficient
- Halifax ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Williams Intermediate SchoolB · 49% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bridgewater Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
- Howard SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Raynham Middle SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Bridgewater-raynham RegionalA− · 66% proficient
- Middleborough HighB+ · 55% proficient
- West Bridgewater Junior/seniorC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bridgewater school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bridgewater 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 Bridgewater against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Bridgewater suits
Common questions about living in Bridgewater
Is Bridgewater a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bridgewater ranks 671st of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on low crime, clean air, and tree cover, and lowest on an overheated housing market and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Bridgewater expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $533,280. The overall cost of living runs about 18% above the national average. Set against a $118,530 median income, cost of living beats 55% of cities.
Is Bridgewater safe?
Yes, Bridgewater is safer than 99% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $137 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Bridgewater?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 20. That works out to about 66 pleasant days a year, more than 19% of cities.
Is Bridgewater good for families?
Schools beat 68% of cities, crime safety beats 99%, and childcare runs $1,514 a month.
Compare Bridgewater with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bridgewater. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bridgewater 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.
Bridgewater detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bridgewater: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bridgewater: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bridgewater: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bridgewater: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bridgewater 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.