Do we think there’s a direct correlation between good schools, educated residents, jobs, competitive salaries, and people flocking to the best places for families to live in Massachusetts? Absolutely.
And here at HomeSnacks, we wanted to know just how family friendly is Massachusetts? More importantly, where, exactly, are the best places for families in The Bay State? So, we consulted the numbers. In total, we analyzed 69 cities with over 10,000 residents. We looked at important factors like family friendly amenities and percentage of households that currently have kids for every place from Pittsfield to Boston.
Whether you’re hanging out on a beach in Nantucket, spending the weekend at the Coco Beach Water Park in Danvers, or visiting the Worcester Art Museum, Massachusetts knows good, wholesome, family fun. When you choose to live in one of Massachusetts’ best places for families, you are choosing to live where you can keep your family safe, happy, and healthy: you are choosing to live where your Massachusetts’ salary will go the furthest for your family. More importantly, you are choosing to live where your kids have a better chance at being accepted to some of the most competitive colleges. And that, Bay Staters, makes perfect sense.
Have we piqued your interest? Want to know where these amazing, family friendly places in Massachusetts are located? Read on.
$250,001 median income · 41.8% households with kids
Wellesley is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Wellesley is part of Greater Boston. The population was 27,982 at the time of the 2010 census. Wellesley has the 3rd highest median household and family incomes in all of Massachusetts. It is best known as the home of Wellesley College, Babson College, and a campus of Massachusetts Bay Community College.
$188,529 median income · 42.9% households with kids
Milton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States and a suburb of Boston. The population was 27,003 at the 2010 census. Milton is the birthplace of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush and architect Buckminster Fuller. In 2007, 2009, and 2011, Money Magazine listed Milton 7th, 5th, and 2nd, respectively, on its annual list of the “Best Places to Live” in the United States.
$230,198 median income · 41.8% households with kids
Winchester is a small suburban town located 8.2 miles north of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is the 7th wealthiest municipality in Massachusetts and functions largely as a bedroom community for professionals who work in the greater Boston area. The population was 21,374 at the 2010 United States Census.
$214,308 median income · 41.5% households with kids
Needham is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. A suburb of Boston, its population was 28,886 at the 2010 census. It is home to the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, an engineering school.
$149,601 median income · 34.3% households with kids
Longmeadow is a town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, in the United States. The population was 15,784 at the 2010 census.
$150,701 median income · 28.6% households with kids
Arlington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, six miles northwest of Boston. The population was 42,844 at the 2010 census.
$190,304 median income · 33.0% households with kids
Located in
Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Newton is a suburban city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately 7 miles west of downtown Boston and is bordered by Boston’s Brighton and West Roxbury neighborhoods to the east and south, respectively, and by the suburb of Brookline to the east, the suburbs of Watertown and Waltham to the north, and Wellesley and Needham to the west. Rather than having a single city center, Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Newton was 85,146, making it the eleventh largest city in the state.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$142,101 median income · 24.0% households with kids
Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, in the United States, and is a part of Greater Boston. Brookline borders six of Boston’s neighborhoods: Brighton, Allston, Fenway-Kenmore, Mission Hill, Jamaica Plain, and West Roxbury. The city of Newton lies to the west of Brookline.
$238,444 median income · 41.1% households with kids
Lexington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 31,394 at the 2010 census, in nearly 11,100 households. Settled in 1641, it is celebrated as the site of the first shots of the American Revolutionary War, in the Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775. It is part of the Greater Boston Area and is the sixth wealthiest small city in the United States.
$175,265 median income · 44.1% households with kids
Lynnfield is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. At the 2010 census, the town population was 11,596.
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Massachusetts’s statewide median.
Massachusetts statewide median: $103,960
Massachusetts statewide median: $656,690
On the map
Where Massachusetts’s most family-friendly cities are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How do you determine which place is best for families in Massachusetts anyways?
To give you the places in Massachusetts that are best for families, we must look at a handful of metrics. We want to measure the criteria people want in a family-friendly city utilizing Saturday Night Science.
After researching U.S. Census data produced for the state of Massachusetts, we looked at the data for every single city in the state. We paid particular attention to:
- Crime (Both violent and property)
- Quality of local schools
- Distance to a major city without necessarily being in it
- % of households with children
- Family-friendly amenities nearby (museums, libraries, and colleges)
We then gave each city a “Family Score.”
The higher the score, the better the city is for families. We also limited our results to cities with over 10,000 people. For Massachusetts, that meant a total of 69 cities.
We updated this article for 2026. This is our eleventh time ranking the best cities for families in Massachusetts.
The full plate
Best Places For Families In Massachusetts
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | Median Income | Average Home Price | % Households w/ Kids |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wellesley | 30,347 | $250,001 | $2,023,292 | 41.8% |
| 2 | Milton | 28,587 | $188,529 | $1,073,620 | 42.9% |
| 3 | Winchester | 23,406 | $230,198 | $1,553,771 | 41.8% |
| 4 | Needham | 32,459 | $214,308 | $1,540,160 | 41.5% |
| 5 | Longmeadow | 15,696 | $149,601 | $527,666 | 34.3% |
| 6 | Arlington | 46,350 | $150,701 | $1,081,431 | 28.6% |
| 7 | Newton | 89,044 | $190,304 | $1,528,894 | 33.0% |
| 8 | Brookline | 63,266 | $142,101 | $1,211,601 | 24.0% |
| 9 | Lexington | 34,295 | $238,444 | $1,584,588 | 41.1% |
| 10 | Lynnfield | 13,064 | $175,265 | $1,089,938 | 44.1% |
| 11 | Reading | 25,612 | $165,912 | $915,079 | 33.9% |
| 12 | Belmont | 27,175 | $183,137 | $1,458,987 | 39.5% |
| 13 | Newburyport | 18,652 | $139,625 | $923,543 | 24.1% |
| 14 | Wakefield | 27,793 | $134,306 | $814,875 | 29.0% |
| 15 | Marblehead | 20,413 | $182,132 | $1,026,799 | 30.6% |
| 16 | Swampscott | 15,277 | $134,386 | $816,299 | 28.9% |
| 17 | Melrose | 29,650 | $133,953 | $908,131 | 29.9% |
| 18 | Beverly | 42,665 | $106,044 | $755,767 | 26.2% |
| 19 | Stoneham | 23,355 | $113,964 | $808,010 | 28.0% |
| 20 | Hull | 10,138 | $115,485 | $703,779 | 16.0% |
| 21 | Nantucket | 10,017 | $148,017 | $3,048,174 | 39.5% |
| 22 | Maynard | 10,712 | $124,067 | $606,495 | 24.1% |
| 23 | Cambridge | 118,796 | $130,748 | $1,041,569 | 17.7% |
| 24 | Waltham | 64,902 | $120,216 | $826,437 | 20.3% |
| 25 | Dedham | 25,237 | $128,955 | $765,656 | 25.1% |
| 26 | Wilmington | 23,336 | $168,152 | $777,834 | 36.8% |
| 27 | Worcester | 207,055 | $70,102 | $430,112 | 29.1% |
| 28 | Holbrook | 11,380 | $115,210 | $558,618 | 31.5% |
| 29 | Medford | 59,354 | $129,540 | $842,298 | 20.4% |
| 30 | Norwood | 31,542 | $107,030 | $731,791 | 29.7% |
| 31 | Abington | 17,053 | $125,400 | $593,559 | 31.6% |
| 32 | Danvers | 28,098 | $125,395 | $728,113 | 26.8% |
| 33 | Somerset | 18,298 | $112,677 | $500,986 | 29.4% |
| 34 | Gardner | 21,148 | $67,518 | $369,177 | 28.4% |
| 35 | Burlington | 26,274 | $146,436 | $877,243 | 27.1% |
| 36 | Salem | 44,795 | $85,153 | $606,559 | 20.5% |
| 37 | Hudson | 15,719 | $90,524 | $610,958 | 24.2% |
| 38 | Peabody | 54,695 | $96,657 | $694,094 | 24.9% |
| 39 | Woburn | 41,939 | $111,185 | $758,603 | 26.6% |
| 40 | Westfield | 40,378 | $87,753 | $378,738 | 25.8% |
| 41 | Marlborough | 41,647 | $91,968 | $578,934 | 31.9% |
| 42 | Somerville | 81,036 | $132,572 | $940,239 | 14.1% |
| 43 | Gloucester | 30,075 | $83,883 | $760,558 | 20.5% |
| 44 | Saugus | 28,773 | $101,539 | $688,142 | 23.5% |
| 45 | Webster | 12,228 | $63,837 | $436,669 | 31.0% |
| 46 | Northampton | 30,962 | $80,288 | $486,075 | 21.9% |
| 47 | Boston | 666,442 | $97,344 | $798,217 | 19.8% |
| 48 | Attleboro | 46,762 | $98,954 | $532,570 | 31.4% |
| 49 | Milford | 27,731 | $93,310 | $557,090 | 32.4% |
| 50 | Quincy | 102,114 | $98,882 | $675,959 | 21.0% |
| 51 | Haverhill | 67,698 | $88,326 | $543,992 | 30.7% |
| 52 | Malden | 65,906 | $100,606 | $684,055 | 29.4% |
| 53 | Everett | 50,045 | $85,218 | $639,070 | 36.3% |
| 54 | Springfield | 154,749 | $52,656 | $294,613 | 33.5% |
| 55 | Fitchburg | 41,798 | $73,040 | $396,820 | 30.3% |
| 56 | North Adams | 12,606 | $47,500 | $252,589 | 18.3% |
| 57 | Lynn | 101,709 | $75,043 | $580,316 | 36.5% |
| 58 | Pittsfield | 43,457 | $70,582 | $302,831 | 22.5% |
| 59 | New Bedford | 100,998 | $56,981 | $434,262 | 30.9% |
| 60 | Lowell | 118,368 | $78,658 | $480,319 | 32.1% |
| 61 | Brockton | 105,386 | $80,115 | $503,833 | 38.9% |
| 62 | Holyoke | 37,813 | $53,605 | $322,895 | 26.6% |
| 63 | Taunton | 60,433 | $79,283 | $513,322 | 32.9% |
| 64 | Lawrence | 88,736 | $60,433 | $504,150 | 37.5% |
| 65 | Revere | 60,012 | $86,969 | $612,971 | 28.5% |
| 66 | Chelsea | 39,908 | $72,179 | $526,190 | 35.4% |
| 67 | Leominster | 43,909 | $83,816 | $463,494 | 25.5% |
| 68 | Chicopee | 55,295 | $62,615 | $311,123 | 24.3% |
| 69 | Fall River | 94,082 | $56,673 | $445,781 | 26.3% |
Source: U.S. Census data via Saturday Night Science. 69 Massachusetts cities with more than 10,000 residents.
Summary
Summary: The Best Places To Raise A Family In Massachusetts
If you’re looking for a breakdown of cities in Massachusetts ranked by criteria that most agree make a place a great spot for families, this is an accurate list.
The best places for families in Massachusetts are Wellesley, Milton, Winchester, Needham, Longmeadow, Arlington, Newton, Brookline, Lexington, and Lynnfield.
