Best PlacesNorth Otis, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around North Otis, 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 Otis ranks 20,210th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in North Otis
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 Otis' strengths and weaknesses
Where North Otis ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 94% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 94% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 91% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 89% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 88% of towns
Where North Otis ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,385 a month, better than only 6% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 12% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in North Otis
A household needs to earn about $103,000 a year to comfortably buy the median North Otis home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $97,274; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Otis' effective rate of 0.88%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in North Otis
North Otis 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 North Otis.
Who works in North Otis, and how
Work in North Otis centers on health care & social and hospitality & food. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in North Otis
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across North Otis.
What the weather is like in North Otis, month by month
North Otis sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 25° | 16° |
| April | 58° | 45° | 34° |
| July | 83° | 71° | 59° |
| October | 63° | 51° | 40° |
Flying in and out of North Otis
Bradley International sits about 30 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 3.3 million passengers in 2025, with 92 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around North Otis
Schools across North Otis average a C+, better than 48% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Becket Washington SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Farmington River ElementaryC · 32% proficient
- Chester ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Gateway Regional Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Gateway Regional HighB+ · 55% proficient
- Lee Middle/high SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every North Otis school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
North Otis 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 Otis against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in North Otis
Is North Otis a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, North Otis ranks 20,210th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on health care access, an educated workforce, and big-city access, and lowest on an overheated housing market and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is North Otis expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $388,422. The overall cost of living runs about 7% above the national average. Set against a $97,274 median income, cost of living beats 72% of towns.
Is North Otis safe?
Yes, North Otis is safer than 81% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $210 per resident a year.
Compare North Otis with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to North Otis. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in North Otis 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 Otis detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for North Otis: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in North Otis: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of North Otis: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in North Otis: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
North Otis 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.