Best PlacesNew Bedford, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around New Bedford, 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.
New Bedford ranks 363rd of 445 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. The coast is about 5 minutes away. Its strengths are walkability and transit. The cost shows up in health outcomes, a weak job market, and an overheated housing market.
The best neighborhoods in New Bedford
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.
New Bedford's strengths and weaknesses
New Bedford ranks near the bottom because several of the basics fall short at once. Walkability, transit, and clean air carry most of that.
The weak spots are broad rather than narrow: health outcomes, a weak job market, and an overheated housing market all drag on the score. Those are area averages, and the map below shows which parts run well above them.
Where New Bedford ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 93% of cities
- TransitBetter than 88% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 88% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 85% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than 67% of cities
Where New Bedford ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 1% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 4% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 4% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 4% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in New Bedford
A household needs to earn about $98,000 a year to comfortably buy the median New Bedford home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $61,998, 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 New Bedford's effective rate of 1.16%, 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 New Bedford
New Bedford 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 New Bedford.
Who works in New Bedford, and how
Work in New Bedford centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in New Bedford
New Bedford has more restaurants and bars per resident than 71% of cities and more parkland per resident than 88% of cities. The coast is about 5 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of New Bedford and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in New Bedford, month by month
New Bedford sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 33° | 23° |
| April | 60° | 48° | 37° |
| July | 86° | 74° | 63° |
| October | 68° | 56° | 45° |
Flying in and out of New Bedford
The nearest airport, Martha's Vineyard, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 49 miles away.
The best schools in and around New Bedford
Schools across New Bedford average a D+, better than 8% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Acushnet Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Betsey B WinslowB− · 43% proficient
- James B CongdonB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dartmouth MiddleB · 45% proficient
- Albert F Ford Middle SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Hastings MiddleC+ · 36% proficient
Top high schools
- Fairhaven HighB+ · 55% proficient
- Gr New Bedford Vocational TechnicalB− · 44% proficient
- Global Learning Charter Public SchoolD · 22% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every New Bedford school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
New Bedford 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 New Bedford against the other 444 cities.
Who New Bedford suits
Families
Schools land around the 8th percentile and crime safety beats 85%.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in New Bedford
Is New Bedford a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, New Bedford ranks 363rd of 445 cities. It scores highest on walkability, transit, and clean air, and lowest on health outcomes and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is New Bedford expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $356,966. The overall cost of living runs about 2% above the national average. Set against a $61,998 median income, cost of living beats 4% of cities.
Is New Bedford safe?
Yes, New Bedford is safer than 85% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $265 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in New Bedford?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 23. That works out to about 78 pleasant days a year, more than 30% of cities.
Is New Bedford good for families?
Schools beat 8% of cities, crime safety beats 85%, and childcare runs $1,514 a month.
Is New Bedford good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 4% of cities, though advertised internet speeds beat only 5% of cities. About 6% of workers already work from home.
Compare New Bedford with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to New Bedford. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in New Bedford 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.
New Bedford detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for New Bedford: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in New Bedford: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of New Bedford: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in New Bedford: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
New Bedford 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.