Best PlacesLancaster, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lancaster, 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.
Lancaster ranks 4,048th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on high incomes by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Lancaster
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.
Lancaster's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lancaster ranks high
- Household income$138,751 median, better than 96% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 95% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 95% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 94% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 94% of towns
Where Lancaster ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,648 a month, better than only 1% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 9% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 13% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 64 pleasant days a year, better than only 14% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lancaster
A household needs to earn about $143,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lancaster home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $138,751; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Lancaster's effective rate of 1.57%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Lancaster
Lancaster runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Lancaster.
Who works in Lancaster, and how
Work in Lancaster centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 61%
- Work from home 35%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Lancaster
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Lancaster.
What the weather is like in Lancaster, month by month
Lancaster sees roughly 64 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 Lancaster
The nearest airport, Worcester Regional, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 35 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lancaster
Schools across Lancaster average a B, better than 70% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mary Rowlandson ElementaryB · 47% proficient
- Lura A. White Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Clinton ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Luther Burbank Middle SchoolA · 59% proficient
- Ayer Shirley Regional Middle SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Sky View Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Nashoba RegionalA · 78% proficient
- BromfieldA · 70% proficient
- Leominster High SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lancaster school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lancaster 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 Lancaster against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lancaster
Is Lancaster a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lancaster ranks 4,048th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on high incomes, few empty homes, and population health, and lowest on childcare costs and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lancaster expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $496,081. The overall cost of living runs about 15% above the national average. Set against a $138,751 median income, cost of living beats 90% of towns.
Is Lancaster safe?
Yes, Lancaster is safer than 91% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $176 per resident a year.
Compare Lancaster with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lancaster. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lancaster 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.
Lancaster detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lancaster: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lancaster: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lancaster: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lancaster: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lancaster 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.