Best PlacesChestnut Hill, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Chestnut Hill, 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.
Chestnut Hill ranks 82nd 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 Chestnut Hill
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.
Chestnut Hill's strengths and weaknesses
Where Chestnut Hill ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of towns
- BikingBetter than 99% of towns
- Household income$206,922 median, better than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of towns
Where Chestnut Hill ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,146 a month, better than only 1% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 7% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 67 pleasant days a year, better than only 20% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 24% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 25% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Chestnut Hill
A household needs to earn about $434,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Chestnut Hill home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $206,922, 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 Chestnut Hill's effective rate of 0.84%, 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 Chestnut Hill
Chestnut Hill runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Chestnut Hill.
Who works in Chestnut Hill, and how
Work in Chestnut Hill centers on education and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 49%
- Work from home 28%
- Transit, walk, or bike 23%
Life in Chestnut Hill
Chestnut Hill has more restaurants and bars per resident than 72% of towns and more parkland per resident than 97% of towns. The coast is about 15 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Chestnut Hill and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Chestnut Hill, month by month
Chestnut Hill sees roughly 67 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 Chestnut Hill
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 Chestnut Hill
Schools across Chestnut Hill average an A, better than 96% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mason-riceA+ · 80% proficient
- HeathA · 72% proficient
- John WardA · 72% proficient
Top middle schools
- Charles E Brown MiddleA · 67% proficient
- Oak Hill MiddleA · 65% proficient
- Bigelow MiddleA · 64% proficient
Top high schools
- Newton South HighA+ · 88% proficient
- Newton North HighA+ · 84% proficient
- Brookline HighA+ · 81% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Chestnut Hill school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Chestnut Hill 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 Chestnut Hill against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Chestnut Hill
Is Chestnut Hill a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Chestnut Hill ranks 82nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on an educated workforce, population health, and biking, 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 Chestnut Hill expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,652,613. The overall cost of living runs about 52% above the national average. Set against a $206,922 median income, cost of living beats 96% of towns.
Is Chestnut Hill safe?
Yes, Chestnut Hill is safer than 69% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $250 per resident a year.
Compare Chestnut Hill with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Chestnut Hill. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Chestnut Hill 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.
Chestnut Hill detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Chestnut Hill: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Chestnut Hill: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Chestnut Hill: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Chestnut Hill: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Chestnut Hill 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.