Best PlacesNew England, ND Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around New England, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
New England ranks 11,562nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in New England
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 England's strengths and weaknesses
Where New England ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 96% of towns
- Short commute18.1 minutes each way, better than 93% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 88% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 130 pleasant days a year, better than 85% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 83% of towns
Where New England ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 24% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 26% of towns
- Cheap childcare$954 a month, better than only 29% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in New England
A household needs to earn about $54,000 a year to comfortably buy the median New England home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,789, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 England's effective rate of 0.79%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in New England
New England runs older 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 England.
Who works in New England, and how
Work in New England centers on construction and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in New England
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across New England.
What the weather is like in New England, month by month
New England sees roughly 130 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 30, with lows near 7. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30° | 18° | 7° |
| April | 56° | 40° | 26° |
| July | 87° | 70° | 55° |
| October | 60° | 44° | 31° |
Flying in and out of New England
The nearest airport, Dickinson/Theodore Roosevelt Regional, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 470 miles away.
The best schools in and around New England
Schools across New England average a C, better than 32% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Sundance ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Mott-regent Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- South Heart Elementary SchoolC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- Sundance Secondary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Mott-regent High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- South Heart High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every New England school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
New England 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 England against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in New England
Is New England a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, New England ranks 11,562nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, short commutes, and low taxes, and lowest on tree cover and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is New England expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $207,065. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $75,789 median income, cost of living beats 76% of towns.
Is New England safe?
New England is safer than 47% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $394 per resident a year.
Compare New England with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to New England. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in New England 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 England detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for New England: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in New England: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of New England: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in New England: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
New England 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.