Best PlacesWest Berlin, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Berlin, 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.
West Berlin ranks 2,454th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in West Berlin
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.
West Berlin's strengths and weaknesses
Where West Berlin ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of towns
- Household income$138,471 median, better than 96% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 96% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 95% of towns
Where West Berlin ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,648 a month, better than only 1% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 18% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 18% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 23% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in West Berlin
A household needs to earn about $179,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Berlin home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $138,471, 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 West Berlin's effective rate of 1.25%, 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 West Berlin
West Berlin 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 West Berlin.
Who works in West Berlin, and how
Work in West Berlin centers on professional & technical and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 27%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in West Berlin
The coast is about 46 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across West Berlin, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in West Berlin, month by month
West Berlin sees roughly 75 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 West Berlin
The nearest airport, Worcester Regional, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 34 miles away.
The best schools in and around West Berlin
Schools across West Berlin average a B, better than 74% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Berlin Memorial SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Marion E ZehB · 47% proficient
Top middle schools
- Robert E. Melican Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Clinton Middle SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Tahanto Regional HighA− · 63% proficient
- Clinton Senior HighC+ · 40% proficient
- Hudson HighC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Berlin school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Berlin 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 West Berlin against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in West Berlin
Is West Berlin a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Berlin ranks 2,454th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, health care access, and high incomes, and lowest on childcare costs and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is West Berlin expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $643,741. The overall cost of living runs about 17% above the national average. Set against a $138,471 median income, cost of living beats 92% of towns.
Is West Berlin safe?
Yes, West Berlin is safer than 100% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $105 per resident a year.
Compare West Berlin with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Berlin. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Berlin 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.
West Berlin detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Berlin: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Berlin: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Berlin: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Berlin: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Berlin 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.