Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Berlin grades A overall, 78th of 282 graded towns in Massachusetts. It has 35 miles of trail and 29% conserved land. It reports less crime per resident than 94% of U.S. towns and residents are healthier than 91% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. The trade-off is money: the typical home is worth about $664K, 6.9 years of the Worcester metro’s $96K median household income. Berlin’s median rent is $2,420 a month, above both Massachusetts’ towns ($1,682 a month) and U.S. towns ($1,185 a month). Its National Register listings include Wachusett Aqueduct Linear District and Berlin Town Hall. Only 4 of the 277 Massachusetts towns we compare have a lower property crime rate than Berlin.
Where Berlin beats most towns.
Census counts: 512 in 1790, 3,158 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1780 and 8 maps from 1887 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Massachusetts), ordered by how far Berlin is from typical.
Its grades run from A for safety (better than 94% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 2%), so the A overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Berlin. Close and well known come first.
Big draw28 mi Stadium & arenaFenway Park
Big draw28 mi Stadium & arenaGillette Stadium
Big draw26 mi LakeLake Chaubunagungamaug
15 mi LakeWalden Pond
Big draw28 mi MuseumIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum
30 mi AttractionFreedom TrailFenway Park: Gatorfan252525, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Gillette Stadium: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Lake Chaubunagungamaug: Bree from Worcester, MA, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Walden Pond: Victorgrigas, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: Sean Dungan, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Freedom Trail: Ingfbruno, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Berlin, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Berlin.
Berlin has seen reported crime fall by about half, has more than doubled its jobs in ten years and is healthy by national standards but mid-pack in Massachusetts.
35 miles of trail in 9 parks and preserves. The trail density in Berlin is 2.7 miles per square mile. Mount Pisgah Conservation Area, at 293 acres with 4.8 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Mount Pisgah Conservation Area | 4.8 mi | 293 |
| 2. Ross Flood Control Site | 4.1 mi | 206 |
| 3. Garfield Woods | 1.2 mi | 83 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Berlin-Boylston school district. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Berlin Memorial SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 242 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MA on state tests and graduation
Reported crimes fell from 14 to 2 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings. Violent crime is rare: 0 reported in 2025, 0 per 1,000 residents.
Berlin’s violent crime rate is 0 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Within Massachusetts it is healthier than 63% of the 279 graded towns: Massachusetts sets a high bar. Its widest gap with Massachusetts is no health insurance: 3.1% of those 18–64 have no health insurance, against 5.2% statewide.
83% of Berlin adults had a checkup this year. Berlin beats the Massachusetts average on 8 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2. 9.6% of Berlin adults smoke cigarettes.
| Berlin | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 83% | 82% | 79% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 9.6% | 11% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 15% | 19% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 16% | 17% |
| What stands out | Berlin | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 3.1% | 5.2% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.4% | 12.4% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.6% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Jobs based here grew from 323 in 2013 to 667. 29.1% of workers work from home, against 18.6% across Massachusetts.
Most working residents leave Berlin for work: only 5% work in town. Since 2013, Berlin has added 344 jobs, to 667 in 2023. The top destinations are Worcester (7%), Marlborough (7%) and Boston (7%).
| Berlin | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 34 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $121,000 | $120,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 5% | 6% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 5.1% | 9.9% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 78% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
People 65 and older are 30% of residents (18% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 17% of residents (24% statewide). 13% of residents are under 18 in Berlin. Berlin has grown 10% since 2020, to 3,486 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Berlin | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 30% | 19% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 13% | 20% | 22% |
| Median age | 49.7 years | 43.4 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 48% | 47% | 29% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4.8 points. Across Massachusetts, 51.1% of residents are women.
| Berlin | MA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 5% | 10.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.4% | 9.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 4.2% | 9.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13.1% | 14% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 14.9% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.3% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 14% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 15.5% | 10.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 14.6% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 2.6% | 8.6% | 10.4% |
| High school | 31.1% | 22.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 10.8% | 14.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 7.2% | 7.5% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 29.8% | 25.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 18.6% | 21.8% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 3,500, single groups can be off by several points
Berlin has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 16° and about 73 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The typical Berlin home is worth about $664,000, up 1.1% in a year, close to the Massachusetts typical home.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
9 within 15 miles of the center of Berlin
About 4 of every 100 Berlin residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Massachusetts.
2,866 counted in 2010 and 3,158 in 2020; an estimated 3,486 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 10.3% since 2020, after 10.2% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
3 places in Berlin on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in Massachusetts, United States
Berlin ( BUR-lin) is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The town was first settled in 1665 and incorporated in 1812, and is governed under the open town meeting system. It is located 12 miles (19 km) northeast of Worcester and 29 miles (47 km) west of Boston. The population was 3,158 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Berlin.
Hudson next door grades lower for schools (C to Berlin’s A−) and higher for cost of living (C to D−).
| Town | MA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berlin | #78 | A | D− | A | A− | A |
| Clinton | #164 | B | C− | A+ | C | B |
| Hudson | #138 | B+ | C | B | C | A |
| Marlborough | #242 | C | D | C | C− | A− |
| Bolton | #53 | A | C | A− | A− | A+ |
| Northborough | #47 | A | D | A+ | A− | A+ |
| Boylston | #95 | A− | D | A− | A− | A |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Berlin grades A overall, better than 86% of U.S. towns and #78 of 282 in Massachusetts. It grades A for health, A for safety and A− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D−.
