These Are The 10 Best Cities For Hippies In Massachusetts


We used science and data to determine which Massachusetts cities probably wear tie dye the most.

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You might think that the whole hippie movement has faded away, but the truth is, there are plenty of hippies out there in Massachusetts.

While they aren’t necessarily in your face all the time with war protests and the next Woodstock isn’t being planned any time soon, we thought it would be fun to look at which cities in the Bay State where the most hippies would live.

And, after crunching the data, you know what? It was pretty spot on, we have to say.

How do you decide where the most hippies live? By the number of yoga studios, organic markets, and most importantly, where the liberals live in droves.

Using that criteria, it’s not hard to scrape the internet, run some scientific data on where hippies might live in Massachusetts, and then put out a list.

So, put on your tie dye shirt and your sandals as you go through this list with us.

After analyzing all cities with a decent amount of people in them, we came up with this list of the 10 best cities for hippies in Massachusetts:

  1. Everett (Photos)
  2. Chelsea (Photos)
  3. Melrose (Photos)
  4. Somerville (Photos)
  5. Medford (Photos)
  6. Malden (Photos)
  7. Cambridge (Photos)
  8. Woburn (Photos)
  9. Newburyport (Photos)
  10. Salem (Photos)

Read on below to see where your town ranked, young flower child.

And if you already knew these places were hippie heavens, check out the best places to live in Massachusetts or the safest places to live in Massachusetts.

How do you determine the most beatnik city in Massachusetts?

In order to rank the best cities for hippies in Massachusetts, we had to determine what criteria defines a hippie.

We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible. Using the Google Places API, the Census’s 2010-2014 American Community Survey, and Voter Registration data, this is the criteria we used:

  • Number of yoga studios per capita
  • Number of organic markets per capita
  • Number of pet adoption centers per capita
  • Number of vegan restaurants per capita
  • Number of thrift stores per capita
  • Each city’s liberal voting population

Note: For the sake of getting reliable numbers, we counted places within a ~4.5 mile radius of a city’s center. The average city in America is about 18 square miles.

All of these results are listed in a per capita basis, meaning number of stores per person in a city. Additionally, we limited the analysis to non-CDPs that have over 5,000 people.

We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 39 in each category, where 1 was the most hippie.

Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a hippie index.

And finally, we crowned the city with the highest hippie index the ‘Best City for Hippies In Massachusetts.’ We’re lookin’ at you, Everett.

Read on below to learn more about what it’s like to live in hippie central. Or skip to the end to see the list of all the places in the state from hippiest to most square.

1. Everett

Everett, Massachusetts

Source: Wikipedia

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 1.4
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.42
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.28
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.98
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 0.94
Everett is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Boston. The population was 41,668 at the time of the 2010 United States Census.

2. Chelsea

Chelsea, Massachusetts

Source: Wikipedia

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 1.05
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.43
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.3
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.78
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 0.49
Chelsea is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States, directly across the Mystic River from the city of Boston. As of 2013, Chelsea had an estimated population of 36,828. It is also the second most densely populated city in Massachusetts behind Somerville. With a total area of just 2.21 square miles, Chelsea is the smallest city in Massachusetts in terms of total area.

3. Melrose

Melrose, Massachusetts

Source: Wikipedia

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 1.13
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.25
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.22
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.47
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 0.98
Melrose is a city located in the Greater Boston metropolitan area in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Its population as per the 2010 United States Census is 26,983. It is a suburb located approximately seven miles north of Boston and is situated in the center of the triangle created by Interstates 93, 95 and US Route 1.

4. Somerville

Somerville, Massachusetts

Source: Wikipedia

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 0.77
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.27
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.15
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.54
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 0.66
Somerville (/smrvl/ SUM-r-vil) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of 2010[update], the United States Census lists the city with a total population of 75,754 people, making it the most densely populated municipality in New England. As of 2010[update], it was the 16th most densely populated incorporated municipality in the country. Somerville was established as a town in 1842, when it was separated from Charlestown. In 2006, the town was named the best-run city in Massachusetts by the Boston Globe. In 1972, in 2009, and again in 2015, the city received the All-America City Award.

5. Medford

Medford, Massachusetts

Source: Wikipedia

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 1.05
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.3
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.12
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.4
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 0.68
Medford is a city 3.2 miles northwest of downtown Boston on the Mystic River in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. In the 2010 U.S. Census, Medford’s population was 56,173. It is home to Tufts University.

6. Malden

Malden, Massachusetts

Source: Wikipedia

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 0.81
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.2
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.15
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.32
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 0.58
Malden is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2010 United States Census, the population was at 59,450 people. In 2009, Malden was named the ‘Best Place to Raise Your Kids’ in Massachusetts by Bloomberg Businessweek.

7. Cambridge

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Source: Wikipedia

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 0.56
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.25
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.14
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.39
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 0.47
Cambridge (/kembrd/ KAYM-brij) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, and part of the Boston metropolitan area.

8. Woburn

Woburn, Massachusetts

Source: Wikipedia

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 0.46
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.1
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.18
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.21
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 0.49
Woburn /wubrn/ is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 38,120 at the 2010 census. Woburn is located 9 miles (14 km) north of Boston, Massachusetts.

9. Newburyport

Newburyport, Massachusetts

Source: Wikipedia

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 0.74
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.28
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.11
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.34
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 0.57
Newburyport is a small coastal, scenic, and historic city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, 35 miles (56 km) northeast of Boston. The population was 17,416 at the 2010 census. A historic seaport with a vibrant tourism industry, Newburyport includes part of Plum Island. The mooring, winter storage and maintenance of recreational boats, motor and sail, still contribute a large part of the city’s income. A Coast Guard station oversees boating activity, especially in the swift tidal currents of the Merrimack River.

10. Salem

Salem, Massachusetts

Source: Wikipedia

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 0.35
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.14
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.21
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.14
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 0.83
Salem is a coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, in the United States, located on Massachusetts’ North Shore. It is a New England bedrock of history and is considered one of the most significant seaports in Puritan American history.

There You Have It — The Hippies Of Massachusetts

If you’re measuring the locations in Massachusetts where there are lots of liberals, and there are many options for vegan food, yoga and thrift stores, this is an accurate list.

If you’re curious, here are the most square places in Massachusetts:

  1. Worcester
  2. Fall River
  3. Quincy

For more Massachusetts reading , check out:

Detailed List Of The Hippiest Cities In Massachusetts

City Rank Population
Everett 1 42,758
Chelsea 2 37,084
Melrose 3 27,509
Somerville 4 77,560
Medford 5 56,981
Malden 6 60,309
Cambridge 7 106,844
Woburn 8 38,826
Newburyport 9 17,662
Salem 10 42,321
Revere 11 53,258
Beverly 12 40,370
Northampton 13 28,637
Peabody 14 51,868
Newton 15 86,945
North Adams 16 13,563
Chicopee 17 55,603
Waltham 18 61,908
Gloucester 19 29,237
Holyoke 20 40,079
Marlborough 21 39,141
Pittsfield 22 44,226
Attleboro 23 43,774
Lawrence 24 77,364
New Bedford 25 94,873
Lynn 26 91,289
Leominster 27 40,954
Gardner 28 20,279
Fitchburg 29 40,419
Westfield 30 41,371
Lowell 31 108,491
Taunton 32 56,056
Boston 33 639,594
Haverhill 34 61,769
Springfield 35 153,836
Brockton 36 94,267
Quincy 37 92,920
Fall River 38 88,756
Worcester 39 182,511

About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.