Best PlacesFramingham, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Framingham, 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.
Framingham ranks 749th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Framingham
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.
Framingham's strengths and weaknesses
Where Framingham ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 93% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 88% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 81% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than 78% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 74% of cities
Where Framingham ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,897 a month, better than only 4% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 64 pleasant days a year, better than only 14% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 16% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 20% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 20% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Framingham
A household needs to earn about $160,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Framingham home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $114,589, 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 Framingham's effective rate of 1.09%, 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 Framingham
Framingham'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 Framingham.
Who works in Framingham, and how
Work in Framingham centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 71%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Framingham
Framingham has more restaurants and bars per resident than 72% of cities and more parkland per resident than 87% of cities. The coast is about 29 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Framingham and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Framingham, month by month
Framingham sees roughly 64 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 30° | 20° |
| April | 62° | 48° | 36° |
| July | 87° | 74° | 62° |
| October | 67° | 54° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Framingham
General Edward Lawrence Logan International sits about 22 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 Framingham
Schools across Framingham average a B−, better than 48% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- HemenwayB+ · 54% proficient
- Potter RoadB− · 40% proficient
- Charlotte A DunningB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Walsh MiddleB · 46% proficient
- Christa Mcauliffe Charter SchoolB− · 39% proficient
- Cameron Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Framingham High SchoolA− · 64% proficient
- Joseph P Keefe Technical High SchoolD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Framingham school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Framingham 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 Framingham against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Framingham suits
Families
Schools land around the 48th percentile and crime safety beats 74%.
Common questions about living in Framingham
Is Framingham a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Framingham ranks 749th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on clean air, tree cover, and walkability, and lowest on childcare costs and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Framingham expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $590,219. The overall cost of living runs about 22% above the national average. Set against a $114,589 median income, cost of living beats 50% of cities.
Is Framingham safe?
Yes, Framingham is safer than 74% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $248 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Framingham?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 20. That works out to about 64 pleasant days a year, more than 14% of cities.
Is Framingham good for families?
Schools beat 48% of cities, crime safety beats 74%, and childcare runs $1,897 a month.
Compare Framingham with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Framingham. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Framingham 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.
Framingham detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Framingham: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Framingham: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Framingham: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Framingham: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Framingham 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.