Best PlacesSouth Amherst, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around South Amherst, 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.
South Amherst ranks 628th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on an educated workforce by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in South Amherst
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.
South Amherst's strengths and weaknesses
Where South Amherst ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of towns
- BikingBetter than 99% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 98% of towns
- Household income$151,397 median, better than 97% of towns
Where South Amherst ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,385 a month, better than only 6% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 6% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 65 pleasant days a year, better than only 16% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 20% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in South Amherst
A household needs to earn about $149,000 a year to comfortably buy the median South Amherst home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $151,397, 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 South Amherst's effective rate of 1.71%, 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 South Amherst
South Amherst 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 South Amherst.
Who works in South Amherst, and how
Work in South Amherst centers on education and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 54%
- Work from home 28%
- Transit, walk, or bike 18%
Life in South Amherst
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across South Amherst.
What the weather is like in South Amherst, month by month
South Amherst sees roughly 65 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 28° | 18° |
| April | 62° | 48° | 35° |
| July | 88° | 74° | 61° |
| October | 68° | 53° | 41° |
Flying in and out of South Amherst
Bradley International sits about 28 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 South Amherst
Schools across South Amherst average a B, better than 75% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Crocker Farm ElementaryB · 47% proficient
- Fort River ElementaryB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Amherst Regional Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top high schools
- Amherst Regional HighA+ · 80% proficient
- Granby Jr Sr High SchoolC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every South Amherst school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
South Amherst 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 South Amherst against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in South Amherst
Is South Amherst a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, South Amherst ranks 628th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on an educated workforce, population health, and biking, and lowest on childcare costs and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is South Amherst expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $506,068. The overall cost of living runs about 9% above the national average. Set against a $151,397 median income, cost of living beats 98% of towns.
Is South Amherst safe?
Yes, South Amherst is safer than 91% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $168 per resident a year.
Compare South Amherst with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to South Amherst. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in South Amherst 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.
South Amherst detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for South Amherst: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in South Amherst: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of South Amherst: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in South Amherst: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
South Amherst 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.