Best PlacesFitchburg, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Fitchburg, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Fitchburg ranks 1,476th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Fitchburg
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.
Fitchburg's strengths and weaknesses
Where Fitchburg ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 92% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 89% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 82% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 79% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 76% of cities
Where Fitchburg ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 2% of cities
- School gradeD, better than only 5% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,648 a month, better than only 9% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 15% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 16% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Fitchburg
A household needs to earn about $93,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fitchburg home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $80,351, 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 Fitchburg's effective rate of 1.31%, 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 Fitchburg
Fitchburg runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Fitchburg.
Who works in Fitchburg, and how
Work in Fitchburg centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Fitchburg
Fitchburg has more restaurants and bars per resident than 71% of cities and more parkland per resident than 95% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Fitchburg and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Fitchburg, month by month
Fitchburg sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 29° | 19° |
| April | 62° | 49° | 36° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 63° |
| October | 67° | 54° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Fitchburg
The nearest airport, Worcester Regional, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 43 miles away.
The best schools in and around Fitchburg
Schools across Fitchburg average a D, better than 5% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Crocker ElementaryC · 34% proficient
- Reingold ElementaryD+ · 23% proficient
- Mckay Elementary SchoolD · 19% proficient
Top middle schools
- Memorial Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
- Arthur M Longsjo Middle SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Top high schools
- Lunenburg HighA · 78% proficient
- Montachusett Regional Vocational TechnicalA− · 60% proficient
- Leominster High SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fitchburg school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fitchburg 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 Fitchburg against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Fitchburg suits
Families
Schools land around the 5th percentile and crime safety beats 79%.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Fitchburg
Is Fitchburg a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fitchburg ranks 1,476th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on clean air, tree cover, and walkability, and lowest on an overheated housing market and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Fitchburg expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $331,880. The overall cost of living runs about 10% above the national average. Set against a $80,351 median income, cost of living beats 15% of cities.
Is Fitchburg safe?
Yes, Fitchburg is safer than 79% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $226 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Fitchburg?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 40 with lows near 19. That works out to about 69 pleasant days a year, more than 24% of cities.
Is Fitchburg good for families?
Schools beat 5% of cities, crime safety beats 79%, and childcare runs $1,648 a month.
Compare Fitchburg with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fitchburg. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fitchburg 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.
Fitchburg detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fitchburg: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fitchburg: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fitchburg: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fitchburg: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fitchburg 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.