Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Few places in the country grade higher. Millis earns an A, 56th among Massachusetts's 282 graded towns. It reports less crime per resident than 97% of U.S. towns, it is healthier than 95% of U.S. towns, and the median household earns $156K. The exception is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $694K, 6 years of the Boston metro’s $116K median household income. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 90% of U.S. towns, with 5 places on the National Register. 24% of the land in Millis is conserved, where Massachusetts’ towns sit at 19% and U.S. towns at 4.3%. Its National Register listings include John Partridge House and Prospect Hill Cemetery.
Where Millis beats most towns.
Census counts: 786 in 1890, 8,460 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1714 and 8 maps from 1887 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 Millis is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Millis. Close and well known come first.
Big draw8 mi Stadium & arenaGillette Stadium
Big draw18 mi Stadium & arenaFenway Park
Big draw26 mi LakeLake Chaubunagungamaug
Big draw18 mi MuseumIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum
18 mi LakeWalden Pond
20 mi AttractionFreedom TrailGillette 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 · Freedom Trail: Ingfbruno, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Millis, 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 Millis.
Millis reports less crime than Holliston or any other graded neighbor and has less no health insurance than most of Massachusetts, but it trails Sherborn and its other neighbors on schools.
Its A+ tops all 5 graded towns on its borders; Holliston (A+) comes closest. Violent crime is rare: 9 reported in 2025, 0.9 per 1,000 residents.
Millis’ property crime rate is 1 per 1,000 residents, against 4.9 in Massachusetts’ towns and 9.9 across U.S. towns.
| Millis | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1 per 1,000 residents | 4.9 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.9 per 1,000 residents | 1.5 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Each of its 5 graded neighbors has a higher School Grade than its B+, Sherborn highest at A+.
Its public schools are run by the Millis school district.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clyde F BrownLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 603 | B+ |
| Millis High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 286 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MA on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with Massachusetts is no health insurance: 3.2% of those 18–64 have no health insurance, against 5.2% statewide. Against the 2,390 U.S. towns with household incomes like Millis’s, it is healthier than 73%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
16% of adults get no exercise outside work in Millis. Millis beats the Massachusetts average on 11 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 13% of adults say their health is fair or poor in Millis.
| Millis | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 19% | 25% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 15% | 19% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 9.7% | 11% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 12% | 14% |
| What stands out | Millis | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 3.2% | 5.2% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.7% | 12.4% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.1% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Most working residents leave Millis for work: only 8% work in town. Since 2013, Millis has added 449 jobs, to 2,059 in 2023. Millis’ average trip to work is 31 minutes.
| Millis | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $156,000 | $120,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 4.8% | 6% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 18% | 18% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 78% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 10 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Millis.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
16 miles of trail in 17 parks and preserves. The trail density in Millis is 1.3 miles per square mile. The biggest park or preserve is Charles River Natural Valley Storage Area, at 587 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Apple Knoll Farm | 1.9 mi | 306 |
| 2. Village Street Conservation Area | 1.1 mi | 36 |
| 3. Bridge Island Meadows | 1 mi | 83 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Millis has chilly, snowy winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 18° and about 48 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The median household earns $155,996, against $103,960 across Massachusetts, one input to its A for jobs and income.
Adults 18 to 34 are 17% of residents (24% statewide); people 65 and older are 24% of residents (18% statewide). 55% of Millis adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more. Millis has grown 12% since 2020, to 9,463 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Millis | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 55% | 47% | 29% |
| Median age | 46.4 years | 43.4 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 18% | 20% | 22% |
54% women, 46% men
About 85 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±2.8 points). Across Massachusetts, 51.1% of residents are women.
| Millis | MA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.2% | 10.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.2% | 9.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8% | 9.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 8.9% | 14% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.6% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 17.7% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 16.2% | 10.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.3% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.6% | 8.6% | 10.4% |
| High school | 19.5% | 22.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 13.1% | 14.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.3% | 7.5% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 34.6% | 25.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 19.9% | 21.8% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
The median property tax bill is $9,344, against $5,992 across Massachusetts, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The typical Millis home is worth about $694,000, up 1.7% in a year, 6% above the Massachusetts typical home.
| Millis | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,696 a month | $1,682 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 83% | 79% | 73% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
15 within 15 miles of the center of Millis
About 5 of every 100 Millis residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Massachusetts.
Where Millis’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
5 places in Millis on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in Massachusetts, United States
Millis is a town in Norfolk County in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It had a population of 8,460 at the 2020 census. It contains the census-designated place of Millis-Clicquot. The town is approximately 19 miles (31 km) southwest of downtown Boston and is bordered by Norfolk, Sherborn, Holliston, Medfield, and Medway. Massachusetts state routes 109 and 115 run through Millis.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Millis.
All 5 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its A; Holliston (A+) is closest.
| Town | MA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Millis | #56 | A | C− | A+ | B+ | A |
| Medfield | #15 | A+ | C− | A | A | A+ |
| Norfolk | #32 | A+ | D | A | A− | A+ |
| Millis-Clicquot | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Medway | #23 | A+ | C | A | A− | A+ |
| Sherborn | #17 | A+ | D | A | A+ | A+ |
| Holliston | #38 | A+ | C− | A+ | A− | A+ |
Millis-Clicquot isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Millis with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Millis grades A overall, better than 93% of U.S. towns and #56 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 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−.
