Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Boston's C− covers 672,973 people, and the city's neighborhoods vary far more than any single grade can show. Within Massachusetts, that puts it 252nd of 282. CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 80% of the country and it is among the most walkable places in the country. What weighs on its grade: the typical home is worth about $761K, 6.6 years of the Boston metro’s $116K median household income, and it reports more crime per resident than 87% of U.S. towns, including 3,909 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 99% of U.S. towns, with 326 places on the National Register. 55% of working residents work locally in Boston, against 9.8% in Massachusetts’ towns and 8% across U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include Gibson House and Arnold Arboretum. Among 283 Massachusetts towns, just 5 have a lower median age than Boston.
Where Boston beats most towns.
Arnold Arboretum| College | Students |
|---|---|
| Boston University | 32,537 |
| Northeastern University | 29,851 |
| University of Massachusetts-Boston | 14,204 |
Arnold Arboretum is one of 55 National Historic Landmarks here, the National Register’s top tier. Its 326 National Register listings are more than in any other Massachusetts town with a listing.
Census counts: 18,320 in 1790, 675,647 in 2020. The archive holds 214 old photos and papers going back to 1630 and 6 maps from 1893 on.
Boston takes its name from Boston in Lincolnshire, England, 3,240 miles across the Atlantic.
UKUK editionBoston, settled in 1630, takes its name from Boston, a large town in Lincolnshire, England.
Named after: each U.S. town’s Wikipedia article. Grades compare each town with towns in its own country, so they aren’t a head-to-head.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Massachusetts), ordered by how far Boston is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 9%), so the C− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Boston. Close and well known come first.
Big drawin town Stadium & arenaFenway Park
Big drawin town MuseumIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Big draw21 mi Stadium & arenaGillette Stadium
in town AttractionFreedom Trail
in town MuseumMuseum of Fine Arts Boston477K visitors a year
in town Stadium & arenaHarvard StadiumFenway Park: Gatorfan252525, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: Sean Dungan, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Gillette Stadium: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Freedom Trail: Ingfbruno, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Museum of Fine Arts Boston: Martin~jawiki at Japanese Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Harvard Stadium: Nick Allen, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Boston, 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 Boston.
Boston draws workers from Cambridge and beyond and is healthy by national standards but behind most towns in Massachusetts; it also has a long record of flood insurance claims.
662,899 jobs are based in Boston, 2.1 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
17% of residents live below the poverty line in Boston. Jobs based in Boston grew to 662,899 in 2023, 114,334 more than in 2013. 21% of workers work from home in Boston.
| Boston | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 17% | 6% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 21% | 18% | 11% |
| Median household income | $97,000 | $120,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Boston school district. Three of its 173 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Renaissance Charter Public SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 938 | D |
| Boston Latin SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 2,424 | A+ |
| O'Bryant School of Math & ScienceTop results in townGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 1,509 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MA on state tests and graduation
Boston’s violent crime rate is 5.8 per 1,000 residents. Only 9 of the 277 Massachusetts towns we compare have a higher property crime rate than Boston. Boston reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 87% report less.
| Boston | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.8 per 1,000 residents | 1.4 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 19.1 per 1,000 residents | 4.9 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
209 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 26 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 88% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 209 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Boston.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Within Massachusetts it is less healthy than 66% of the 279 graded towns: Massachusetts sets a high bar.
26% of Boston adults have high blood pressure. Of the 279 Massachusetts towns we compare, none has a higher share of adults who binge drink than Boston. 23% of Boston adults have obesity.
| Boston | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 33% | 33% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 17% | 16% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 32% | 35% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 28% | 35% |
| What stands out | Boston | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.3% | 8.5% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 17.8% | 25.4% |
| More adults without reliable transportation | 11.4% | 7.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Only 35.7% of households own their home, against 62.5% across Massachusetts.
Adults 18 to 34 are 38% of residents (24% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 34% of residents (39% statewide). Among 283 Massachusetts towns, just 9 have a lower share of residents 65 or older than Boston. 55% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 47% across Massachusetts.
| Boston | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 15% | 20% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 13% | 19% | 18% |
52.0% women, 48.0% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Across Massachusetts, 51.1% of residents are women. Median age: women 33.7, men 32.9.
| Boston | MA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 8.4% | 10.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 6.7% | 9.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 14.9% | 9.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 23.2% | 14% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.5% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 10.4% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 7.8% | 10.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.2% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 11.1% | 8.6% | 10.4% |
| High school | 18% | 22.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 11.1% | 14.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 4.9% | 7.5% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 28.7% | 25.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 26.1% | 21.8% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
90 miles of trail in 267 parks and preserves. The trail density in Boston is 1.0 miles per square mile. Stony Brook Reservation, at 562 acres with 1.7 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Boston | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.0 miles per square mile | 1.8 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 9.9% | 19% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Arnold Arboretum | 9.1 mi | 284 |
| 2. Franklin Park | 8.2 mi | 488 |
| 3. Spectacle Island | 5.3 mi | 92 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Boston has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 21° and about 49 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At about $761K, home values are up 5% in five years, against a rise of 26% across Massachusetts.
Among 283 Massachusetts towns, just 5 have a lower share of households owning their home than Boston. The typical Boston home is worth about $761,000, down 1.6% in a year, 16% above the Massachusetts typical home.
| Boston | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 36% | 79% | 73% |
| Median rent | $2,147 a month | $1,682 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
48 within 15 miles of the center of Boston
College town 15 of every 100 Boston residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Massachusetts.
25 colleges in town.
326 places in Boston on the National Register of Historic Places.
48 notable people were born in Boston.
Capital and largest city in Massachusetts, United States
Boston ( BAW-stən, ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It serves as a cultural and financial center of New England, a region of the Northeastern United States. Boston has an area of 48.4 square miles (125 km2) and a population of 675,647 as of the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in the Northeastern United States after New York City and Philadelphia. The larger Greater Boston metropolitan statistical area had a population of 5 million in 2025, making it the largest metropolis in New England and the eleventh-largest in the United States. Boston was founded on Shawmut Peninsula in 1630 by English Puritan settlers, who named the city a…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
10 towns share a border with Boston.
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Boston grades C− overall, better than 20% of U.S. towns and #252 of 282 in Massachusetts. It grades A− for health, D for safety and C− 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.
48 notable people were born here, including Edgar Allan Poe and Benjamin Franklin.
