Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
New Salem’s best subject grades are an A for health and civic life and an A+ for history; its weakest is a D for cost of living. New Salem’s median age is 55.6 years, above both Massachusetts’ towns (43.4 years) and U.S. towns (40.5 years). Only 22 of Massachusetts’ 325 towns score lower on incomes. New Salem's public schools trail 85% of Massachusetts towns on state tests and graduation. 62% of the land in New Salem is conserved, where Massachusetts’ towns sit at 19% and U.S. towns at 4.3%. Quabbin Reservoir Reservation, at 30,380 acres with 15 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. New Salem has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where New Salem beats most towns.
Whitaker-Clary House
Census counts: 1,543 in 1790, a low of 357 in 1940, 983 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1901 and 5 maps from 1887 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Massachusetts), ordered by how far New Salem is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around New Salem. Close and well known come first.
Big draw38 mi LakeLake Chaubunagungamaug
7 mi LakeQuabbin Reservoir
27 mi National Historic SiteSpringfield Armory National Historic Site14K visitors a year
30 mi MountainMount Monadnock
33 mi Theme parkSix Flags New England
11 mi MuseumEmily Dickinson MuseumLake Chaubunagungamaug: Bree from Worcester, MA, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Quabbin Reservoir: engineerchange, CC BY 2.0 · Springfield Armory National Historic Site: National Park Service, Public domain · Mount Monadnock: Jonwmcinenrey, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Six Flags New England: Canadaolympic989, Public domain · Emily Dickinson Museum: Daderot, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in New Salem, 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 New Salem.
17 miles of trail in 7 parks and preserves. The trail density in New Salem is 0.3 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Quabbin Reservoir Reservation | 15 mi | 30,380 |
| 2. Poor Farm Hill Wildlife Sanctuary | 1 mi | 53 |
| 3. New Salem State Forest | — | 126 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
New Salem beats the Massachusetts average on 10 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 4. 25% of adults have obesity in New Salem.
| New Salem | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 28% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 17% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 84% | 82% | 79% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 9.9% | 11% | 14% |
| What stands out | New Salem | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 6.4% | 11.9% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 3% | 5.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 12.1% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The typical New Salem home is worth about $404,000, up 4.4% in a year, 38% below the Massachusetts typical home. 89% of New Salem households own their home.
| New Salem | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 89% | 79% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,194 a month | $1,683 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Of the 284 Massachusetts towns we compare, none has a lower share of working residents who work in town than New Salem. New Salem’s average trip to work is 23 minutes. The top destinations are Amherst Town (14%), Northampton (5%) and Springfield (5%).
| New Salem | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.9% | 9.8% | 8% |
| Median household income | $80,000 | $120,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 9.7% | 6% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
New Salem has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 14° and about 46 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 64% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
3 within 15 miles of the center of New Salem
About 3 of every 100 New Salem residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Massachusetts.
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
2 places in New Salem on the National Register of Historic Places.
9 notable people were born in New Salem.
Town in Massachusetts, United States
New Salem is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 983 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Home to 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Yes. That is 5.4 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 D.
9 notable people were born here, including Elisha Hunt Allen and Maria Freeman Gray.
