Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Northampton's standout: it has 118 miles of trail and 29% conserved land. Overall it grades C+, ranked 223rd of 282 in Massachusetts. Residents are healthier than 91% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates and it is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns. Its weakest subject is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $494K, 5.7 years of the Amherst Town metro’s $87K median household income. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 99% of U.S. towns, with 16 places on the National Register. Northampton’s trail density is 3.3 miles per square mile, against 1.8 in Massachusetts’ towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. On safety, just 22 of Massachusetts’ 300 towns do worse. Its National Register listings include Calvin Coolidge House and Northampton State Hospital.
Where Northampton beats most towns.
Smith Alumnae Gymnasium
Census counts: 1,628 in 1790, 29,571 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1798 and 6 maps from 1886 on.
16 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Massachusetts), ordered by how far Northampton is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Northampton. Close and well known come first.
16 mi National Historic SiteSpringfield Armory National Historic Site14K visitors a year
19 mi LakeQuabbin Reservoir
20 mi Theme parkSix Flags New England
33 mi MountainMount Greylock
39 mi Stadium & arenaPeoplesBank Arena
9 mi MuseumVolleyball Hall of FameSpringfield Armory National Historic Site: National Park Service, Public domain · Quabbin Reservoir: engineerchange, CC BY 2.0 · Six Flags New England: Canadaolympic989, Public domain · Mount Greylock: Jstergis, CC BY 3.0 · PeoplesBank Arena: PeoplesBank Arena, CC BY 2.5 · Volleyball Hall of Fame: John Phelan, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Northampton, 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 Northampton.
Northampton draws workers from Easthampton and beyond, is safe by national standards but not by Massachusetts’s and is healthy by national standards but mid-pack in Massachusetts.
118 miles of trail in 40 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary, 734 acres with 4.2 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Saw Mill Hills Conservation Area | 15.1 mi | 723 |
| 2. Fitzgerald Lake Conservation Area | 6.3 mi | 587 |
| 3. Mineral Hill Conservation Area | 4.7 mi | 282 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Northampton school district. Two of its 11 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| John F Kennedy Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 577 | C |
| Northampton HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 875 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MA on state tests and graduation
20,320 jobs are based in Northampton, 1.8 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 21.4 minutes, against 29.1 across Massachusetts.
About one in 3 of Northampton’s working residents works in town. At 21 minutes, Northampton’s average trip to work is where Massachusetts’ towns sit at 30 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. 24% of Northampton workers work from home.
| Northampton | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 32% | 9.8% | 8% |
| Work from home | 24% | 18% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 6% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Within Massachusetts it is healthier than 63% of the 279 graded towns: Massachusetts sets a high bar.
23% of adults have obesity in Northampton. Northampton beats the Massachusetts average on 10 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2. 27% of adults have been diagnosed with depression in Northampton.
| Northampton | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 28% | 35% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 24% | 23% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 33% | 36% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 9.5% | 11% | 14% |
| What stands out | Northampton | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 8.2% | 11.9% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 4.1% | 5.2% |
| More adults with depression | 27.3% | 23.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 29 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 92% of Massachusetts’s graded towns. Reported crimes rose from 438 to 534 over the last three FBI years, a rise beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The violent crime rate in Northampton is 4.9 per 1,000 residents.
| Northampton | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.9 per 1,000 residents | 1.4 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 11.9 per 1,000 residents | 4.9 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Typical home values rose 5.2% in the year to September 2026. Northampton’s median rent is $1,439 a month.
| Northampton | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 57% | 79% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,439 a month | $1,683 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Northampton has chilly, snowy winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 16° and about 46 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
62 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 11 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 64% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 62 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Northampton.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
9 within 15 miles of the center of Northampton
About 14 of every 100 Northampton residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Massachusetts.
2 colleges in town.
16 places in Northampton on the National Register of Historic Places.
48 notable people were born in Northampton.
City in Massachusetts, United States
Northampton is a city in and the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence and Leeds) was 29,571. Northampton is known as an academic, artistic, musical, and countercultural hub. It features a large politically liberal community along with numerous alternative health and intellectual organizations. Based on U.S. Census demographics, election returns, and other criteria, the website Epodunk rates Northampton as the most politically liberal medium-size city (population 25,000–99,000) in the United States. The city has a high proportion of residents who identify as gay and lesbian …
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Northampton.
| Town | MA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northampton | #223 | C+ | D | C | B− | A |
| Hadley | #199 | B− | C− | D | B | A+ |
| Easthampton | #232 | C+ | D | B+ | C+ | — |
| Hatfield | #130 | B+ | C− | A+ | C | A |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Northampton grades C+ overall, better than 40% of U.S. towns and #223 of 282 in Massachusetts. It grades A for health, C for safety and B− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Massachusetts has less crime than most states, so among its own towns Northampton sits nearer the middle.
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 Lydia Davis and William Dwight Whitney.
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