Best PlacesHolyoke, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Holyoke, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Holyoke ranks 1,797th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Holyoke
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.
Holyoke's strengths and weaknesses
Where Holyoke ranks high
- TransitBetter than 95% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of cities
- Short commute19.3 minutes each way, better than 90% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 89% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 85% of cities
Where Holyoke ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 1% of cities
- School gradeD, better than only 4% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 5% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 5% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than only 8% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Holyoke
A household needs to earn about $75,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Holyoke home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $61,670, 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 Holyoke's effective rate of 1.41%, 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 Holyoke
Holyoke'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 Holyoke.
Who works in Holyoke, and how
Work in Holyoke centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in Holyoke
Holyoke has more restaurants and bars per resident than 76% of cities and more parkland per resident than 89% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Holyoke and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Holyoke, month by month
Holyoke sees roughly 64 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 28° | 18° |
| April | 62° | 48° | 35° |
| July | 88° | 74° | 61° |
| October | 68° | 53° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Holyoke
Bradley International sits about 18 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 3.3 million passengers in 2025, with 92 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Holyoke
Schools across Holyoke average a D, better than 4% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- William E NorrisB+ · 51% proficient
- Fairview ElementaryD · 18% proficient
- Joseph Metcalf SchoolD · 18% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bellamy MiddleD · 23% proficient
- Holyoke Stem AcademyF · 6% proficient
- William R. Peck SchoolF · 3% proficient
Top high schools
- Chicopee Comprehensive High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
- Holyoke HighD+ · 24% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Holyoke school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Holyoke 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 Holyoke against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Holyoke suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Holyoke
Is Holyoke a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Holyoke ranks 1,797th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on transit, walkability, and short commutes, and lowest on noise and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Holyoke expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $266,150. The overall cost of living runs about 1% below the national average. Set against a $61,670 median income, cost of living beats 5% of cities.
Is Holyoke safe?
Holyoke is safer than 39% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $354 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Holyoke?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 39 with lows near 18. That works out to about 64 pleasant days a year, more than 14% of cities.
Is Holyoke good for families?
Schools beat 4% of cities, crime safety beats 39%, and childcare runs $1,385 a month.
Compare Holyoke with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Holyoke. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Holyoke 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.
Holyoke detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Holyoke: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Holyoke: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Holyoke: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Holyoke: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Holyoke 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.