Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Gardner's standout: it has 26 miles of trail and 32% conserved land. Overall it grades C−, 250th among Massachusetts's 282 graded towns. It is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 89% of U.S. towns and natural-hazard risk is low. Its weakest subject is schools: its schools rank behind 80% of the state's. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 98% of U.S. towns, with 13 places on the National Register. 32% of the land in Gardner is conserved, above both the Massachusetts town median (19%) and the median of U.S. towns (4.3%). Only 8 of Massachusetts’ 321 towns score lower on health. Its National Register listings include Miss Toy Town Diner and First Minister's House.
Where Gardner beats most towns.
Census counts: 531 in 1790, a low of 531 in 1790, 21,287 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1785 and 3 maps from 1946 on.
13 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Massachusetts), ordered by how far Gardner is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Gardner, 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 Gardner.
Gardner keeps more of its land conserved than most of Massachusetts and is safe by national standards but not by Massachusetts’s; it also scores below Winchendon and its other neighbors on health.
The typical Gardner home is worth about $373,000, up 1.5% in a year, 43% below the Massachusetts typical home. 59% of households own their home in Gardner, against 79% in Massachusetts’ towns and 73% across U.S. towns. The median rent in Gardner is $1,109 a month.
| Gardner | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 59% | 79% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,109 a month | $1,683 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by the Gardner school district. Two of its 6 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Gardner High, with 808 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gardner Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 1,087 | C |
| Gardner HighLargest public high schoolGrades 8–12 | Grades 8–12 | 808 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MA on state tests and graduation
Its 4,665 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 83% of Massachusetts towns.
26 miles of trail in 28 parks and preserves. Gardner’s trail density is 1.1 miles per square mile. The biggest place to walk is Gardner Water Supply Land, 1,342 acres with 6.2 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Gardner Water Supply Land | 6.2 mi | 1,342 |
| 2. High Ridge Wildlife Management Area | 2.7 mi | 868 |
| 3. Perley Brook Reservoir | 2.1 mi | 116 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 81% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
All 5 graded neighbors score healthier than its C, from Winchendon (C+) to Westminster (A−).
Gardner beats the Massachusetts average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 22. 16% of adults report frequent physical distress in Gardner. Among 279 Massachusetts towns, just 6 have a higher share of adults who have obesity than Gardner.
| Gardner | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 12% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 24% | 23% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 11% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 19% | 25% |
| What stands out | Gardner | MA |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 18.5% | 11.9% |
| More adults with COPD | 8.7% | 5.9% |
| More smokers | 16.5% | 11.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Gardner has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 80°, January nights drop to 14° and about 75 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Most working residents leave Gardner for work: only 18% work in town. 14% of Gardner residents live below the poverty line. The top destinations are Fitchburg (7%), Leominster (6%) and Boston (5%).
| Gardner | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $68,000 | $120,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 14% | 6% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 18% | 9.8% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 19.6 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 75% of Massachusetts’s graded towns. Each of the 5 graded towns on its borders reports less crime per resident, from Winchendon (B−) to Hubbardston (A).
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Gardner. Close and well known come first.
Big draw38 mi LakeLake Chaubunagungamaug
20 mi MountainMount Monadnock
34 mi LakeWalden Pond
22 mi LakeQuabbin Reservoir
24 mi Stadium & arenaDCU Center
24 mi LandmarkBurnside FountainLake Chaubunagungamaug: Bree from Worcester, MA, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Mount Monadnock: Jonwmcinenrey, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Walden Pond: Victorgrigas, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Quabbin Reservoir: engineerchange, CC BY 2.0 · DCU Center: Terageorge, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Burnside Fountain: Daderot, CC0
3 within 15 miles of the center of Gardner
About 5 of every 100 Gardner residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Massachusetts.
13 places in Gardner on the National Register of Historic Places.
20 notable people were born in Gardner.
City in Massachusetts, United States
Gardner is a city in Worcester County in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. The population was 21,287 in the 2020 census. Gardner is home of such sites as the Blue Moon Diner, Dunn State Park, Gardner Heritage State Park, and Mount Wachusett Community College.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Gardner.
Westminster next door grades higher for schools (B to Gardner’s C−) and lower for cost of living (D to C+).
| Town | MA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gardner | #250 | C− | C+ | B− | C− | C |
| Templeton | #210 | B− | C+ | A− | C | B |
| Ashburnham | #154 | B | C− | A− | B | B+ |
| Westminster | #166 | B | D | B | B | A− |
| South Ashburnham | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Winchendon | #256 | C− | C | B− | D | C+ |
| Hubbardston | #117 | B+ | B | A | C | B+ |
South Ashburnham isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Gardner with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Gardner grades C− overall, better than 22% of U.S. towns and #250 of 282 in Massachusetts. It grades C for health, B− for safety and C− for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a C−.
Massachusetts has less crime than most states, so among its own towns Gardner sits nearer the middle.
That is 3.9 years of the area's median household income ($95,939 across the Worcester, MA 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+.
20 notable people were born here, including Jesse Paine Wolcott and George Clinton Sweeney.
