Best PlacesWest Concord, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Concord, 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 Concord ranks 399th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on high incomes by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in West Concord
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 Concord's strengths and weaknesses
Where West Concord ranks high
- Household income$181,735 median, better than 99% of towns
- BikingBetter than 99% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 97% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 97% of towns
Where West Concord ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,897 a month, better than only 1% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 8% of towns
- Short commute34.8 minutes each way, better than only 14% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 64 pleasant days a year, better than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in West Concord
A household needs to earn about $272,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Concord home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $181,735, 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 Concord's effective rate of 1.29%, 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 Concord
West Concord runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for West Concord.
Who works in West Concord, and how
Work in West Concord centers on professional & technical and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 55%
- Work from home 32%
- Transit, walk, or bike 13%
Life in West Concord
West Concord has more restaurants and bars per resident than 66% of towns and more parkland per resident than 95% of towns. The coast is about 31 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of West Concord and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in West Concord, month by month
West Concord sees roughly 64 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 West Concord
General Edward Lawrence Logan International sits about 21 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 West Concord
Schools across West Concord average an A, better than 95% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- ThoreauA · 70% proficient
- Josiah HaynesA · 65% proficient
- Happy Hollow SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Wayland Middle SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
- Concord MiddleA · 61% proficient
- Lincoln Middle SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Acton-boxborough Regional HighA+ · 89% proficient
- Concord Carlisle HighA+ · 87% proficient
- Wayland High SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Concord school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Concord 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 Concord against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in West Concord
Is West Concord a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Concord ranks 399th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on high incomes, biking, and an educated workforce, and lowest on childcare costs and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is West Concord expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $975,902. The overall cost of living runs about 39% above the national average. Set against a $181,735 median income, cost of living beats 95% of towns.
Is West Concord safe?
Yes, West Concord is safer than 96% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $146 per resident a year.
Compare West Concord with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Concord. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Concord 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 Concord detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Concord: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Concord: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Concord: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Concord: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Concord 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.