Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Leominster's standout: it has 68 miles of trail and 34% conserved land. Overall it grades C−, 246th among Massachusetts's 282 graded towns. Natural-hazard risk is low. Its weakest subject is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $467K, 4.9 years of the Worcester metro’s $96K median household income. 35% of the land in Leominster is conserved, above both Massachusetts’ towns (19%) and U.S. towns (4.3%). On safety, just 21 of Massachusetts’ 300 towns do worse. Its National Register listings include Whitney & Company and Frances H. and Jonathan Drake House.
Where Leominster beats most towns.
Census counts: 1,189 in 1790, 43,782 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1847 and 7 maps from 1889 on.
12 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Massachusetts), ordered by how far Leominster is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Leominster. Close and well known come first.
Big draw36 mi Stadium & arenaFenway Park
Big draw39 mi Stadium & arenaGillette Stadium
Big draw33 mi LakeLake Chaubunagungamaug
Big draw37 mi MuseumIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum
23 mi LakeWalden Pond
29 mi MountainMount MonadnockFenway 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 · Mount Monadnock: Jonwmcinenrey, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Leominster, 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 Leominster.
Leominster keeps more of its land conserved than most of Massachusetts, trades workers with Fitchburg and other neighbors and is safe by national standards but not by Massachusetts’s.
Its 6,507 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 86% of Massachusetts towns.
69 miles of trail in 29 parks and preserves. At 2.3 miles per square mile, Leominster’s trail density is above both the Massachusetts town median (1.8) and the median of U.S. towns (0.4). The biggest place to walk is Leominster State Forest, 1,302 acres with 11.3 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Leominster State Forest | 11.3 mi | 1,302 |
| 2. Doyle Community Park and Center | 4.2 mi | 152 |
| 3. Barrett Park | 3.7 mi | 117 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Leominster school district. Two of its 14 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sky View Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 869 | C |
| Leominster High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,060 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MA on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 80% of U.S. communities. Since 1982, 53 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Leominster.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
At 30.3 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 92% of Massachusetts’s graded towns. Reported crimes rose from 676 to 725 over the last three FBI years, a rise beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Leominster’s violent crime rate is 4.9 per 1,000 residents.
| Leominster | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.9 per 1,000 residents | 1.4 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 11.5 per 1,000 residents | 4.9 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
62% of Leominster households own their home. The typical Leominster home is worth about $467,000, up 1.6% in a year, 29% below the Massachusetts typical home. The median rent in Leominster is $1,354 a month.
| Leominster | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 62% | 79% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,354 a month | $1,683 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Leominster has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 15° and about 75 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Leominster has about as many jobs (17,820) as working residents, but only 3,955 people both live and work here.
About one in 5 of Leominster’s working residents works in town. Since 2013, Leominster has added 1,677 jobs, to 17,820 in 2023. 11% of workers work from home in Leominster.
| Leominster | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 21% | 9.8% | 8% |
| Work from home | 11% | 18% | 11% |
| Median household income | $84,000 | $120,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Within Massachusetts it is less healthy than 88% of the 279 graded towns: Massachusetts sets a high bar.
Leominster beats the Massachusetts average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 13.
| Leominster | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 16% | 17% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 24% | 23% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 19% | 25% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 12% | 14% |
| What stands out | Leominster | MA |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 6.5% | 5.2% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 8.7% | 7% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 15.4% | 12.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
3 within 15 miles of the center of Leominster
About 5 of every 100 Leominster residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Massachusetts.
12 places in Leominster on the National Register of Historic Places.
33 notable people were born in Leominster.
City in Massachusetts, United States
Leominster ( LEM-ən-stər) is a city in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the second-most populous city in Worcester County, with a population of 44,209 at the 2024 census estimate. Leominster is located north of Worcester and northwest of Boston. Both Route 2 and Route 12 pass through Leominster. Interstate 190, Route 13, and Route 117 all have starting/ending points in Leominster. Leominster is bounded by Fitchburg and Lunenburg to the north, Lancaster to the east, Sterling and Princeton to the south, and Westminster to the west.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Leominster.
Lancaster next door grades higher for schools (A− to Leominster’s C) and lower for cost of living (D− to C−).
| Town | MA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leominster | #246 | C− | C− | C | C | B |
| Fitchburg | #264 | D | C | C | C− | C+ |
| Lunenburg | #169 | B | D | B+ | B | A− |
| Lancaster | #86 | A− | D− | A− | A− | A |
| Princeton | #18 | A+ | B− | A | B+ | A |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Leominster grades C− overall, better than 23% of U.S. towns and #246 of 282 in Massachusetts. It grades B for health, C for safety and C for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
33 notable people were born here, including R. A. Salvatore and Johnny Appleseed.
