Best PlacesThe Lanes, Waltham, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around The Lanes, Waltham, 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.
The Lanes, Waltham ranks 361st of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and walkability ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in The Lanes, Waltham
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.
The Lanes, Waltham's strengths and weaknesses
Where The Lanes, Waltham ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- Household income$169,733 median, better than 95% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than 95% of neighborhoods
- Local economyBetter than 94% of neighborhoods
Where The Lanes, Waltham ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$1,897 a month, better than only 9% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than only 14% of neighborhoods
- Nice weatherabout 65 pleasant days a year, better than only 16% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than only 23% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in The Lanes, Waltham
A household needs to earn about $207,000 a year to comfortably buy the median The Lanes, Waltham home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $169,733, 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 The Lanes, Waltham's effective rate of 0.71%, 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 The Lanes, Waltham
The Lanes, Waltham runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for The Lanes, Waltham.
Who works in The Lanes, Waltham, and how
Work in The Lanes, Waltham centers on professional & technical and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 66%
- Work from home 25%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in The Lanes, Waltham
The coast is about 22 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across The Lanes, Waltham, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in The Lanes, Waltham, month by month
The Lanes, Waltham sees roughly 65 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 30° | 20° |
| April | 62° | 48° | 36° |
| July | 87° | 74° | 62° |
| October | 67° | 54° | 42° |
Flying in and out of The Lanes, Waltham
General Edward Lawrence Logan International sits about 12 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 The Lanes, Waltham
Schools across The Lanes, Waltham average a B−, better than 63% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Douglas Macarthur Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Thomas R Plympton Elementary SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Northeast Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- John F Kennedy MiddleB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Waltham Sr HighB · 46% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every The Lanes, Waltham school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
The Lanes, Waltham 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 The Lanes, Waltham against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in The Lanes, Waltham
Is The Lanes, Waltham a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, The Lanes, Waltham ranks 361st of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on tree cover, low crime, and high incomes, and lowest on walkability and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is The Lanes, Waltham expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $801,919. The overall cost of living runs about 29% above the national average. Set against a $169,733 median income, cost of living beats 91% of neighborhoods.
Is The Lanes, Waltham safe?
Yes, The Lanes, Waltham is safer than 98% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $161 per resident a year.
Compare The Lanes, Waltham with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to The Lanes, Waltham. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in The Lanes, Waltham 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.
The Lanes, Waltham detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for The Lanes, Waltham: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in The Lanes, Waltham: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of The Lanes, Waltham: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in The Lanes, Waltham: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
The Lanes, Waltham 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.