Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Few places in the country grade higher. Medfield earns an A+, 15th among Massachusetts's 282 graded towns. On CDC health estimates it is near the top nationally, the median household earns $236K, and its schools outperform 93% of the state's. The exception is cost of living: homes are expensive, about $1.1 million for a typical one and 9.2 times the Boston metro’s $116K median household income. 78% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Medfield, where Massachusetts’ towns sit at 47% and U.S. towns at 29%. Only 6 of Massachusetts’ 325 towns score higher on the outdoors. Its National Register listings include Inness-Fitts House and Studio/Barn and Medfield State Hospital.
Where Medfield beats most towns.
First Parish Unitarian Church| Widest gap | Medfield | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 5.7% | 12.4% |
Census counts: 731 in 1790, 12,799 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1651 and 8 maps from 1887 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 Medfield is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Medfield. Close and well known come first.
Big draw7 mi Stadium & arenaGillette Stadium
Big draw15 mi Stadium & arenaFenway Park
Big draw29 mi LakeLake Chaubunagungamaug
Big draw15 mi MuseumIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum
18 mi LakeWalden Pond
15 mi MuseumMuseum of Fine Arts Boston477K visitors a yearGillette Stadium: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fenway Park: Gatorfan252525, CC BY-SA 4.0 · 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 · Museum of Fine Arts Boston: Martin~jawiki at Japanese Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Medfield, 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 Medfield.
Medfield keeps more of its land conserved than most of Massachusetts and has less food insecurity than most of Massachusetts, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Massachusetts.
Its 3,269 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 87% of Massachusetts towns. Its A+ for the outdoors ranks #3 of 283 in Massachusetts.
45 miles of trail in 32 parks and preserves. Medfield’s trail density is 3.1 miles per square mile. Rocky Woods Reservation, at 467 acres with 8.3 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Rocky Woods Reservation | 8.3 mi | 467 |
| 2. Noon Hill Reservation | 4.8 mi | 315 |
| 3. Noon Hill Conservation Area | 3.4 mi | 279 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its A for schools comes with a C− for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $1.06M.
Its public schools are run by the Medfield school district. Three of its 6 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Medfield Senior High, with 704 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas Blake MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 574 | A− |
| Medfield Senior HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 704 | A+ |
| Dale StreetTop results in townGrades 4–5 | Grades 4–5 | 384 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MA on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with Massachusetts is food insecurity: 5.7% of its 9,284 adults worry about having enough food, against 12.4% statewide. Against the 534 U.S. towns with household incomes like Medfield’s, it is healthier than 77%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
13% of Medfield adults get no exercise outside work. Medfield beats the Massachusetts average on 21 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 7.4% of Medfield adults smoke cigarettes.
| Medfield | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 28% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 19% | 25% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 9.8% | 12% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 7.4% | 11% | 14% |
| What stands out | Medfield | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 5.7% | 12.4% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 2.4% | 5.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.9% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 9.2 years of the Boston metro’s $116K median household income, the typical home (about $1.06M) costs more against local pay than in 88% of Massachusetts towns; that ratio is one input to its C− for cost of living.
The median rent in Medfield is $2,035 a month. The typical Medfield home is worth about $1,062,000, up 3.9% in a year, 62% above the Massachusetts typical home. 86% of households own their home in Medfield.
| Medfield | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,035 a month | $1,682 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 86% | 79% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Reported crimes fell from 54 to 30 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings. Violent crime is rare: 10 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 80% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 5 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Medfield.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
36.6% of workers work from home, against 18.6% across Massachusetts.
Among 283 Massachusetts towns, just 7 have a higher median household income than Medfield. Jobs based in Medfield grew to 3,137 in 2023, 455 more than in 2013. Only 8 of the 283 Massachusetts towns we compare have a lower share of residents below the poverty line than Medfield.
| Medfield | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 37% | 18% | 11% |
| Median household income | $236,000 | $120,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 2.1% | 6% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 32 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Medfield has chilly, snowy winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 18° and about 56 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
27 within 15 miles of the center of Medfield
About 3 of every 100 Medfield residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Massachusetts.
35.1% of the town is conserved land, across 32 parks and preserves.
7 places in Medfield on the National Register of Historic Places.
9 notable people were born in Medfield.
Town in Massachusetts, United States
Medfield is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 12,799 according to the 2020 United States Census. The town contains the census-designated place of the same name. It is a community about 17 miles (27 km) southwest of Boston, Massachusetts, which is a 40-minute drive to Downtown Boston. Attractions include the Hinkley Pond and the Peak House.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Medfield.
At #15 in MA, it grades higher overall than all 5 graded towns on its borders; Sherborn (A+) comes closest.
| Town | MA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medfield | #15 | A+ | C− | A | A | A+ |
| Millis | #56 | A | C− | A+ | B+ | A |
| Millis-Clicquot | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Sherborn | #17 | A+ | D | A | A+ | A+ |
| Dover | #41 | A+ | D | A− | A+ | A+ |
| Walpole | #71 | A | D | B | B+ | A+ |
| Norfolk | #32 | A+ | D | A | A− | A+ |
Millis-Clicquot isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Medfield with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Medfield grades A+ overall, among the top 2% of U.S. towns and #15 of 282 in Massachusetts. It grades A+ for health, A for safety and A 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−.
9 notable people were born here, including Hannah Adams and Lisa Halliday.
