Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Few places in the country grade higher. Dunstable earns an A+, 27th of 282 graded towns in Massachusetts. CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 97% of the country, crime is low: it reports less per resident than 90% of U.S. towns, and the median household earns $209K. Its lowest mark, a C+, is in cost of living. Dunstable’s median household income is $209,000, against $120,000 in Massachusetts’ towns and $80,000 across U.S. towns. On walkability, just 11 of Massachusetts’ 325 towns do worse. Dunstable has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Dunstable Town Hall and Dunstable Center Historic District.
Where Dunstable beats most towns.
Census counts: 380 in 1790, a low of 353 in 1920, 3,358 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1846 and 7 maps from 1886 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Dunstable takes its name from Dunstable in Bedfordshire, England, 3,250 miles across the Atlantic.
UKUK editionDunstable, settled in 1656, takes its name from Dunstable, a large town in Bedfordshire, England.
Named after: each U.S. town’s Wikipedia article. Grades compare each town with towns in its own country, so they aren’t a head-to-head.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Massachusetts), ordered by how far Dunstable is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for health (better than 97% of comparable towns) to D for walkability (better than 10%), so the A+ overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Dunstable. Close and well known come first.
Big draw31 mi Stadium & arenaFenway Park
18 mi LakeWalden Pond
Big draw31 mi MuseumIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum
31 mi AttractionFreedom Trail
29 mi Stadium & arenaHarvard Stadium
31 mi MuseumMuseum of Fine Arts Boston477K visitors a yearFenway Park: Gatorfan252525, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Walden Pond: Victorgrigas, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: Sean Dungan, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Freedom Trail: Ingfbruno, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Harvard Stadium: Nick Allen, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Museum of Fine Arts Boston: Martin~jawiki at Japanese Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Dunstable, 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 Dunstable.
Dunstable keeps more of its land conserved than most of Massachusetts, has less tooth loss than most of Massachusetts and sends most of its workers to Boston and beyond.
Its widest gap with Massachusetts is tooth loss: 5.7% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 11.9% statewide. Against the 907 U.S. towns with household incomes like Dunstable’s, it is healthier than 54%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
24% of Dunstable adults have obesity. Dunstable beats the Massachusetts average on 19 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 10% of Dunstable adults report frequent physical distress.
| Dunstable | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 28% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 12% | 14% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 33% | 36% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 19% | 25% |
| What stands out | Dunstable | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 5.7% | 11.9% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 6.6% | 12.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Groton-Dunstable school district. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swallow/Union SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–4 | Grades K–4 | 210 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MA on state tests and graduation
Its 3,200 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 79% of Massachusetts towns.
42 miles of trail in 47 parks and preserves. Dunstable’s trail density is 2.5 miles per square mile. Unkety Brook Wildlife Management Area, at 516 acres with 2.9 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Main Street Wildlife Refuge | 4.5 mi | 411 |
| 2. Unkety Brook Wildlife Management Area | 2.9 mi | 516 |
| 3. Flat Rock Hill | 2.3 mi | 149 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Reported crimes fell from 15 to 6 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings. Violent crime is rare: 0 reported in 2025, 0 per 1,000 residents.
The violent crime rate in Dunstable is 0 per 1,000 residents.
| Dunstable | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0 per 1,000 residents | 1.5 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.7 per 1,000 residents | 4.9 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 81% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Dunstable has 260 jobs for its 1,802 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
0.5% of residents live below the poverty line in Dunstable. Jobs based in Dunstable grew to 260 in 2023, 44 more than in 2013. 20% of workers work from home in Dunstable.
| Dunstable | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 34 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 0.5% | 6% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 20% | 18% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 5.2% | 9.9% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The median property tax bill is $9,020, against $5,992 across Massachusetts, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The typical Dunstable home is worth about $797,000, about the same as a year ago, 22% above the Massachusetts typical home.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Dunstable has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 16° and about 53 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
5 within 15 miles of the center of Dunstable
About 7 of every 100 Dunstable residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Massachusetts.
30% of the town is conserved land, across 47 parks and preserves.
2 places in Dunstable on the National Register of Historic Places.
6 notable people were born in Dunstable.
Town in Massachusetts, United States
Dunstable ( DUN-stə-bəl) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,358 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Dunstable.
| Town | MA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dunstable | #27 | A+ | C+ | A | A | A+ |
| Pepperell | #97 | A− | C | A− | B | A |
| Tyngsborough | #220 | C+ | D | — | C+ | A |
| Groton | #7 | A+ | C+ | A | A | A+ |
Tyngsborough reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Dunstable with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Dunstable grades A+ overall, better than 98% of U.S. towns and #27 of 282 in Massachusetts. It grades A+ for health, A for safety and A for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 6.9 years of the area's median household income ($115,863 across the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
6 notable people were born here, including Ellen Swallow Richards and Amos Kendall.
