Best PlacesFall River, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Fall River, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Fall River ranks 1,649th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Fall River
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 Fall River
The parts of Fall River, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
Highlands-Providence & Steep Brook
Sandy Beach & Maplewood
North End
Flint Village
Corky Row
Lower Highlands
Scores across Fall River run from about the 6th to the 80th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Fall River's strengths and weaknesses
Where Fall River ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 97% of cities
- TransitBetter than 93% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than 86% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 79% of cities
- BikingBetter than 78% of cities
Where Fall River ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 5% of cities
- School gradeD, better than only 6% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 6% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than only 7% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Fall River
A household needs to earn about $108,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fall River home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $63,400, 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 Fall River's effective rate of 0.98%, 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 Fall River
Fall River's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Fall River.
Who works in Fall River, and how
Work in Fall River centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Fall River
Fall River has more restaurants and bars per resident than 82% of cities and more parkland per resident than 87% of cities. The coast is about 16 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Fall River and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Fall River, month by month
Fall River sees roughly 79 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 33° | 23° |
| April | 60° | 48° | 37° |
| July | 86° | 74° | 63° |
| October | 68° | 56° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Fall River
The nearest airport, Rhode Island Tf Green International, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 46 miles away.
The best schools in and around Fall River
Schools across Fall River average a D, better than 6% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- James TanseyC+ · 37% proficient
- Spencer BordenC · 34% proficient
- North End ElementaryC · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- Matthew J Kuss MiddleC · 31% proficient
- Morton MiddleD · 23% proficient
- Talbot Innovation SchoolF · 9% proficient
Top high schools
- Diman Regional Vocational Technical HighB+ · 54% proficient
- B M C Durfee HighC− · 27% proficient
- Argosy Collegiate Charter SchoolD− · 17% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fall River school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fall River 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 Fall River against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Fall River suits
Families
Schools land around the 6th percentile and crime safety beats 62%.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Fall River
Is Fall River a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fall River ranks 1,649th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on walkability, transit, and cell coverage, and lowest on an overheated housing market and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Fall River expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $402,625. The overall cost of living runs about 1% below the national average. Set against a $63,400 median income, cost of living beats 6% of cities.
Is Fall River safe?
Yes, Fall River is safer than 62% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $271 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Fall River?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 23. That works out to about 79 pleasant days a year, more than 42% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Fall River?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Highlands-Providence & Steep Brook, Sandy Beach & Maplewood, and North End. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Fall River with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fall River. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fall River 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.
Fall River detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fall River: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fall River: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fall River: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fall River: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fall River 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.