Best PlacesLexington, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Lexington area, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Lexington ranks 7th of 2098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores best on tree cover and lowest on childcare costs.
The best neighborhoods in Lexington
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.
Lexington's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lexington ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 100% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 100% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of cities
- Household income$221,266 median, better than 99% of cities
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of cities
Where Lexington ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,897 a month, better than only 4% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 6% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 65 pleasant days a year, better than only 17% of cities
- Short commute30.8 minutes each way, better than only 20% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 25% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Lexington
A household needs to earn about $359,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lexington home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $221,266, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment and a 6.8% 30-year fixed rate. The rate updates weekly from Freddie Mac; property tax uses Lexington's effective rate against the median home value.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first ten 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 Lexington
Lexington runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Lexington.
Who works in Lexington, and how
Work in Lexington centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 55%
- Work from home 36%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Lexington
Lexington has more parkland per resident than 91% of cities. The coast is about 20 minutes away. The map and measures below show how they vary by area.
What the weather is like in Lexington, month by month
Lexington sees roughly 65 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 20. Spring and fall carry most of the comfortable stretch.
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 Lexington
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 Lexington
Schools across Lexington average an A+, better than 99% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Joseph EstabrookA+ · 74% proficient
- Maria HastingsA+ · 72% proficient
- BowmanA+ · 72% proficient
Top middle schools
- Wm Diamond MiddleA+ · 78% proficient
- Jonas Clarke MiddleA+ · 74% proficient
Top high schools
- Lexington HighA+ · 92% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lexington school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lexington 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 Lexington against the other 2097 cities.
Who Lexington suits
Families
Schools beat 99% of the country and crime runs low. Compare neighborhoods on the map for the best fit.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 97% of cities and 36% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Lexington
Is Lexington a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lexington ranks 7th of 2098 cities. It scores highest on tree cover, low crime, and health care access, 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 Lexington expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,286,390. The overall cost of living runs about 44% above the national average. Set against a $221,266 median income, cost of living beats 97% of cities.
Is Lexington safe?
Yes, Lexington is safer than 100% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $136 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Lexington?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 20. The area gets its pleasant stretches in spring and fall.
Is Lexington good for families?
Schools beat 99% of cities, and safety is best away from the urban core. Home prices are usually the catch in the strongest school areas.
Compare Lexington with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lexington. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lexington 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.
Lexington detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lexington: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lexington: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lexington: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lexington: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lexington 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.