Best PlacesNatick, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Natick, 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.
Natick ranks 122nd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on an educated workforce by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Natick
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.
Natick's strengths and weaknesses
Where Natick ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 97% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 93% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 92% of cities
Where Natick ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,897 a month, better than only 4% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 62 pleasant days a year, better than only 11% of cities
- Short commute30.7 minutes each way, better than only 21% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 22% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 26% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Natick
A household needs to earn about $217,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Natick home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $147,698, 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 Natick's effective rate of 1.06%, 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 Natick
Natick runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Natick.
Who works in Natick, and how
Work in Natick centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 64%
- Work from home 25%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Natick
Natick has more restaurants and bars per resident than 81% of cities and more parkland per resident than 86% of cities. The coast is about 27 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Natick and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Natick, month by month
Natick sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 32° | 22° |
| April | 63° | 50° | 38° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 62° |
| October | 69° | 56° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Natick
General Edward Lawrence Logan International sits about 19 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 Natick
Schools across Natick average an A−, better than 90% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Katharine Lee BatesA · 70% proficient
- Loker SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Claypit Hill SchoolA · 69% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dover-sherborn Regional Middle SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
- Wayland Middle SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
- Wellesley MiddleA · 66% proficient
Top high schools
- Dover-sherborn Regional HighA+ · 94% proficient
- Wellesley Sr HighA+ · 91% proficient
- Ashland HighA+ · 85% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Natick school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Natick 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 Natick against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Natick suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 77% of cities and 25% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Natick
Is Natick a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Natick ranks 122nd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on an educated workforce, health care access, and tree cover, and lowest on childcare costs and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Natick expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $800,714. The overall cost of living runs about 30% above the national average. Set against a $147,698 median income, cost of living beats 77% of cities.
Is Natick safe?
Yes, Natick is safer than 92% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $195 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Natick?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 22. That works out to about 62 pleasant days a year, more than 11% of cities.
Is Natick good for families?
Schools beat 90% of cities, crime safety beats 92%, and childcare runs $1,897 a month.
Compare Natick with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Natick. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Natick 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.
Natick detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Natick: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Natick: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Natick: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Natick: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Natick 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.