Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Yes, by almost any measure. Harvard earns an A+, 11th among Massachusetts's 282 graded towns. Its schools outperform 96% of the state's, residents are healthier than 92% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates, and it reports less crime per resident than 92% of U.S. towns. Its lowest mark, a C+, is in cost of living. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 94% of U.S. towns, with 7 places on the National Register. Harvard’s median household income is $214,000, above both the Massachusetts town median ($120,000) and the median of U.S. towns ($80,000). Harvard's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 95% of U.S. towns. Only 20 of Massachusetts’ 325 towns score higher on the outdoors.
Where Harvard beats most towns.
Fruitlands| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Hildreth Elementary School | PK–5 | 451 |
| The Bromfield Middle School | 6–8 | 244 |
| The Bromfield High School | 9–12 | 328 |
Fruitlands is a National Historic Landmark, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 1,387 in 1790, a low of 987 in 1930, 6,851 in 2020. The archive holds 29 old photos and papers going back to 1830 and 3 maps from 1948 on.
7 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Massachusetts), ordered by how far Harvard is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Harvard. Close and well known come first.
Big draw27 mi Stadium & arenaFenway Park
Big draw33 mi Stadium & arenaGillette Stadium
Big draw35 mi LakeLake Chaubunagungamaug
13 mi LakeWalden Pond
Big draw28 mi MuseumIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum
29 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 · 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
Who provides power, water and the rest in Harvard, 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 Harvard.
Harvard reports less crime than Littleton or any other graded neighbor, has schools in the top 5% of Massachusetts and draws workers from Leominster and beyond.
Its 5,209 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 80% of Massachusetts towns.
97 miles of trail in 144 parks and preserves. The trail density in Harvard is 3.6 miles per square mile. The biggest place to walk is Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge, 1,213 acres with 6.4 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Delaney Wildlife Management Area | 7.2 mi | 335 |
| 2. Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge | 6.4 mi | 1,213 |
| 3. Fruitlands Museum | 4.5 mi | 209 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its A+ ranks #9 of the 283 Massachusetts towns we grade for schools. Its A+ is the best School Grade on its borders; Boxborough (A) is next.
Its public schools are run by the Harvard school district. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is The Bromfield High School, with 328 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hildreth Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 451 | A+ |
| The Bromfield High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 328 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MA on state tests and graduation
5,167 jobs are based in Harvard, 1.9 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. Jobs based here grew from 2,653 in 2013 to 5,167.
Most working residents leave Harvard for work: only 8% work in town. Jobs based in Harvard grew to 5,167 in 2023, 2,514 more than in 2013. Harvard’s average trip to work is 32 minutes.
| Harvard | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 32 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 4.5% | 6% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its widest gap with Massachusetts is tooth loss: 6% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 11.9% statewide. Against the 803 U.S. towns with household incomes like Harvard’s, it is less healthy than 82%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
14% of Harvard adults report frequent mental distress. Harvard beats the Massachusetts average on 12 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 9.2% of Harvard adults smoke cigarettes.
| Harvard | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 9.2% | 11% | 14% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 83% | 82% | 79% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 33% | 36% |
| What stands out | Harvard | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 6% | 11.9% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 3.4% | 5.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.9% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its A tops all 6 graded towns on its borders; Littleton (A) comes closest. Violent crime is rare: 5 reported in 2025, 0.7 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 86% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
At 9.6 years of the Worcester metro’s $96K median household income, the typical home (about $922K) costs more against local pay than in 90% of Massachusetts towns; that ratio is one input to its C+ for cost of living.
The typical Harvard home is worth about $922,000, up 0.6% in a year, 41% above the Massachusetts typical home. 89% of households own their home in Harvard.
| Harvard | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 89% | 79% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,321 a month | $1,683 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Harvard has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 16° and about 59 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
1 within 15 miles of the center of Harvard
About 4 of every 100 Harvard residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Massachusetts.
30.2% of the town is conserved land, across 144 parks and preserves.
7 places in Harvard on the National Register of Historic Places.
5 notable people were born in Harvard.
Town in Massachusetts, United States
Harvard is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The town is located 25 miles west-northwest of Boston, in eastern Massachusetts. It is mostly bounded by I-495 to the east and Route 2 to the north. A farming community settled in 1658 and incorporated in 1732, it has been home to several non-traditional communities, such as Harvard Shaker Village and the utopian transcendentalist center Fruitlands. It is also home to St. Benedict Abbey, a traditionalist Catholic monastery, and for over seventy years was home to Harvard University's Oak Ridge Observatory, at one time the most extensively equipped observatory in the Eastern United States. It is now an exurban residential to…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Harvard.
At #11 in MA, it grades higher overall than all 6 graded towns on its borders; Boxborough (A+) comes closest.
| Town | MA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harvard | #11 | A+ | C+ | A | A+ | A |
| Lancaster | #86 | A− | D− | A− | A− | A |
| Shirley | #105 | A− | C+ | A− | C+ | A |
| Devens | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Ayer | #123 | B+ | C+ | B | C+ | A− |
| Boxborough | #31 | A+ | C− | A− | A | A+ |
| Bolton | #53 | A | C | A− | A− | A+ |
| Littleton | #43 | A+ | C− | A | A− | A+ |
Devens isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Harvard with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Harvard grades A+ overall, among the top 2% of U.S. towns and #11 of 282 in Massachusetts. It grades A for health, A for safety and A+ for schools.
That is 9.6 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+.
5 notable people were born here, including Levi Hutchins and William Channing Whitney.
