Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Framingham's standout: it has 71 miles of trail. Overall it grades C, 235th among Massachusetts's 282 graded towns. Residents are healthier than 80% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates and natural-hazard risk is low. Its weakest subject is cost of living: homes are expensive, about $657K for a typical one and 5.7 times the Boston metro’s $116K median household income. Framingham’s trail density is 2.7 miles per square mile, against 1.8 in Massachusetts’ towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. Framingham is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include Lake Cochituate Dam and Weston Aqueduct Linear District.
Where Framingham beats most towns.
Census counts: 1,598 in 1790, 72,362 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1825 and 8 maps from 1886 on.
16 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Massachusetts), ordered by how far Framingham is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Framingham. Close and well known come first.
Big draw18 mi Stadium & arenaFenway Park
Big draw17 mi Stadium & arenaGillette Stadium
Big draw28 mi LakeLake Chaubunagungamaug
Big draw17 mi MuseumIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum
10 mi LakeWalden Pond
20 mi AttractionFreedom TrailFenway Park: Gatorfan252525, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Gillette Stadium: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Lake Chaubunagungamaug: Bree from Worcester, MA, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · 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
Who provides power, water and the rest in Framingham, 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 Framingham.
Framingham is healthy by national standards but behind most towns in Massachusetts; it also reports more crime than Natick and its other graded neighbors and trails Southborough and its other neighbors on schools.
The biggest place to walk is Callahan State Park, 657 acres with 18.5 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Callahan State Park | 18.5 mi | 657 |
| 2. Nobscot Scout Reservation | 3.7 mi | 136 |
| 3. Baiting Brook-Welch Conservation Land | 3.2 mi | 110 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Each of its 6 graded neighbors has a higher School Grade than its D, Southborough highest at A+.
Its public schools are run by the Framingham school district. Two of its 23 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walsh MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 785 | B− |
| Framingham High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,534 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MA on state tests and graduation
165 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 17 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 90% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 165 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Framingham.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Within Massachusetts it is less healthy than 67% of the 279 graded towns: Massachusetts sets a high bar.
36% of adults feel lonely in Framingham, above both the Massachusetts town median (33%) and the median of U.S. towns (33%). 26% of Framingham adults have obesity. Framingham beats the Massachusetts average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 6.
| Framingham | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 36% | 33% | 33% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 28% | 35% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 32% | 35% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 9.1% | 14% |
| What stands out | Framingham | MA |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 6.6% | 5.2% |
| More adults without reliable transportation | 9.6% | 7.6% |
| More adults facing housing insecurity | 13.4% | 11.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Framingham has chilly, snowy winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 17° and about 48 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Most working residents leave Framingham for work: only 16% work in town. The average trip to work in Framingham is 30 minutes. Since 2013, Framingham has lost 3,378 jobs, to 40,315 in 2023.
| Framingham | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 20% | 18% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 16% | 9.8% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $107,000 | $120,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Each of the 6 graded towns on its borders reports less crime per resident, from Natick (B−) to Southborough (A). At 21.4 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 79% of Massachusetts’s graded towns.
Framingham’s violent crime rate is 2.6 per 1,000 residents.
| Framingham | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.6 per 1,000 residents | 1.4 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 7.9 per 1,000 residents | 4.9 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Massachusetts average. 49% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Framingham.
| Framingham | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 49% | 47% | 29% |
| Median age | 37.5 years | 43.4 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 15% | 19% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 22% | 20% | 22% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1.3 points. Across Massachusetts, 51.1% of residents are women. Median age: women 37.9, men 36.8.
| Framingham | MA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.4% | 10.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.3% | 9.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.7% | 9.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13.8% | 14% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 15.6% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.2% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12.9% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 8.9% | 10.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.2% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 12.9% | 8.6% | 10.4% |
| High school | 20.6% | 22.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 11.6% | 14.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 6.1% | 7.5% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 28.5% | 25.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 20.2% | 21.8% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
The typical Framingham home is worth about $657,000, up 0.6% in a year, close to the Massachusetts typical home.
| Framingham | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 55% | 79% | 73% |
| Median rent | $2,033 a month | $1,682 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 53% | 52% | 48% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
14 within 15 miles of the center of Framingham
About 7 of every 100 Framingham residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Massachusetts.
16 places in Framingham on the National Register of Historic Places.
53 notable people were born in Framingham.
City in the United States
Framingham ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. Incorporated in 1700, it is located in Middlesex County and the MetroWest subregion of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The city proper covers 25 square miles (65 km2) with a population of 72,362 in 2020, making it the 14th most populous municipality in Massachusetts. Residents voted in favor of adopting a charter to transition from a representative town meeting system to a mayor–council government in April 2017, and the municipality transitioned to city status on January 1, 2018. Before it transitioned, it had been the largest town by population in Massachusetts. The city has one of the largest Brazilian Ame…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
8 towns share a border with Framingham.
All 6 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its C; Natick (A) is closest.
| Town | MA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Framingham | #235 | C | D | C+ | D | A− |
| Wayland | #6 | A+ | C | A | A+ | A+ |
| Natick | #72 | A | D | B− | A | A+ |
| Ashland | #55 | A | D | A− | A− | A+ |
| Southborough | #9 | A+ | D | A | A+ | A+ |
| Sherborn | #17 | A+ | D | A | A+ | A+ |
| Cochituate | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Sudbury | #4 | A+ | C+ | A | A+ | A+ |
Cochituate isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Framingham with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Framingham grades C overall, better than 34% of U.S. towns and #235 of 282 in Massachusetts. It grades A− for health, C+ for safety and D for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Massachusetts has less crime than most states, so among its own towns Framingham 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.
53 notable people were born here, including Adam Schiff and Crispus Attucks.
