Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Boylston grades A− overall, 95th of 282 graded towns in Massachusetts. It has 40 miles of trail and 32% conserved land. Residents are healthier than 89% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates and the median household earns $141K. What holds it back is price: the typical home is worth about $627K, 6.5 years of the Worcester metro’s $96K median household income. 32% of the land in Boylston is conserved, above both Massachusetts’ towns (19%) and U.S. towns (4.3%). The biggest place to walk is Wachusett Reservoir Watershed, 4,230 acres with 17 miles of trail. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 72% of U.S. towns.
Where Boylston beats most towns.
John B. Gough House is a National Historic Landmark, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 839 in 1790, a low of 714 in 1910, 4,849 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1790 and 8 maps from 1887 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Massachusetts), ordered by how far Boylston is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Boylston. Close and well known come first.
Big draw32 mi Stadium & arenaFenway Park
Big draw30 mi Stadium & arenaGillette Stadium
Big draw23 mi LakeLake Chaubunagungamaug
Big draw32 mi MuseumIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum
20 mi LakeWalden Pond
34 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 · Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: Sean Dungan, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Walden Pond: Victorgrigas, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Freedom Trail: Ingfbruno, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Boylston, 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 Boylston.
Boylston keeps more of its land conserved than most of Massachusetts, has seen reported crime fall by about half and is healthy by national standards but mid-pack in Massachusetts.
Within Massachusetts it is healthier than 59% of the 279 graded towns: Massachusetts sets a high bar. Its widest gap with Massachusetts is no health insurance: 2.9% of those 18–64 have no health insurance, against 5.2% statewide.
83% of adults had a checkup this year in Boylston, above both the Massachusetts town median (82%) and the median of U.S. towns (79%). 9.8% of Boylston adults smoke cigarettes. Boylston beats the Massachusetts average on 9 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2.
| Boylston | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 83% | 82% | 79% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 9.8% | 11% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 15% | 19% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 2.9% | 3.7% | 8.1% |
| What stands out | Boylston | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 2.9% | 5.2% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.8% | 12.4% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.1% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Berlin-Boylston school district. Its two schools are below. The largest public high school is Tahanto Regional High, with 522 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boylston Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 347 | B+ |
| Tahanto Regional HighLargest public high schoolGrades 6–12 | Grades 6–12 | 522 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MA on state tests and graduation
Its 4,072 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 84% of Massachusetts towns.
40 miles of trail in 10 parks and preserves. The trail density in Boylston is 2.1 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Wachusett Reservoir Watershed | 17 mi | 4,230 |
| 2. Tower Hill Botanic Garden | 5 mi | 174 |
| 3. Summer Star Wildlife Sanctuary | 1.4 mi | 46 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 86% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 4 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Boylston.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Reported crimes fell from 46 to 11 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings. Violent crime is rare: 2 reported in 2025, 0.4 per 1,000 residents.
Boylston’s property crime rate is 1.8 per 1,000 residents.
| Boylston | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.8 per 1,000 residents | 4.9 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.4 per 1,000 residents | 1.5 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Most working residents leave Boylston for work: only 6% work in town. 23% of workers work from home in Boylston. Since 2013, Boylston has added 149 jobs, to 1,472 in 2023.
| Boylston | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $141,000 | $120,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 23% | 18% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 6.4% | 9.9% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Adults 18 to 34 are 14% of residents (24% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 46% of residents (39% statewide). Boylston has grown 5.2% since 2020, to 5,104 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 55% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 47% across Massachusetts.
| Boylston | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 55% | 47% | 29% |
| Median age | 48.2 years | 43.4 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 18% | 20% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 22% | 19% | 18% |
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.1 points. Across Massachusetts, 51.1% of residents are women.
| Boylston | MA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.1% | 10.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 5.9% | 9.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 2.6% | 9.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.4% | 14% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 14% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 16.8% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.2% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 15.4% | 10.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.5% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.2% | 8.6% | 10.4% |
| High school | 14.6% | 22.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 18.4% | 14.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 7.9% | 7.5% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 33.6% | 25.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 21.3% | 21.8% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Boylston 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 Boylston home is worth about $627,000, up 1% in a year, close to the Massachusetts typical home.
| Boylston | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,032 a month | $1,682 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 79% | 79% | 73% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
9 within 15 miles of the center of Boylston
About 4 of every 100 Boylston residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Massachusetts.
4,355 counted in 2010 and 4,849 in 2020; an estimated 5,104 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 5.2% since 2020, after 11.3% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
2 places in Boylston on the National Register of Historic Places.
6 notable people were born in Boylston.
Town in Massachusetts, United States
Boylston is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 4,849 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Boylston.
| Town | MA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boylston | #95 | A− | D | A− | A− | A |
| Shrewsbury | #48 | A | D | A− | A | A+ |
| West Boylston | #69 | A | C | A− | B+ | A− |
| Clinton | #164 | B | C− | A+ | C | B |
| Northborough | #47 | A | D | A+ | A− | A+ |
| Berlin | #78 | A | D− | A | A− | A |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Boylston grades A− overall, better than 81% of U.S. towns and #95 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.
6 notable people were born here, including Charles Noyes Forbes and Eliakim H. Moore.
