Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Montague grades D overall, 258th among Massachusetts's 282 graded towns, mostly because of schools. Its public schools trail 91% of Massachusetts towns on state tests and graduation. In its favor, it has 70 miles of trail and 42% conserved land. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 100% of U.S. towns, with 4 places on the National Register. 42% of the land in Montague is conserved, where Massachusetts’ towns sit at 19% and U.S. towns at 4.3%. On incomes, just 17 of Massachusetts’ 325 towns do worse. The biggest place to walk is Montague Wildlife Management Area, 1,828 acres with 5.9 miles of trail.
Where Montague beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Turner Falls Historic District| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Sheffield Elementary School | 2–5 | 199 |
| Hillcrest Elementary School | PK–1 | 122 |
| Great Falls Middle | 6–8 | 228 |
Census counts: 906 in 1790, 8,580 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1890 and 6 maps from 1890 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Massachusetts), ordered by how far Montague is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Montague. Close and well known come first.
31 mi National Historic SiteSpringfield Armory National Historic Site14K visitors a year
18 mi LakeQuabbin Reservoir
30 mi MountainMount Monadnock
34 mi MountainMount Greylock
36 mi Theme parkSix Flags New England
37 mi MuseumClark Art InstituteSpringfield Armory National Historic Site: National Park Service, Public domain · Quabbin Reservoir: engineerchange, CC BY 2.0 · Mount Monadnock: Jonwmcinenrey, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Mount Greylock: Jstergis, CC BY 3.0 · Six Flags New England: Canadaolympic989, Public domain · Clark Art Institute: Daderot, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Montague, 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 Montague.
Montague keeps more of its land conserved than most of Massachusetts, is healthier than towns with similar incomes and is safe by national standards but not by Massachusetts’s.
Its 8,324 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 96% of Massachusetts towns.
Walkers can cover 70 miles of trail in 15 parks and preserves. Montague’s concentration of trails stands at 2.2 miles per square mile. Parks and preserves locally: 15, covering 6,066 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Montague Plains Wildlife Management Area | 22.3 mi | 1,506 |
| 2. Montague Wildlife Management Area | 5.9 mi | 1,828 |
| 3. Watershed Protection Area | 5.7 mi | 1,483 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Public schools: the Gill-Montague school district. Below: Two of its 5 schools, each with why it was picked. The largest public high school is Franklin County Technical, with 643 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Great Falls MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 228 | D |
| Franklin County TechnicalLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 643 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MA on state tests and graduation
64.6% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 51.8% across Massachusetts.
Montague’s median rent is $1,207 a month. 63% of households live in a home they own in the town, below both Massachusetts’ towns (79%) and U.S. towns (73%). Home values are up 3.5% over the year to September 2026.
| Montague | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 63% | 79% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,207 a month | $1,683 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The average commute for its 4,098 working residents takes 21 minutes, against 29.1 across Massachusetts.
The top destinations are Greenfield (16%), Amherst Town (6%) and Northampton (5%). The average commute for Montague comes to 21 minutes. Half of commuters travel less than 15 miles. Montague: 14% of working residents work locally.
| Montague | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $71,000 | $120,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 12% | 6% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 14% | 9.8% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Against the 10,546 U.S. towns with household incomes like Montague’s, it is healthier than 89%, so its B+ isn’t only a matter of income. Within Massachusetts it is less healthy than 76% of the 279 graded towns: Massachusetts sets a high bar.
27% of adults have obesity in Montague. Two figures for adults in the town: 27% have been diagnosed with depression, 22% get no exercise outside work.
| Montague | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 28% | 35% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 24% | 23% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 19% | 25% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 33% | 33% |
| What stands out | Montague | MA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 7.5% | 5.9% |
| More adults with arthritis | 30.1% | 25.4% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expect July afternoons of 84° and January nights of 15°, with about 46 inches of snow a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 24.7 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 88% of Massachusetts’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 122 to 72 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
For Montague, the violent crime rate is 3.7 per 1,000 residents. The property crime rate in the town is 4.9 per 1,000 residents.
| Montague | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.7 per 1,000 residents | 1.4 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.9 per 1,000 residents | 4.9 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
8,377 people lived in Montague by the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate, 2.4% fewer than in 2020. People 65 and older are 24% of residents (18% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 20% of residents (24% statewide). The share of adults 25 and older in Montague who hold a bachelor’s degree or more: 37%.
| Montague | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 24% | 19% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 37% | 47% | 29% |
| Median age | 44.3 years | 43.4 years | 40.5 years |
53% women, 47% men
About 89 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±2.4 points). Across Massachusetts, 51.1% of residents are women.
| Montague | MA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.8% | 10.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.2% | 9.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 4.6% | 9.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 15% | 14% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.2% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.5% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.2% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 14.2% | 10.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.3% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6.9% | 8.6% | 10.4% |
| High school | 29.1% | 22.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 16.8% | 14.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.8% | 7.5% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 19.7% | 25.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 17.7% | 21.8% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Compared with 57% of U.S. communities, expected storm and flood damage in Montague is lower. Two thirds of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by cold waves at 9%. Federal aid has come to Montague households in 7 declared disasters; the latest was in 2013.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
3 within 15 miles of the center of Montague
About 4 of every 100 Montague residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Massachusetts.
41.6% of the town is conserved land, across 15 parks and preserves.
4 places in Montague on the National Register of Historic Places.
12 notable people were born in Montague.
Town in Massachusetts, United States
Montague is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 8,580 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts metropolitan statistical area. The villages of Montague Center, Montague City, Lake Pleasant, Millers Falls (which it shares with Erving), and Turners Falls are located in the town of Montague; Turners Falls, comprising over half the population of the town and its main business district, is sometimes used as a metonym for the entire town of Montague.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
8 towns share a border with Montague.
| Town | MA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montague | #258 | D | C− | C+ | D | B+ |
| Erving | — | — | B | A− | D | A− |
| Turners Falls | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Wendell | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Deerfield | #137 | B+ | D | B | B− | A |
| Gill | — | — | C− | B+ | D | A− |
| Millers Falls | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Greenfield | #274 | D | C− | C− | D− | B |
Erving and Gill have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Turners Falls, Wendell and Millers Falls aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Montague with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Montague grades D overall, better than 14% of U.S. towns and #258 of 282 in Massachusetts. It grades B+ for health, C+ for safety and D for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a D.
Massachusetts has less crime than most states, so among its own towns Montague sits nearer the middle.
Yes. That is 5.5 years of the area's median household income ($74,907 across the Greenfield, MA area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
12 notable people were born here, including Raymond Smith Dugan and Cornelia Clapp.
