Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Brookfield's standout: it has 12 miles of trail and 33% conserved land. Overall it grades C+, ranked 216th of 282 in Massachusetts. It also does better than most on safety: it reports less crime per resident than 74% of U.S. towns. Its lowest everyday mark is in cost of living: homes are expensive, about $411K for a typical one and 4.3 times the Worcester metro’s $96K median household income. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 96% of U.S. towns, with 3 places on the National Register. 33% of the land in Brookfield is conserved, where Massachusetts’ towns sit at 19% and U.S. towns at 4.3%. On health, just 25 of Massachusetts’ 321 towns do worse. Its National Register listings include Brookfield Common Historic District and Elm Hill Farm Historic District.
Where Brookfield beats most towns.
Census counts: 3,100 in 1790, a low of 1,352 in 1930, 3,439 in 2020. The archive holds 30 old photos and papers going back to 1850 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 Brookfield is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Brookfield. Close and well known come first.
Big draw17 mi LakeLake Chaubunagungamaug
25 mi National Historic SiteSpringfield Armory National Historic Site14K visitors a year
16 mi LakeQuabbin Reservoir
5 mi MuseumOld Sturbridge Village
28 mi Theme parkSix Flags New England
39 mi Stadium & arenaPratt & Whitney StadiumLake Chaubunagungamaug: Bree from Worcester, MA, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Springfield Armory National Historic Site: National Park Service, Public domain · Quabbin Reservoir: engineerchange, CC BY 2.0 · Old Sturbridge Village: Wgmleslie at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Six Flags New England: Canadaolympic989, Public domain · Pratt & Whitney Stadium: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Brookfield, 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 Brookfield.
Brookfield keeps more of its land conserved than most of Massachusetts, sends most of its workers to Worcester and beyond and is safe by national standards but not by Massachusetts’s.
Its 3,467 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 84% of Massachusetts towns.
Brookfield’s trail network density stands at 0.7 miles per square mile, against 1.8 in Massachusetts’ towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. Trails total 12 miles in 8 parks and preserves. Quaboag Wildlife Management Area, at 1,064 acres with 2.3 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Wolf Swamp Wildlife Management Area | 5.2 mi | 984 |
| 2. Richardson Wildlife Management Area | 2.5 mi | 393 |
| 3. Quaboag Wildlife Management Area | 2.3 mi | 1,064 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its one school is below. The public schools here belong to the Brookfield school district. 289 students attend the town’s public school.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brookfield ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 289 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MA on state tests and graduation
The typical home value in Brookfield is about $411,000, up 0.8% in a year, 37% below the Massachusetts typical home. The town’s typical rent is $1,014 a month. 88% of households are owner-occupiers in the town.
| Brookfield | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,014 a month | $1,683 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 88% | 79% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Brookfield has 405 jobs for its 1,707 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Among working residents in Brookfield, 5.3% work locally. For half of commuters, work is under 18 miles away. Its mean commuting time stands at 32 minutes. The top destinations are Worcester (12%), Sturbridge (6%) and Boston (6%).
| Brookfield | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 32 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $81,000 | $120,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 12% | 18% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 5.3% | 9.9% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 10.2 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 56% of Massachusetts’s graded towns.
Brookfield’s level of property crime comes in at 2.9 per 1,000 residents. Its level of violent crime is 1.7 per 1,000 residents.
| Brookfield | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.9 per 1,000 residents | 4.9 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.7 per 1,000 residents | 1.4 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
In Brookfield, the midsummer high is 81°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
For adults in Brookfield, the share who have been diagnosed with depression is 27%. In Brookfield, 16% of adults report frequent physical distress.
| Brookfield | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 12% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 24% | 23% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 32% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 11% | 14% |
| What stands out | Brookfield | MA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 8.4% | 5.9% |
| More smokers | 15.2% | 11.3% |
| More adults with heart disease | 7.5% | 5.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Federal aid has come to Brookfield households in 9 declared disasters; the latest was in 2018. FEMA expects more storm and flood damage in the town than in half of U.S. communities. Expected losses in Brookfield break down as 64% from inland flooding and 14% from hurricanes. Flood insurance has paid out on 19 claims locally since 1980.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
3 within 15 miles of the center of Brookfield
About 6 of every 100 Brookfield residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Massachusetts.
Where Brookfield’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
3 places in Brookfield on the National Register of Historic Places.
16 notable people were born in Brookfield.
Town in Massachusetts
Brookfield is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Brookfield was first settled by Europeans in 1660. The population was 3,439 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Brookfield.
| Town | MA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brookfield | #216 | C+ | C+ | B+ | B | B− |
| East Brookfield | — | — | C+ | B+ | C− | B+ |
| West Brookfield | #215 | C+ | C+ | A− | C+ | B− |
| North Brookfield | #253 | C− | B− | — | C− | B |
| Sturbridge | #146 | B+ | C | B− | B | A |
East Brookfield has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. North Brookfield reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Brookfield with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Brookfield grades C+ overall, better than 43% of U.S. towns and #216 of 282 in Massachusetts. It grades B− for health, B+ for safety and B for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a C−.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
16 notable people were born here, including John A. Durkin and Arthur Louis Day.
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