Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Dedham grades B overall, ranked 150th of 282 in Massachusetts. It has 20 miles of trail. The median household earns $129K and CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 94% of the country. The trade-off is money: the typical home is worth about $757K, 6.5 years of the Boston metro’s $116K median household income. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 97% of U.S. towns, with 8 places on the National Register. 21% of the land in Dedham is conserved, against 19% in Massachusetts’ towns and 4.3% across U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include Fairbanks House and Norfolk County Courthouse.
Where Dedham beats most towns.
Fairbanks House is one of 2 National Historic Landmarks here, the National Register’s top tier.
The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1878 and 6 maps from 1894 on.
8 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Massachusetts), ordered by how far Dedham is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Dedham. Close and well known come first.
Big draw8 mi Stadium & arenaFenway Park
Big draw12 mi Stadium & arenaGillette Stadium
Big draw8 mi MuseumIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Big draw37 mi LakeLake Chaubunagungamaug
8 mi MuseumMuseum of Fine Arts Boston477K visitors a year
10 mi AttractionFreedom TrailFenway 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 · Lake Chaubunagungamaug: Bree from Worcester, MA, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Museum of Fine Arts Boston: Martin~jawiki at Japanese Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Freedom Trail: Ingfbruno, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Dedham, 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 Dedham.
Dedham trades workers with Boston and other neighbors and is safe by national standards but not by Massachusetts’s.
24% of adults have obesity in Dedham, where Massachusetts’ towns sit at 28% and U.S. towns at 35%. 9.4% of adults smoke cigarettes in Dedham. Dedham beats the Massachusetts average on 11 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1.
| Dedham | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 28% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 9.4% | 11% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 19% | 25% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 16% | 17% |
| What stands out | Dedham | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9.1% | 12.4% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 8.3% | 11.1% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Dedham school district. Three of its 10 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dedham Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 555 | B− |
| Dedham HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 719 | A |
| GreenlodgeTop results in townGrades 1–5 | Grades 1–5 | 320 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MA on state tests and graduation
21 miles of trail in 24 parks and preserves. Dedham’s trail density is 1.9 miles per square mile. The biggest park or preserve is Neponset River Reservation, at 219 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Wilson Mountain Reservation | 3.8 mi | 198 |
| 2. Cutler Park | 3.7 mi | 178 |
| 3. Dedham Town Forest | 1.1 mi | 76 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 84% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 30 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Dedham.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Dedham has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 19° and about 70 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Dedham has about as many jobs (15,325) as working residents, but only 1,120 people both live and work here.
Most working residents leave Dedham for work: only 9% work in town. 20% of Dedham workers work from home. Since 2013, Dedham has added 1,089 jobs, to 15,325 in 2023.
| Dedham | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $129,000 | $120,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 20% | 18% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 5.6% | 6% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The median rent in Dedham is $2,042 a month. The typical Dedham home is worth about $757,000, up 2.3% in a year, 15% above the Massachusetts typical home.
| Dedham | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,042 a month | $1,682 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 73% | 79% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
At 23.2 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 83% of Massachusetts’s graded towns.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Adults 18 to 34 are 18% of residents (24% statewide); people 65 and older are 22% of residents (18% statewide). 55% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 47% across Massachusetts.
| Dedham | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 55% | 47% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 22% | 19% | 18% |
| Median age | 44.6 years | 43.4 years | 40.5 years |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1.6 points. Across Massachusetts, 51.1% of residents are women. Median age: women 47.6, men 42.1.
| Dedham | MA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.3% | 10.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.3% | 9.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.5% | 9.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 10.5% | 14% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.8% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.7% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 14% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.2% | 10.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 10.7% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6.5% | 8.6% | 10.4% |
| High school | 20.1% | 22.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 12.3% | 14.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 6% | 7.5% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 29.6% | 25.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 25.4% | 21.8% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
52 within 15 miles of the center of Dedham
About 6 of every 100 Dedham residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Massachusetts.
8 places in Dedham on the National Register of Historic Places.
25 notable people were born in Dedham.
Town in Massachusetts, United States
Dedham ( DED-əm) is a town in, and the county seat of, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Located on Boston's southwestern border, the population was 25,364 at the 2020 census. First settled by English colonists in 1635 and incorporated in 1636, Dedham established the first public school in America in 1643. Dedham is home to the Fairbanks House, the oldest surviving timber-frame house in the United States. On January 1, 1643, by unanimous vote, Dedham authorized the first taxpayer-funded public school, "the seed of American education." The first man-made canal in North America, Mother Brook, was created in Dedham in 1639. The town took an active part in the American Revolution an…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Dedham.
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Dedham grades B overall, better than 64% of U.S. towns and #150 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 Dedham 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.
25 notable people were born here, including Fisher Ames and Connie Hines.
