Best PlacesMethuen Town, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Methuen Town, 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.
Methuen Town ranks 967th 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 Methuen Town
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.
Methuen Town's strengths and weaknesses
Where Methuen Town ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 95% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than 91% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 86% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 73% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 72% of cities
Where Methuen Town ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,897 a month, better than only 4% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 12% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 62 pleasant days a year, better than only 12% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 13% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 20% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Methuen Town
A household needs to earn about $135,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Methuen Town home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $113,331, 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 Methuen Town's effective rate of 0.98%, 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 Methuen Town
Methuen Town's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Methuen Town.
Who works in Methuen Town, and how
Work in Methuen Town centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Methuen Town
Methuen Town has more restaurants and bars per resident than 93% of cities and more parkland per resident than 84% of cities. The coast is about 24 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Methuen Town and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Methuen Town, month by month
Methuen Town sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 30° | 21° |
| April | 61° | 48° | 37° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 64° |
| October | 67° | 55° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Methuen Town
The nearest airport, Manchester Boston Regional, is about 19 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 27 miles away.
The best schools in and around Methuen Town
Schools across Methuen Town average a C−, better than 22% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- High Plain ElementaryA+ · 76% proficient
- William T. Barron Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Marsh Grammar SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Wood Hill Middle SchoolA · 62% proficient
- Woodbury SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Consentino Middle SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- North Andover HighA · 67% proficient
- Salem High SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Methuen HighB · 46% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Methuen Town school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Methuen Town 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 Methuen Town against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Methuen Town suits
Families
Schools land around the 22nd percentile and crime safety beats 73%.
Common questions about living in Methuen Town
Is Methuen Town a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Methuen Town ranks 967th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on clean air, few empty homes, and tree cover, and lowest on childcare costs and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Methuen Town expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $505,435. The overall cost of living runs about 19% above the national average. Set against a $113,331 median income, cost of living beats 49% of cities.
Is Methuen Town safe?
Yes, Methuen Town is safer than 73% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $241 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Methuen Town?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 40 with lows near 21. That works out to about 62 pleasant days a year, more than 12% of cities.
Is Methuen Town good for families?
Schools beat 22% of cities, crime safety beats 73%, and childcare runs $1,897 a month.
Compare Methuen Town with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Methuen Town. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Methuen Town 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.
Methuen Town detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Methuen Town: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Methuen Town: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Methuen Town: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Methuen Town: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Methuen Town 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.