Best PlacesMedford, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Medford, 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.
Medford ranks 348th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Medford
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.
Medford's strengths and weaknesses
Where Medford ranks high
- BikingBetter than 98% of cities
- TransitBetter than 97% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 97% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 93% of cities
- Household income$142,314 median, better than 89% of cities
Where Medford ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 1% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,897 a month, better than only 4% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 18% of cities
- Short commute30.2 minutes each way, better than only 24% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 70 pleasant days a year, better than only 27% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Medford
A household needs to earn about $198,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Medford home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $142,314, 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 Medford's effective rate of 0.82%, 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 Medford
Medford runs younger than the country, 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 Medford.
Who works in Medford, and how
Work in Medford centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 54%
- Work from home 26%
- Transit, walk, or bike 19%
Life in Medford
Medford has more restaurants and bars per resident than 66% of cities and more parkland per resident than 91% of cities. The coast is about 9 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Medford and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Medford, month by month
Medford sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 32° | 25° |
| April | 60° | 49° | 40° |
| July | 86° | 75° | 67° |
| October | 67° | 57° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Medford
General Edward Lawrence Logan International sits about 6 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 Medford
Schools across Medford average a B−, better than 44% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Lincoln ElementaryA · 71% proficient
- John A BishopA · 67% proficient
- Benjamin G BrownA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- Gibbs SchoolA+ · 68% proficient
- Mccall MiddleA · 66% proficient
- Madeleine Dugger AndrewsB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Winchester High SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Arlington HighA+ · 82% proficient
- Medford HighB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Medford school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Medford 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 Medford against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Medford suits
Common questions about living in Medford
Is Medford a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Medford ranks 348th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on biking, transit, and walkability, and lowest on noise and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Medford expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $754,337. The overall cost of living runs about 34% above the national average. Set against a $142,314 median income, cost of living beats 65% of cities.
Is Medford safe?
Medford is safer than 54% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $294 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Medford?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 42 with lows near 25. That works out to about 70 pleasant days a year, more than 27% of cities.
Is Medford good for families?
Schools beat 44% of cities, crime safety beats 54%, and childcare runs $1,897 a month.
Compare Medford with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Medford. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Medford 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.
Medford detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Medford: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Medford: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Medford: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Medford: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Medford 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.