Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Ludlow's standout: it has 44 miles of trail. Overall it grades C, ranked 240th of 282 in Massachusetts. Its weakest subject is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $372K, 5.2 years of the Springfield metro’s $71K median household income. 23% of the land in Ludlow is conserved, against 19% in Massachusetts’ towns and 4.3% across U.S. towns. Only 27 of Massachusetts’ 321 towns score lower on health. Ludlow Reservoir Wildlife Conservation Easement, at 1,823 acres with 5.3 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
Where Ludlow beats most towns.
Where Ludlow’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Massachusetts), ordered by how far Ludlow is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 560 in 1790, 21,002 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1795 and 8 maps from 1887 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Ludlow. Close and well known come first.
8 mi National Historic SiteSpringfield Armory National Historic Site14K visitors a year
Big draw33 mi LakeLake Chaubunagungamaug
13 mi Theme parkSix Flags New England
15 mi LakeQuabbin Reservoir
31 mi Stadium & arenaPeoplesBank Arena
30 mi Stadium & arenaPratt & Whitney StadiumSpringfield Armory National Historic Site: National Park Service, Public domain · Lake Chaubunagungamaug: Bree from Worcester, MA, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Six Flags New England: Canadaolympic989, Public domain · Quabbin Reservoir: engineerchange, CC BY 2.0 · PeoplesBank Arena: PeoplesBank Arena, CC BY 2.5 · Pratt & Whitney Stadium: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Ludlow, 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 Ludlow.
Ludlow has commutes shorter than most of Massachusetts and is safe by national standards but not by Massachusetts’s.
The typical Ludlow home is worth about $373,000, up 4.3% in a year, 43% below the Massachusetts typical home. Ludlow’s median rent is $1,223 a month, below the Massachusetts town median ($1,683 a month) and near the median of U.S. towns ($1,185 a month).
| Ludlow | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,223 a month | $1,683 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 78% | 79% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by the Ludlow school district. Two of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Ludlow Senior High, with 736 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harris Brook Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades 2–5 | Grades 2–5 | 593 | – |
| Ludlow Senior HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 736 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MA on state tests and graduation
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Facing Rock Wildlife Management Area | 19.8 mi | 1,221 |
| 2. Ludlow Reservoir Wildlife Conservation Easement | 5.3 mi | 1,823 |
| 3. Town Forest | 2.7 mi | 112 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The average commute for its 9,673 working residents takes 20.1 minutes, against 29.1 across Massachusetts.
Most working residents leave Ludlow for work: only 11% work in town. The average trip to work in Ludlow is 20 minutes. The top destinations are Springfield (23%), Chicopee (6%) and West Springfield Town (3%).
| Ludlow | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $85,000 | $120,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 14% | 18% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 11% | 9.8% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 11.4 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 51% of Massachusetts’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 184 to 120 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Ludlow has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 16° and about 43 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 58% of U.S. communities. Since 1984, 4 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Ludlow.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Ludlow beats the Massachusetts average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 14. 16% of adults report frequent physical distress in Ludlow.
| Ludlow | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 12% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 24% | 23% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 36% | 33% | 33% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 19% | 25% |
| What stands out | Ludlow | MA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 8.1% | 5.9% |
| More smokers | 14.9% | 11.3% |
| More adults in frequent physical distress | 15.7% | 12.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
14 within 15 miles of the center of Ludlow
About 5 of every 100 Ludlow residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Massachusetts.
2 places in Ludlow on the National Register of Historic Places.
10 notable people were born in Ludlow.
Town in Massachusetts, United States
Ludlow is a New England town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 21,002 as of the 2020 census, and it is considered part of the Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. Located just northeast of Springfield across the Chicopee River, it is one of the city's suburbs. It has a sizable and visible Portuguese and Polish community.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Ludlow.
Granby next door grades lower for schools (D to Ludlow’s C) and higher for cost of living (C to D).
| Town | MA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ludlow | #240 | C | D | B+ | C | B− |
| Wilbraham | #167 | B | D | B− | B | A |
| Springfield | #281 | D− | C− | D | D | D |
| Chicopee | #271 | D | D | C− | C− | C |
| Granby | #120 | B+ | C | A | D | A |
| Belchertown | #147 | B+ | C− | B+ | B− | A |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Ludlow grades C overall, better than 29% of U.S. towns and #240 of 282 in Massachusetts. It grades B− for health, B+ for safety and C for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
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.
10 notable people were born here, including Nicole Fiorentino and Mike Mushok.
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