Best PlacesWest Roxbury, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Roxbury, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
West Roxbury ranks 324th of 2,098 U.S. cities 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 West Roxbury
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 Roxbury's strengths and weaknesses
Where West Roxbury ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 96% of cities
- TransitBetter than 95% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 94% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 92% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than 87% of cities
Where West Roxbury ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,307 a month, better than only 1% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 60 pleasant days a year, better than only 8% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 10% of cities
- Short commute31.8 minutes each way, better than only 15% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 22% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in West Roxbury
A household needs to earn about $194,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Roxbury home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $134,872, 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 Roxbury's effective rate of 0.58%, 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 Roxbury
West Roxbury 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 Roxbury.
Who works in West Roxbury, and how
Work in West Roxbury centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 58%
- Work from home 26%
- Transit, walk, or bike 16%
Life in West Roxbury
West Roxbury has more parkland per resident than 96% of cities. The coast is about 18 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of West Roxbury and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in West Roxbury, month by month
West Roxbury sees roughly 60 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 32° | 22° |
| April | 63° | 50° | 38° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 62° |
| October | 69° | 56° | 42° |
Flying in and out of West Roxbury
General Edward Lawrence Logan International sits about 10 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 Roxbury
Schools across West Roxbury average a B, better than 64% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- BroadmeadowA · 70% proficient
- Edith C BakerA · 69% proficient
- William H LincolnA · 66% proficient
Top middle schools
- High Rock SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Dedham Middle SchoolB− · 39% proficient
- Ohrenberger SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Needham HighA+ · 90% proficient
- Newton South HighA+ · 88% proficient
- Brookline HighA+ · 81% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Roxbury school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Roxbury 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 Roxbury against the other 2,097 cities.
Who West Roxbury suits
Common questions about living in West Roxbury
Is West Roxbury a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Roxbury ranks 324th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on an educated workforce, transit, and health care access, and lowest on childcare costs and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is West Roxbury expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $766,436. The overall cost of living runs about 33% above the national average. Set against a $134,872 median income, cost of living beats 64% of cities.
Is West Roxbury safe?
Yes, West Roxbury is safer than 77% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $235 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in West Roxbury?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 22. That works out to about 60 pleasant days a year, more than 8% of cities.
Is West Roxbury good for families?
Schools beat 64% of cities, crime safety beats 77%, and childcare runs $2,307 a month.
Compare West Roxbury with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Roxbury. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Roxbury 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 Roxbury detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Roxbury: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Roxbury: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Roxbury: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Roxbury: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Roxbury 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.