Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Bridgewater Town grades A− overall, ranked 101st of 282 in Massachusetts. It has 18 miles of trail. Crime is low: it reports less per resident than 84% of U.S. towns and residents are healthier than 83% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. The trade-off is money: homes are expensive, about $634K for a typical one and 5.5 times the Boston metro’s $116K median household income. Bridgewater Town is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns. Bridgewater Town’s trail density is 0.7 miles per square mile, against 1.8 in Massachusetts’ towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. Bridgewater Town is home to Bridgewater State University.
Where Bridgewater Town beats most towns.
Census counts: 4,975 in 1790, a low of 1,700 in 1820, 28,633 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1853 and 7 maps from 1885 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Massachusetts), ordered by how far Bridgewater Town is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Bridgewater Town. Close and well known come first.
Big draw17 mi Stadium & arenaGillette Stadium
Big draw27 mi Stadium & arenaFenway Park
Big draw38 mi MuseumThe Breakers
21 mi MuseumUSS Massachusetts
Big draw26 mi MuseumIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum
32 mi Ancient siteHMS EndeavourGillette Stadium: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fenway Park: Gatorfan252525, CC BY-SA 4.0 · The Breakers: UpstateNYer, CC BY-SA 3.0 · USS Massachusetts: USN, Public domain · Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: Sean Dungan, CC BY-SA 4.0 · HMS Endeavour: Samuel Atkins (c.1760-1810), Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Bridgewater Town, 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 Bridgewater Town.
Bridgewater Town has seen reported crime fall by about half and is healthy by national standards but mid-pack in Massachusetts.
Reported crimes fell from 88 to 78 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings. Violent crime is rare: 26 reported in 2025, 0.9 per 1,000 residents.
Bridgewater Town’s property crime rate is 1.7 per 1,000 residents, below both Massachusetts’ towns (4.9) and U.S. towns (9.9).
| Bridgewater Town | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.7 per 1,000 residents | 4.9 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.9 per 1,000 residents | 1.5 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by the Bridgewater-Raynham school district. Two of its 6 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Bridgewater-Raynham Regional, with 1,487 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mitchell Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–2 | Grades PK–2 | 931 | B− |
| Bridgewater-Raynham RegionalLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,487 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MA on state tests and graduation
Within Massachusetts it is less healthy than 59% of the 279 graded towns: Massachusetts sets a high bar.
20% of Bridgewater Town adults binge drink. Bridgewater Town beats the Massachusetts average on 8 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 3. 27% of Bridgewater Town adults have high blood pressure.
| Bridgewater Town | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 17% | 16% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 32% | 35% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 36% | 33% | 33% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 16% | 17% |
| What stands out | Bridgewater Town | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had a stroke | 2.5% | 3% |
| Fewer adults with diabetes | 8.2% | 9.8% |
| More adults in frequent mental distress | 18.6% | 16.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Most working residents leave Bridgewater Town for work: only 7% work in town. The average trip to work in Bridgewater Town is 31 minutes. Jobs based in Bridgewater Town grew to 8,105 in 2023, 624 more than in 2013.
| Bridgewater Town | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $113,000 | $120,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 4.8% | 6% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 13% | 18% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 74% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 20 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Bridgewater Town.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
19 miles of trail in 24 parks and preserves. Hockomock Swamp Wildlife Management Area, at 677 acres with 1.1 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Wildlands Trust - Great River Preserve | 2.2 mi | 136 |
| 2. Taunton River Wildlife Management Area | 1.3 mi | 364 |
| 3. Hockomock Swamp Wildlife Management Area | 1.1 mi | 677 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Bridgewater Town has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 20° and about 34 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Adults 18 to 34 are 29% of residents (24% statewide). Bridgewater Town’s median age is 37.6 years. Bridgewater Town has grown 2.4% since 2020, to 29,309 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Bridgewater Town | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 18% | 20% | 22% |
| Median age | 37.6 years | 43.4 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 40% | 47% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 17% | 19% | 18% |
48% women, 52% men
About 107 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±1.6 points). Across Massachusetts, 51.1% of residents are women. Median age: women 37.9, men 37.1.
| Bridgewater Town | MA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.3% | 10.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.3% | 9.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 17.5% | 9.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.8% | 14% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.4% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.3% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.3% | 10.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.1% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6.9% | 8.6% | 10.4% |
| High school | 30% | 22.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 15.1% | 14.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.5% | 7.5% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 24.7% | 25.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 14.9% | 21.8% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
The typical Bridgewater Town home is worth about $634,000, up 3.2% in a year, close to the Massachusetts typical home.
| Bridgewater Town | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,092 a month | $1,682 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 76% | 79% | 73% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
4 within 15 miles of the center of Bridgewater Town
College town 16 of every 100 Bridgewater Town residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Massachusetts.
22 notable people were born in Bridgewater Town.
City in Massachusetts, United States
Bridgewater is a city in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 28,633. The historic city center of Bridgewater is located approximately 25 miles (40 km) south of Boston, Massachusetts and approximately 35 miles east of Providence, Rhode Island. The town of Bridgewater was formerly a census-designated place (CDP) until 2010, when Bridgewater was granted city status. Today, Bridgewater is one of 13 municipalities in Massachusetts that have applied for and have been granted a city government while claiming "the town of" in their official names.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Bridgewater Town.
| Town | MA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bridgewater Town | #101 | A− | D | A− | B− | A− |
| Middleborough | #218 | C+ | C− | C+ | C+ | B+ |
| East Bridgewater | #122 | B+ | C− | A− | B− | A− |
| Halifax | #93 | A− | C− | B+ | B+ | A− |
| Raynham | #205 | B− | D | B− | B− | B+ |
| West Bridgewater | #185 | B− | D | B− | B− | A |
| Raynham Center | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Raynham Center isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Bridgewater Town with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Bridgewater Town grades A− overall, better than 78% of U.S. towns and #101 of 282 in Massachusetts. It grades A− for health, A− for safety and B− 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.
22 notable people were born here, including Mickey Cochrane and Joseph Augustine Cushman.
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