10 Best Places To Raise A Family In Massachusetts For 2018

If you’re like the rest of us, you’re looking for the perfect place for your family. But you have a strict criteria; the city has to be safe, affordable, and stimulating. Basically, the place you move – or even visit – has to be outright perfect.

Is that attainable? Perhaps not, but we’ll get you as close as we can.

Promise.

According to the United States Census, the number of American families who move is trending downwards Why is that? Perhaps it has to do with the ‘safety net’ factor: We get comfortable where we live, and we’re afraid to try a new move. What if the schools are bad? What if it’s dangerous?

Well, we can pretty much guarantee that if you choose the cities we’re mentioning below, you won’t lose any sleep whatsoever.

So, where are the best cities for families in Massachusetts? We’ve got the answers here.

These are the best cities to raise a family in the Bay State:

1. Wellesley (Photos | Homes For Sale)
2. Needham (Photos | Homes For Sale)
3. Milton (Photos | Homes For Sale)
4. Winchester (Photos | Homes For Sale)
5. Longmeadow (Photos | Homes For Sale)
6. Swampscott (Photos | Homes For Sale)
7. Brookline (Photos | Homes For Sale)
8. Arlington (Photos | Homes For Sale)
9. Lynnfield (Photos | Homes For Sale)
10. Newton (Photos | Homes For Sale)

If you’re thinking of making a move to Massachusetts, and want a family-friendly place, we’ve got you covered. And if you already have kids, we’re surprised you made it this far into the article and hope your little ones give you a couple of more minutes of free time.

Keep on reading for a detailed methodology.

Or, check out the best places to live in Massachusetts and, for those of you on a budget, the cheapest places to live in Massachusetts.

How do you determine which place is best for families in Massachusetts anyways?

To give you the places in Massachusetts which are best for families, we have to look at a handful of metrics. Of course, we want to measure the type of people who live in each city, and make some assumptions about what’s family-friendly and what isn’t.

So we researched the internet for a database that contains all that information.

How we crunched the family friendly numbers for the Bay State

We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible. Using U.S. Census data produced for the state of Massachusetts, we looked at every single city in the state. We paid particular attention to:

• Crime (Both violent and property)
• Quality of local schools
• Distance to a major city without necessarily being in it
• % of households with children
• Family-friendly amenities nearby (museums, libraries and colleges)

We then gave each city a Family Score.

The higher the score, the better the city is for families. We also limited our results to cities with populations over 10,000 people. For Massachusetts, that meant a total of 69 cities.

Read on to see why Wellesley is where all the families are headed, while Leominster is probably a place made for singles.

1. Wellesley

Population: 28,909
Family Friendly Amenities Score: 64
Closest Major City: Boston
Households with kids: 42.6%
More on Wellesley: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

Wellesley /wlzli/ is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Wellesley is part of Greater Boston. The population was 27,982 at the time of the 2010 census. Wellesley has the 3rd highest median household and family incomes in all of Massachusetts. It is best known as the home of Wellesley College, Babson College, and a campus of Massachusetts Bay Community College.

2. Needham

Population: 30,167
Family Friendly Amenities Score: 51
Closest Major City: Boston
Households with kids: 41.5%
More on Needham: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

Needham is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. A suburb of Boston, its population was 28,886 at the 2010 census. It is home to the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, an engineering school.

3. Milton

Population: 27,351
Family Friendly Amenities Score: 58
Closest Major City: Boston
Households with kids: 39.0%
More on Milton: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

Milton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States and a suburb of Boston. The population was 27,003 at the 2010 census. Milton is the birthplace of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush and architect Buckminster Fuller. In 2007, 2009, and 2011, Money Magazine listed Milton 7th, 5th, and 2nd, respectively, on its annual list of the ‘Best Places to Live’ in the United States.

4. Winchester

Population: 22,491
Family Friendly Amenities Score: 40
Closest Major City: Boston
Households with kids: 43.4%
More on Winchester: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

Winchester is a small suburban town located 8.2 miles north of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is the 7th wealthiest municipality in Massachusetts and functions largely as a bedroom community for professionals who work in the greater Boston area. The population was 21,374 at the 2010 United States Census.

5. Longmeadow

Population: 15,837
Family Friendly Amenities Score: 41
Closest Major City: Boston
Households with kids: 37.5%
More on Longmeadow: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

Longmeadow is a town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, in the United States. The population was 15,784 at the 2010 census.

6. Swampscott

Population: 14,250
Family Friendly Amenities Score: 63
Closest Major City: Boston
Households with kids: 32.2%
More on Swampscott: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

Swampscott is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States located 15 miles (24 km) up the coast from Boston in an area known as the North Shore. The population was 13,787 as of 2010[update]. A former summer resort on Massachusetts Bay, Swampscott is today a fairly affluent residential community and includes the village of Beach Bluff, as well as part of the neighborhood of Clifton. It is known for its quiet suburban character and lovely beaches. The town was home to the scenic ocean front college, Marian Court College until 2015.

7. Brookline

Population: 59,180
Family Friendly Amenities Score: 49
Closest Major City: Boston
Households with kids: 24.6%
More on Brookline: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

Brookline /brklan/ is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, in the United States, and is a part of Greater Boston. Brookline borders six of Boston’s neighborhoods: Brighton, Allston, Fenway?Kenmore, Mission Hill, Jamaica Plain, and West Roxbury. The city of Newton lies to the west of Brookline.

8. Arlington

Population: 44,408
Family Friendly Amenities Score: 64
Closest Major City: Boston
Households with kids: 30.2%
More on Arlington: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

Arlington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, six miles (10 km) northwest of Boston. The population was 42,844 at the 2010 census.

9. Lynnfield

Population: 12,489
Family Friendly Amenities Score: 62
Closest Major City: Boston
Households with kids: 33.7%
More on Lynnfield: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

Lynnfield is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. At the 2010 census, the town population was 11,596.

10. Newton

Population: 88,317
Family Friendly Amenities Score: 71
Closest Major City: Boston
Households with kids: 35.6%
More on Newton: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

Newton is a suburban city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately 7 miles (11 km) west of downtown Boston and is bordered by Boston’s Brighton and West Roxbury neighborhoods to the east and south, respectively, and by the suburb of Brookline to the east, the suburbs of Watertown and Waltham to the north, and Wellesley and Needham to the west. Rather than having a single city center, Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Newton was 85,146, making it the eleventh largest city in the state.

There You Have It – The Best Places To Raise A Family In Massachusetts

If you’re looking for a breakdown of cities in Massachusetts ranked by criteria that most would agree make a place a great spot for families, this is an accurate list.

Here’s a look at the best cities for singles Massachusetts according to the data:

1. Leominster
2. Revere
3. Taunton

For more Massachusetts reading, check out:

• 10 Worst Places To Live In Massachusetts
• These Are The 10 Richest Cities In Massachusetts
• 10 Best Places To Live In Massachusetts

Detailed List Of The Best Places For Families In Massachusetts

Rank	City	Population	Amenities Score
1	Wellesley	28,909	46
2	Needham	30,167	59
3	Milton	27,351	60
4	Winchester	22,491	60
5	Longmeadow	15,837	40
6	Swampscott	14,250	61
7	Brookline	59,180	67
8	Arlington	44,408	61
9	Lynnfield	12,489	58
10	Newton	88,317	55
11	Reading	25,490	34
12	Belmont	25,555	33
13	Lexington	32,936	42
14	Maynard	10,526	63
15	Dedham	25,272	51
16	Beverly	40,967	39
17	Hull	10,437	35
18	Newburyport	17,837	43
19	Wakefield	26,399	45
20	Melrose	27,787	58
21	Marblehead	20,363	57
22	Gardner	20,334	38
23	Stoneham	21,831	54
24	Cambridge	108,757	100
25	Waltham	62,699	62
26	Wilmington	23,310	36
27	Abington	16,196	46
28	Burlington	25,698	35
29	Hudson	15,379	52
30	Danvers	27,558	36
31	Medford	57,180	42
32	Woburn	39,220	47
33	Norwood	29,018	53
34	Framingham	70,743	69
35	Gloucester	29,546	58
36	Everett	44,636	40
37	Saugus	27,773	55
38	Peabody	52,235	67
39	Salem	42,804	72
40	Springfield	153,991	69
41	Westfield	41,486	48
42	Lowell	109,871	59
43	Milford	25,701	34
44	Boston	658,279	100
45	Marlborough	39,545	48
46	North Adams	13,326	59
47	Webster	12,122	36
48	Somerset	18,279	48
49	Attleboro	44,121	54
50	Haverhill	62,340	41
51	Randolph	33,526	48
52	Quincy	93,349	47
53	Lynn	92,074	41
54	Fitchburg	40,441	52
55	Holyoke	40,280	66
56	Northampton	28,534	39
57	Somerville	79,507	52
58	New Bedford	94,988	55
59	Malden	60,732	55
60	Brockton	94,813	38
61	Fall River	88,902	70
62	Worcester	183,677	81
63	Lawrence	79,337	39
64	Chelsea	38,244	43
65	Chicopee	56,100	58
66	Pittsfield	43,632	75
67	Taunton	56,504	62
68	Revere	53,165	39
69	Leominster	41,304	59