Some of you might be asking yourself, at this very moment, is Massachusetts a good place?
The answer is unequivocally yes… if you know where to locate the best counties to live in Massachusetts.
Lucky for you, we’re here to help you identify the best counties to live in the Bay State based on the most recently available data from the Census. And this isn’t our first rodeo — we’ve been using Saturday Night Science to rank places for years.
The question becomes if you wanted to relocate to the best part of Massachusetts, where would you go? To answer that, we looked at crime, cost of living, and demographic data for all 14 counties in the state.
Norfolk County is the county to be when it comes to living the good life in Massachusetts. And you should avoid Hampden County if you can — at least according to the data.
$130,739 median income · 4.9% unemployment
$139,688 median income · 4.3% unemployment
$130,847 median income · 4.4% unemployment
$125,786 median income · 6.6% unemployment
$95,241 median income · 5.0% unemployment
$87,001 median income · 5.0% unemployment
$114,201 median income · 5.1% unemployment
$76,013 median income · 5.4% unemployment
$101,883 median income · 5.1% unemployment
$95,939 median income · 5.3% unemployment
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
Massachusetts statewide median: 5.2%
On the map
Where Massachusetts’s best counties are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How do you determine which Massachusetts county is the best?
To give you the best county in Massachusetts, we have to look at a handful of metrics that signal the quality of a place. To do that, we made assumptions about what’s in a “best county” and what isn’t. For reference, we are trying to make the kind of argument you’d make at a bar using facts, Saturday Night Science.
With that in mind, we went to two of the best data sources on the internet. Namely, the American Community Survey data and FBI Crime data for the most recent period.
We paid particular attention to:
- Violent Crime Rates
- Property Crime Rates
- Median Home Values
- Median Income
- Unemployment Rates
- Adult Education Levels
- Health Insurance Coverage
- Poverty Rates
We then ranked each county in Massachusetts across each of the criteria from one to 14, with one being the best.
Taking the average rank across all criteria, we created a quality of life score with the county posting the lowest overall score being the “Best County To Live In Massachusetts.”
The result is some of the safest, quietest, and best counties to raise a family in the Bay State.
We updated this article for 2026. This report is our eleventh time ranking the best counties to live in Massachusetts.
Read on to see why Norfolk County is the best county, while Hampden County is probably in contention for being the worst county in Massachusetts.
The full plate
Detailed List Of The Best Counties In Massachusetts
Click any column to sort. Search by county name.
| Rank | County | Population | Median Income | Median Home Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Norfolk County | 730,082 | $130,739 | $768,983 |
| 2 | Nantucket County | 14,483 | $139,688 | $3,047,306 |
| 3 | Middlesex County | 1,638,365 | $130,847 | $815,478 |
| 4 | Dukes County | 20,933 | $125,786 | $1,532,600 |
| 5 | Barnstable County | 231,668 | $95,241 | $750,046 |
| 6 | Hampshire County | 162,028 | $87,001 | $442,612 |
| 7 | Plymouth County | 535,075 | $114,201 | $640,329 |
| 8 | Berkshire County | 129,430 | $76,013 | $382,918 |
| 8 | Essex County | 813,054 | $101,883 | $716,686 |
| 10 | Worcester County | 867,788 | $95,939 | $492,236 |
| 11 | Franklin County | 70,944 | $74,907 | $364,154 |
| 12 | Suffolk County | 785,121 | $95,631 | $768,792 |
| 13 | Bristol County | 582,270 | $85,625 | $539,520 |
| 14 | Hampden County | 462,815 | $71,306 | $343,808 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS + FBI crime data via Saturday Night Science. All 14 Massachusetts counties.
Summary
Summary: The Best Counties In Massachusetts To Call Home For 2026
Living in Massachusetts can vary from one part of the state to the next — who woulda thought?
The best counties in Massachusetts are Norfolk County, Nantucket County, Middlesex County, Dukes County, Barnstable County, Hampshire County, Plymouth County, Berkshire County, Essex County, and Worcester County.
But now you know the outstanding parts and the parts to avoid, and that’s why you came here to learn at the end of the day.
You are welcome.
