Best PlacesNorth Ashburnham, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around North Ashburnham, 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.
North Ashburnham ranks 7,702nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in North Ashburnham
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.
North Ashburnham's strengths and weaknesses
Where North Ashburnham ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 92% of towns
- Household income$114,482 median, better than 92% of towns
Where North Ashburnham ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,648 a month, better than only 1% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 12% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 15% of towns
- Short commute34.6 minutes each way, better than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in North Ashburnham
A household needs to earn about $106,000 a year to comfortably buy the median North Ashburnham home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $114,482, 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 North Ashburnham's effective rate of 1.33%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in North Ashburnham
North Ashburnham runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for North Ashburnham.
Who works in North Ashburnham, and how
Work in North Ashburnham centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in North Ashburnham
North Ashburnham has more restaurants and bars per resident than 99% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of North Ashburnham and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in North Ashburnham, month by month
North Ashburnham sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 26° | 16° |
| April | 58° | 45° | 33° |
| July | 85° | 72° | 60° |
| October | 64° | 51° | 40° |
Flying in and out of North Ashburnham
The nearest airport, Worcester Regional, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 53 miles away.
The best schools in and around North Ashburnham
Schools across North Ashburnham average a C+, better than 52% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Rindge Memorial SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Ashby ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Boynton Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
- Murdock Middle SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- Mascenic Regional High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Murdock High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every North Ashburnham school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
North Ashburnham 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 North Ashburnham against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in North Ashburnham
Is North Ashburnham a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, North Ashburnham ranks 7,702nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, heat safety, and tree cover, and lowest on childcare costs and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is North Ashburnham expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $376,691. The overall cost of living runs about 13% above the national average. Set against a $114,482 median income, cost of living beats 78% of towns.
Is North Ashburnham safe?
Yes, North Ashburnham is safer than 99% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $111 per resident a year.
Compare North Ashburnham with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to North Ashburnham. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in North Ashburnham 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.
North Ashburnham detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for North Ashburnham: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in North Ashburnham: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of North Ashburnham: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in North Ashburnham: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
North Ashburnham 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.