Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Burlington grades B+ overall, 131st among Massachusetts's 282 graded towns. It has 38 miles of trail. CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 97% of the country and the median household earns $146K. The catch is cost: the typical home is worth about $867K, 7.5 years of the Boston metro’s $116K median household income. Burlington’s median rent is $2,718 a month, where Massachusetts’ towns sit at $1,682 a month and U.S. towns at $1,185 a month. Burlington is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns. Only 13 of Massachusetts’ 325 towns score lower on history.
Where Burlington beats most towns.
Census counts: 545 in 1850, 26,377 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1732 and 7 maps from 1888 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 Burlington is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for health (better than 97% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 6%), so the B+ overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Burlington. Close and well known come first.
Big draw12 mi Stadium & arenaFenway Park
Big draw29 mi Stadium & arenaGillette Stadium
Big draw13 mi MuseumIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum
8 mi LakeWalden Pond
12 mi AttractionFreedom Trail
10 mi Stadium & arenaHarvard StadiumFenway Park: Gatorfan252525, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Gillette Stadium: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0 · 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 · Harvard Stadium: Nick Allen, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Burlington, 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 Burlington.
Burlington draws workers from Boston and beyond, has less no health insurance than most of Massachusetts and is safe by national standards but not by Massachusetts’s.
39 miles of trail in 25 parks and preserves. The trail density in Burlington is 3.3 miles per square mile. The biggest place to walk is Mill Pond Conservation Area, 265 acres with 11.4 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Mill Pond Conservation Area | 11.4 mi | 265 |
| 2. Landlocked Forest | 11 mi | 247 |
| 3. Mary Cummings Park | 3.6 mi | 162 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Burlington school district. Two of its 10 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marshall Simonds MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 848 | B+ |
| Burlington HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,019 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MA on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with Massachusetts is no health insurance: 3.2% of those 18–64 have no health insurance, against 5.2% statewide.
23% of adults have obesity in Burlington. Burlington beats the Massachusetts average on 17 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 9.8% of adults report frequent physical distress in Burlington.
| Burlington | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 28% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 9.8% | 12% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 8.5% | 11% | 14% |
| What stands out | Burlington | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 3.2% | 5.2% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 8% | 12.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
39,401 jobs are based in Burlington, 2.9 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Most working residents leave Burlington for work: only 13% work in town. 23% of Burlington workers work from home. Jobs based in Burlington fell to 39,401 in 2023, 2,993 fewer than in 2013.
| Burlington | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $146,000 | $120,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 23% | 18% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 13% | 9.8% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 87% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 33 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Burlington.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The typical Burlington home is worth about $867,000, up 2.1% in a year, 32% above the Massachusetts typical home.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Burlington has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 17° and about 64 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 25 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 88% of Massachusetts’s graded towns. Each of the 5 graded towns on its borders reports less crime per resident, from Woburn (B) to Lexington (A).
Burlington’s property crime rate is 14.8 per 1,000 residents.
| Burlington | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 14.8 per 1,000 residents | 4.9 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.8 per 1,000 residents | 1.4 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
48 within 15 miles of the center of Burlington
About 5 of every 100 Burlington residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Massachusetts.
Where Burlington’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
3 places in Burlington on the National Register of Historic Places.
8 notable people were born in Burlington.
Town in Massachusetts, United States
Burlington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 26,377 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Burlington.
| Town | MA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burlington | #131 | B+ | D | C+ | B+ | A+ |
| Lexington | #10 | A+ | D | A | A+ | A+ |
| Woburn | #177 | B | D | B | C+ | A |
| Wilmington | #108 | A− | D | B | B | A |
| Billerica | #89 | A− | D | A− | B− | A |
| Pinehurst | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Bedford | #36 | A+ | D | A | A | A+ |
Pinehurst isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Burlington with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Burlington grades B+ overall, better than 68% of U.S. towns and #131 of 282 in Massachusetts. It grades A+ for health, C+ for safety and B+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Massachusetts has less crime than most states, so among its own towns Burlington sits nearer the middle.
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.
8 notable people were born here, including Roderick MacKinnon and Mark Fusco.
