Best PlacesMiddlesex County, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Middlesex County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Middlesex County ranks 22nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $144,102, wages outrun the cost of living, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are childcare costs, noise, and the weather.
The best neighborhoods in Middlesex County
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.
The best areas in Middlesex County
The parts of Middlesex County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Lexington
Tree cover is thicker, local pay stretches further, and more adults hold degrees.
Waltham, Newton & Watertown Town
Streets are more walkable and biking is better.
Acton, Hudson & Maynard
Crime runs lower, though transit reaches fewer jobs.
Cambridge
Fewer households have young kids and fewer residents vote.
Reading, Wakefield & North Reading
Schools score higher and incomes run higher.
Westford, Chelmsford & Tyngsboro
Homes cost less and it is quieter.
Malden, Medford & Somerville
Scores close to Westford, Chelmsford & Tyngsboro, except that more homes sit empty here.
Framingham, Marlborough & Natick
Lowell & Tewksbury
Health care is harder to reach and prices have run up more.
Scores across Middlesex County run from about the 17th to the 100th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Middlesex County's strengths and weaknesses
Middlesex County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. An educated workforce is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. High incomes and walkability follow.
The one real hole is childcare costs, near the bottom of the country. Noise and the weather also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Middlesex County ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of counties
- Household income$144,102 median, better than 99% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of counties
- BikingBetter than 98% of counties
Where Middlesex County ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,897 a month, better than only 1% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 3% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 66 pleasant days a year, better than only 13% of counties
- Short commute29.9 minutes each way, better than only 16% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Middlesex County
A household needs to earn about $212,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Middlesex County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $144,102, 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 Middlesex County's effective rate of 0.99%, 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 Middlesex County
Middlesex County'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 Middlesex County.
Who works in Middlesex County, and how
Work in Middlesex County 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 61%
- Work from home 24%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in Middlesex County
The coast is about 23 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Middlesex County, which the map shows.
Is Middlesex County growing, and who is moving in?
Middlesex County has grown about 6% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Boston, MA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Middlesex County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Middlesex County, month by month
Middlesex County sees roughly 66 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 Middlesex County
General Edward Lawrence Logan International sits about 14 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 Middlesex County
Schools across Middlesex County average a B, better than 82% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Hildreth Elementary SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- Winn BrookA+ · 83% proficient
- Mason-riceA+ · 80% proficient
Top middle schools
- Wm Diamond MiddleA+ · 78% proficient
- Weston MiddleA+ · 76% proficient
- Jonas Clarke MiddleA+ · 74% proficient
Top high schools
- Dover-sherborn Regional HighA+ · 94% proficient
- Lexington HighA+ · 92% proficient
- Wellesley Sr HighA+ · 91% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Middlesex County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Middlesex County 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 Middlesex County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Middlesex County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 94% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 24% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Middlesex County
Is Middlesex County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Middlesex County ranks 22nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on an educated workforce, high incomes, and walkability, and lowest on childcare costs and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Middlesex County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $791,301. The overall cost of living runs about 32% above the national average. Set against a $144,102 median income, cost of living beats 94% of counties.
Is Middlesex County safe?
Yes, Middlesex County is safer than 95% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $215 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Middlesex County?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 20. That works out to about 66 pleasant days a year, more than 13% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Middlesex County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Lexington, Waltham, Newton & Watertown Town, and Acton, Hudson & Maynard. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Middlesex County good for families?
Schools beat 82% of counties, crime safety beats 95%, and childcare runs $1,897 a month.
Is Middlesex County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 94% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 61% of counties. About 24% of workers already work from home.
Compare Middlesex County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Middlesex County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Middlesex County 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.
Middlesex County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Middlesex County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Middlesex County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Middlesex County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Middlesex County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Middlesex County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.