Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Plainville grades B overall, 179th among Massachusetts's 282 graded towns. It has 35 miles of trail. It is healthier than 84% of U.S. towns. The catch is cost: the typical home is worth about $600K, 5.2 years of the Boston metro’s $116K median household income. Plainville’s trail density is 3.1 miles per square mile, against 1.8 in Massachusetts’ towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. On hazard risk, just 22 of Massachusetts’ 325 towns do better. The biggest place to walk is Cowell Conservation Area, 104 acres with 1.4 miles of trail.
Where Plainville beats most towns.
Census counts: 1,385 in 1910, 9,945 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1888 and 6 maps from 1889 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Massachusetts), ordered by how far Plainville is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Plainville. Close and well known come first.
Big draw7 mi Stadium & arenaGillette Stadium
Big draw26 mi Stadium & arenaFenway Park
Big draw26 mi LakeLake Chaubunagungamaug
Big draw38 mi MuseumThe Breakers
Big draw26 mi MuseumIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum
23 mi MuseumUSS MassachusettsGillette 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 · The Breakers: UpstateNYer, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: Sean Dungan, CC BY-SA 4.0 · USS Massachusetts: USN, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Plainville, 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 Plainville.
Plainville is safe by national standards but not by Massachusetts’s and is healthy by national standards but mid-pack in Massachusetts.
In the comparison, Plainville comes where Massachusetts’ towns sit at 19% and U.S. towns at 4.3%.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Cowell Conservation Area | 1.4 mi | 104 |
| 2. Wildlands Trust - Crystal Spring Preserve | 1.2 mi | 40 |
| 3. Everett Skinner Road Land | 1.1 mi | 30 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Plainville school district. Its two schools are below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beatrice H Wood ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades 3–6 | Grades 3–6 | 331 | B |
| Anna Ware JacksonTop results in townGrades PK–2 | Grades PK–2 | 324 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MA on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 90% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Plainville since 2010.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Within Massachusetts it is less healthy than 57% of the 279 graded towns: Massachusetts sets a high bar.
26% of adults have obesity in Plainville. Plainville beats the Massachusetts average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2. 19% of adults get no exercise outside work in Plainville.
| Plainville | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 28% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 19% | 25% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 17% | 16% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 81% | 82% | 79% |
| What stands out | Plainville | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 9.4% | 11.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.6% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Plainville has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 19° and about 48 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Most working residents leave Plainville for work: only 6% work in town. Since 2013, Plainville has added 479 jobs, to 4,248 in 2023. The median household income in Plainville is $104,000.
| Plainville | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $104,000 | $120,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 18% | 18% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 5.8% | 9.9% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
People 65 and older are 22% of residents (18% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 20% of residents (24% statewide). 45% of Plainville adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more. Plainville has grown 2.4% since 2020, to 10,175 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Plainville | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 18% | 20% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 22% | 19% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 45% | 47% | 29% |
| Median age | 43.2 years | 43.4 years | 40.5 years |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3 points. Across Massachusetts, 51.1% of residents are women.
| Plainville | MA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 8.9% | 10.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.4% | 9.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.3% | 9.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 12.5% | 14% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 14% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.7% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.9% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 14.3% | 10.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.9% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 3.7% | 8.6% | 10.4% |
| High school | 25.7% | 22.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 12.6% | 14.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 13.5% | 7.5% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 26.8% | 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
At 21.8 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 80% of Massachusetts’s graded towns.
Plainville’s violent crime rate is 2.3 per 1,000 residents.
| Plainville | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.3 per 1,000 residents | 1.4 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 10.7 per 1,000 residents | 4.9 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The typical Plainville home is worth about $600,000, up 1.5% in a year, 8% below the Massachusetts typical home.
| Plainville | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,977 a month | $1,682 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 70% | 79% | 73% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
10 within 15 miles of the center of Plainville
About 4 of every 100 Plainville residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Massachusetts.
8,264 counted in 2010 and 9,945 in 2020; an estimated 10,175 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Town in Massachusetts, United States
Plainville is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 9,945 at the time of the 2020 census. Plainville is part of the Boston and Providence metropolitan areas.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Plainville.
| Town | MA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plainville | #179 | B | C− | C+ | B+ | A− |
| Wrentham | #104 | A− | C+ | C+ | B+ | A |
| North Attleborough Town | #112 | B+ | D | B+ | B | A |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Plainville grades B overall, better than 56% of U.S. towns and #179 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 C−.
Massachusetts has less crime than most states, so among its own towns Plainville 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 C−.
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