Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Melrose grades A overall, ranked 61st of 282 in Massachusetts. Few places in the country are easier to get around without a car. It is healthier than 97% of U.S. towns and the median household earns $134K. The catch is cost: homes are expensive, about $908K for a typical one and 7.8 times the Boston metro’s $116K median household income. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 93% of U.S. towns, with 7 places on the National Register. Melrose’s trail density is 3.9 miles per square mile, above both the Massachusetts town median (1.8) and the median of U.S. towns (0.4). Only 29 of Massachusetts’ 325 towns score lower on hazard risk. Its National Register listings include Beebe Estate and Phineas Upham House.
Where Melrose beats most towns.
Its founding year, 1629, comes before those of 94% of the Massachusetts towns we grade with a known year.
Census counts: 1,260 in 1850, 29,817 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1720 and 6 maps from 1893 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 Melrose is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 9%), so the A overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Melrose. Close and well known come first.
Big draw8 mi Stadium & arenaFenway Park
Big draw8 mi MuseumIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Big draw27 mi Stadium & arenaGillette Stadium
7 mi AttractionFreedom Trail
6 mi MuseumBunker Hill Monument
7 mi Stadium & arenaHarvard StadiumFenway Park: Gatorfan252525, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: Sean Dungan, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Gillette Stadium: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Freedom Trail: Ingfbruno, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Bunker Hill Monument: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Harvard Stadium: Nick Allen, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Melrose, 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 Melrose.
Melrose is safe by national standards but not by Massachusetts’s; it also carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Massachusetts (mostly inland flooding) and has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Massachusetts.
18 miles of trail in 22 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Middlesex Fells Reservation, 188 acres with 7.1 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Middlesex Fells Reservation | 7.1 mi | 188 |
| 2. Mount Hood Recreation Area & Golf Course | 2.9 mi | 247 |
| 3. Pine Banks Park | 1.7 mi | 181 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its A− is the best School Grade on its borders; Wakefield (B+) is next. Its A− for schools comes with a D for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $908K.
Its public schools are run by the Melrose school district. Three of its 10 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Melrose MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 886 | B+ |
| Melrose HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 967 | A |
| WinthropTop results in townGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 392 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MA on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with Massachusetts is food insecurity: 7.7% of its 23,584 adults worry about having enough food, against 12.4% statewide.
24% of adults have obesity in Melrose, below both Massachusetts’ towns (28%) and U.S. towns (35%). 9.8% of adults report frequent physical distress in Melrose. Melrose beats the Massachusetts average on 22 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0.
| Melrose | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 28% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 9.8% | 12% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 32% | 35% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 33% | 36% |
| What stands out | Melrose | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.7% | 12.4% |
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 7.4% | 11.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 7.8 years of the Boston metro’s $116K median household income, the typical home (about $908K) costs more against local pay than in 78% of Massachusetts towns; that ratio is one input to its D for cost of living. Its typical home is the priciest on its borders; Wakefield is next at $812K.
Melrose’s median rent is $1,970 a month. The typical Melrose home is worth about $908,000, up 4.1% in a year, 39% above the Massachusetts typical home. 67% of Melrose households own their home.
| Melrose | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,970 a month | $1,682 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 67% | 79% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
29.6% of workers work from home, against 18.6% across Massachusetts.
Most working residents leave Melrose for work: only 7% work in town. The average trip to work in Melrose is 35 minutes. Jobs based in Melrose grew to 6,023 in 2023, 463 more than in 2013.
| Melrose | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 30% | 18% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 35 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $134,000 | $120,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 3.8% | 6% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 10.4 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 54% of Massachusetts’s graded towns.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Melrose has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 20° and about 64 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 94% of Massachusetts towns, with expected losses of about $261 per resident a year; that rating is what its C for hazard risk is built on. 57 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 11 properties have flooded more than once.
Since 1979, 57 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Melrose.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
50 within 15 miles of the center of Melrose
About 5 of every 100 Melrose residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Massachusetts.
26,983 counted in 2010 and 29,817 in 2020; an estimated 29,597 in 2025.
Growth has leveled off: within 1% of 2020, after 10.5% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
7 places in Melrose on the National Register of Historic Places.
48 notable people were born in Melrose.
City in Massachusetts, United States
Melrose is a city located in the Greater Boston metropolitan area in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Its population as of the 2020 census was 29,817. It is a suburb located approximately seven miles north of Boston. It is situated in the center of the triangle created by Interstates 93, 95 and U.S. Route 1. The land that comprises Melrose was first settled in 1628 and was once part of Charlestown and then Malden. It became the Town of Melrose in 1850 and then the City of Melrose in 1900.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Melrose.
It grades higher overall than all 3 graded towns on its borders; Wakefield (A) comes closest.
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Melrose grades A overall, better than 91% of U.S. towns and #61 of 282 in Massachusetts. It grades A+ for health, B+ for safety and A− 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.
48 notable people were born here, including David Souter and Geraldine Farrar.
