Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Mendon grades B overall, 149th among Massachusetts's 282 graded towns. It is healthier than 88% of U.S. towns and the median household earns $132K. The trade-off is money: homes are expensive, about $709K for a typical one and 7.4 times the Worcester metro’s $96K median household income. Mendon’s trail density is 1.6 miles per square mile, close to Massachusetts’ towns (1.8) and above U.S. towns (0.4). Its National Register listings include Richard Sayles House and Mendon Center Historic District. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 76% of U.S. towns.
Where Mendon beats most towns.
Census counts: 1,555 in 1790, a low of 880 in 1910, 6,228 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1727 and 8 maps from 1886 on.
5 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Massachusetts), ordered by how far Mendon is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Mendon. Close and well known come first.
Big draw14 mi Stadium & arenaGillette Stadium
Big draw16 mi LakeLake Chaubunagungamaug
Big draw29 mi Stadium & arenaFenway Park
Big draw28 mi MuseumIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum
33 mi MuseumUSS Massachusetts
26 mi LakeWalden PondGillette Stadium: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Lake Chaubunagungamaug: Bree from Worcester, MA, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Fenway Park: Gatorfan252525, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: Sean Dungan, CC BY-SA 4.0 · USS Massachusetts: USN, Public domain · Walden Pond: Victorgrigas, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Mendon, 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 Mendon.
Mendon is safe by national standards but not by Massachusetts’s and is healthy by national standards but mid-pack in Massachusetts; it also has many renters stretched by housing costs.
Within Massachusetts it is healthier than 54% of the 279 graded towns: Massachusetts sets a high bar. Its widest gap with Massachusetts is no health insurance: 2.9% of those 18–64 have no health insurance, against 5.2% statewide.
19% of Mendon adults binge drink, where Massachusetts’ towns sit at 17% and U.S. towns at 16%. 26% of Mendon adults have been diagnosed with depression. Mendon beats the Massachusetts average on 9 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0.
| Mendon | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 17% | 16% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 24% | 23% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 15% | 19% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 82% | 82% | 79% |
| What stands out | Mendon | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 2.9% | 5.2% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 8% | 12.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Mendon-Upton school district. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miscoe Hill SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 5–8 | Grades 5–8 | 647 | C+ |
| Bethany Christian Academy PrivateLargest high schoolGrades PK–12 | Grades PK–12 | 214 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MA on state tests and graduation
At 8.2 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 67% of Massachusetts’s graded towns.
Mendon’s property crime rate is 3.7 per 1,000 residents.
| Mendon | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.7 per 1,000 residents | 4.9 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.5 per 1,000 residents | 1.4 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
29 miles of trail in 8 parks and preserves. Quisset Wildlife Management Area, at 354 acres with 4.3 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Town Forest | 7.2 mi | 116 |
| 2. Quisset Wildlife Management Area | 4.3 mi | 354 |
| 3. Meadow Brook Woods Conservation Area | 1.3 mi | 77 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Most working residents leave Mendon for work: only 8% work in town. Since 2013, Mendon has added 342 jobs, to 1,588 in 2023. The average trip to work in Mendon is 30 minutes.
| Mendon | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $132,000 | $120,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 15% | 18% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 7.1% | 6% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 78% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Mendon has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 18° and about 48 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Adults 18 to 34 are 19% of residents (24% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 44% of residents (39% statewide). 15% of residents are 65 or older in Mendon. Mendon has grown 4.2% since 2020, to 6,479 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Mendon | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 15% | 19% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 47% | 47% | 29% |
| Median age | 44.1 years | 43.4 years | 40.5 years |
52% women, 48% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.7 points. Across Massachusetts, 51.1% of residents are women.
| Mendon | MA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.5% | 10.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 13.4% | 9.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8.3% | 9.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 10.3% | 14% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 10% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 18.2% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.8% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.5% | 10.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.1% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.2% | 8.6% | 10.4% |
| High school | 24.4% | 22.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 13.2% | 14.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.3% | 7.5% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 31.9% | 25.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 14.9% | 21.8% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
78.7% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 51.8% across Massachusetts.
The typical Mendon home is worth about $709,000, up 1.9% in a year, 8% above the Massachusetts typical home.
| Mendon | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,840 a month | $1,682 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 87% | 79% | 73% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
2 within 15 miles of the center of Mendon
About 7 of every 100 Mendon residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Massachusetts.
Where Mendon’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
5 places in Mendon on the National Register of Historic Places.
14 notable people were born in Mendon.
Town in Massachusetts, United States
Mendon is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 6,228 at the 2020 census. Mendon is part of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, an early center of the Industrial Revolution in the United States. Mendon celebrated its 350th anniversary on May 15, 2017.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Mendon.
Bellingham next door grades lower for schools (C to Mendon’s B) and higher for cost of living (C to D−).
| Town | MA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mendon | #149 | B | D− | A− | B | A |
| Bellingham | #183 | B− | C | B− | C | A |
| Hopedale | #113 | B+ | D | A− | B− | A |
| Upton | #82 | A | C | A | B | A |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Mendon grades B overall, better than 65% of U.S. towns and #149 of 282 in Massachusetts. It grades A for health, A− for safety and B 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−.
14 notable people were born here, including Eli Thayer and Adin B. Capron.
_underway_c1944.jpg){kind=link}
