Best PlacesSaugus, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Saugus, 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.
Saugus ranks 891st of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Saugus
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.
Saugus' strengths and weaknesses
Where Saugus ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 92% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 91% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 82% of cities
- TransitBetter than 81% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 79% of cities
Where Saugus ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,905 a month, better than only 4% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 20% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 71 pleasant days a year, better than only 28% of cities
- Short commute29.1 minutes each way, better than only 30% of cities
- School gradeC, better than only 31% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Saugus
A household needs to earn about $160,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Saugus home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $106,230, 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 Saugus' effective rate of 0.98%, 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 Saugus
Saugus runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Saugus.
Who works in Saugus, and how
Work in Saugus centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Saugus
Saugus has more restaurants and bars per resident than 84% of cities and more parkland per resident than 80% of cities. The coast is about 7 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Saugus and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Saugus, month by month
Saugus sees roughly 71 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 32° | 25° |
| April | 60° | 49° | 40° |
| July | 86° | 75° | 67° |
| October | 67° | 57° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Saugus
General Edward Lawrence Logan International sits about 7 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 Saugus
Schools across Saugus average a C, better than 31% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Huckleberry HillA · 70% proficient
- WinthropA · 65% proficient
- Horace MannA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Melrose MiddleA− · 54% proficient
- Galvin Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Saugus Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- Melrose HighA · 69% proficient
- Wakefield Memorial HighA− · 67% proficient
- Revere HighB · 49% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Saugus school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Saugus 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 Saugus against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Saugus suits
Families
Schools land around the 31st percentile and crime safety beats 75%.
Common questions about living in Saugus
Is Saugus a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Saugus ranks 891st of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on tree cover, clean air, and health care access, and lowest on childcare costs and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Saugus expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $597,458. The overall cost of living runs about 23% above the national average. Set against a $106,230 median income, cost of living beats 38% of cities.
Is Saugus safe?
Yes, Saugus is safer than 75% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $234 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Saugus?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 42 with lows near 25. That works out to about 71 pleasant days a year, more than 28% of cities.
Is Saugus good for families?
Schools beat 31% of cities, crime safety beats 75%, and childcare runs $1,905 a month.
Compare Saugus with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Saugus. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Saugus 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.
Saugus detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Saugus: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Saugus: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Saugus: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Saugus: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Saugus 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.