Best PlacesNewton Upper Falls, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Newton Upper Falls, 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.
Newton Upper Falls ranks 314th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Newton Upper Falls
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.
Newton Upper Falls' strengths and weaknesses
Where Newton Upper Falls ranks high
- BikingBetter than 99% of towns
- TransitBetter than 99% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of towns
Where Newton Upper Falls ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,929 a month, better than only 1% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 5% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 60 pleasant days a year, better than only 8% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 20% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Newton Upper Falls
A household needs to earn about $296,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Newton Upper Falls home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $150,646, 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 Newton Upper Falls' effective rate of 0.90%, 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 Newton Upper Falls
Newton Upper Falls runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Newton Upper Falls.
Who works in Newton Upper Falls, and how
Work in Newton Upper Falls centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 54%
- Work from home 33%
- Transit, walk, or bike 13%
Life in Newton Upper Falls
Newton Upper Falls has more restaurants and bars per resident than 89% of towns. The coast is about 19 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Newton Upper Falls and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Newton Upper Falls, month by month
Newton Upper Falls sees roughly 60 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 Newton Upper Falls
General Edward Lawrence Logan International sits about 11 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 Newton Upper Falls
Schools across Newton Upper Falls average an A, better than 96% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Joseph E FiskeA+ · 73% proficient
- A E AngierA · 65% proficient
- John EliotA− · 61% proficient
Top middle schools
- Charles E Brown MiddleA · 67% proficient
- High Rock SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Wellesley MiddleA · 66% proficient
Top high schools
- Wellesley Sr HighA+ · 91% proficient
- Needham HighA+ · 90% proficient
- Newton South HighA+ · 88% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Newton Upper Falls school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Newton Upper Falls 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 Newton Upper Falls against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Newton Upper Falls
Is Newton Upper Falls a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Newton Upper Falls ranks 314th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on biking, transit, and an educated workforce, 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 Newton Upper Falls expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,118,190. The overall cost of living runs about 49% above the national average. Set against a $150,646 median income, cost of living beats 84% of towns.
Is Newton Upper Falls safe?
Yes, Newton Upper Falls is safer than 84% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $192 per resident a year.
Compare Newton Upper Falls with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Newton Upper Falls. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Newton Upper Falls 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.
Newton Upper Falls detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Newton Upper Falls: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Newton Upper Falls: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Newton Upper Falls: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Newton Upper Falls: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Newton Upper Falls 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.