Best PlacesShrewsbury, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Shrewsbury, 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.
Shrewsbury ranks 130th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Shrewsbury
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.
Shrewsbury's strengths and weaknesses
Where Shrewsbury ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 98% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 96% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than 95% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 94% of cities
Where Shrewsbury ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 1% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,648 a month, better than only 9% of cities
- Short commute30.9 minutes each way, better than only 20% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 20% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 34% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Shrewsbury
A household needs to earn about $164,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Shrewsbury home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $150,845; 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 Shrewsbury's effective rate of 1.14%, 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 Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Shrewsbury.
Who works in Shrewsbury, and how
Work in Shrewsbury centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 26%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury has more parkland per resident than 93% of cities. The coast is about 46 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Shrewsbury and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Shrewsbury, month by month
Shrewsbury sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 28° | 19° |
| April | 58° | 46° | 36° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 63° |
| October | 64° | 53° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Shrewsbury
The nearest airport, Worcester Regional, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 37 miles away.
The best schools in and around Shrewsbury
Schools across Shrewsbury average an A−, better than 86% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Spring Street SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Floral Street SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Walter J. Paton SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mill Pond SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Oak Middle SchoolA · 61% proficient
- Sherwood Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
Top high schools
- Westborough HighA+ · 88% proficient
- Shrewsbury High SchoolA+ · 81% proficient
- Grafton High SchoolA · 74% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Shrewsbury school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Shrewsbury 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 Shrewsbury against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Shrewsbury suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 83% of cities and 26% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Shrewsbury
Is Shrewsbury a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Shrewsbury ranks 130th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on low crime, heat safety, and tree cover, and lowest on internet speeds and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Shrewsbury expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $598,618. The overall cost of living runs about 20% above the national average. Set against a $150,845 median income, cost of living beats 83% of cities.
Is Shrewsbury safe?
Yes, Shrewsbury is safer than 99% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $141 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Shrewsbury?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 37 with lows near 19. That works out to about 78 pleasant days a year, more than 42% of cities.
Is Shrewsbury good for families?
Schools beat 86% of cities, crime safety beats 99%, and childcare runs $1,648 a month.
Compare Shrewsbury with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Shrewsbury. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Shrewsbury 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.
Shrewsbury detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Shrewsbury: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Shrewsbury: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Shrewsbury: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Shrewsbury: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Shrewsbury 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.