Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The picture is mixed. Sunderland ranks 194th of 282 in Massachusetts, with a B− overall. On that grade it does better than 52% of U.S. towns. Where it does best is health: CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 89% of the country. It also does well on walkability: it is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns. Its lowest grade is for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $486K, 6.5 years of the Greenfield area’s $75K median household income. Just over two fifths of the land here is conserved, where Massachusetts’ towns sit at 19% and U.S. towns at 4.3%. This Massachusetts town has 1 place on the National Register.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · USGS PAD-US · National Register of Historic Places.
Where Sunderland beats most towns.
Census counts: 462 in 1790, 3,663 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1825 and 7 maps from 1886 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Massachusetts), ordered by how far Sunderland is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Sunderland. Close and well known come first.
25 mi National Historic SiteSpringfield Armory National Historic Site14K visitors a year
15 mi LakeQuabbin Reservoir
34 mi MountainMount Greylock
35 mi MountainMount Monadnock
30 mi Theme parkSix Flags New England
7 mi MuseumEmily Dickinson MuseumSpringfield Armory National Historic Site: National Park Service, Public domain · Quabbin Reservoir: engineerchange, CC BY 2.0 · Mount Greylock: Jstergis, CC BY 3.0 · 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 Sunderland, 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 Sunderland.
Sunderland is shaped by its college students and is safe by national standards but not by Massachusetts’s; it also carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Massachusetts (mostly inland flooding).
Its 3,829 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 96% of Massachusetts towns.
Sunderland’s trail density comes in at 2.4 miles per square mile. In 10 parks and preserves, walkers have 35 miles of trail. The biggest place to walk is Mount Toby State Forest, 1,252 acres with 12 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Mount Toby State Forest | 12 mi | 1,252 |
| 2. Mount Toby Wildlife Management Area | 6 mi | 515 |
| 3. Greene Swamp Preserve | 1 mi | 159 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its one school is below. The public schools here belong to the Sunderland school district. Enrollment at the town’s public school: 174 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunderland ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 174 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MA on state tests and graduation
Within Massachusetts it is healthier than 58% of the 279 graded towns: Massachusetts sets a high bar.
For adults in Sunderland, the share who report frequent physical distress is 11%. The town does better than the Massachusetts average on 6 of 32 CDC measures and worse on 2. 36% of adults in Sunderland feel lonely; 28% have high blood pressure.
| Sunderland | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 28% | 35% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 36% | 33% | 33% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 32% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 7.9% | 9.3% | 12% |
| What stands out | Sunderland | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with diabetes | 7.9% | 9.8% |
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 4.8% | 5.8% |
| Fewer adults treating high blood pressure | 71.2% | 75.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The average commute for its 1,360 working residents takes 17.3 minutes, against 29.1 across Massachusetts.
Among 283 Massachusetts towns, just 6 have a lower share of working residents who work in town than Sunderland. Employers in Sunderland added 84 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 800. The share of residents in Sunderland who live below the poverty line: 14%. Half the trips to work are shorter than 11 miles.
| Sunderland | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 17 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $68,000 | $120,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 14% | 6% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.3% | 9.9% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 10.9 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 53% of Massachusetts’s graded towns.
Sunderland’s level of property crime stands at 4.1 per 1,000 residents. Its violent offense rate comes in at 1.4 per 1,000 residents.
| Sunderland | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.1 per 1,000 residents | 4.9 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.4 per 1,000 residents | 1.5 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
72.1% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 51.8% across Massachusetts.
Just over two fifths of Sunderland households are owner-occupiers. The typical home value here is about $486,000, up 1% in a year, 26% below the Massachusetts typical home. In Sunderland, the rent at the middle of the market is $1,672 a month.
| Sunderland | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 42% | 79% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,672 a month | $1,683 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The range runs from 15° on a January night to 84° on a July afternoon, with about 46 inches of snow a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 91% of Massachusetts towns; that rating is what its C+ for hazard risk is built on.
FEMA puts 63% of Sunderland’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 9% to drought. Its risk rating from FEMA is 58 of 100. Since 2005, Sunderland has seen 3 flood insurance claims paid out.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
7 within 15 miles of the center of Sunderland
College town 26 of every 100 Sunderland residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Massachusetts.
40.9% of the town is conserved land, across 10 parks and preserves.
Town in Massachusetts, United States
Sunderland is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States, part of the Pioneer Valley. The population was 3,663 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. Sunderland was first settled in 1713 and was officially incorporated in 1718. It was first known as Swampfield, a name which is now honored by Swampfield Road, but the name was changed to attract more residents. It was renamed in honor of Charles Spencer, the Earl of Sunderland. Historically, the land was largely used for farming. Before the incorporation of Leverett in 1774, that town was a part of Sunderland's territory.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Sunderland.
| Town | MA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunderland | #194 | B− | D− | B+ | B− | A |
| Deerfield | #137 | B+ | D | B | B− | A |
| South Deerfield | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Whately | — | — | C | A− | B | A |
| Leverett | — | — | D | A− | B | A |
| Montague | #258 | D | C− | C+ | D | B+ |
Whately and Leverett have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. South Deerfield isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Sunderland with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Sunderland grades B− overall, better than 52% of U.S. towns and #194 of 282 in Massachusetts. It grades A for health, B+ for safety and B− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D−.
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−.
2 notable people were born here, including Charles B. Andrews and Myron Hunt.
