10 Best Places To Raise A Family In Massachusetts For 2019

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 for 2019:

1. Wellesley (Photos | Homes For Sale)
2. Milton (Photos | Homes For Sale)
3. Needham (Photos | Homes For Sale)
4. Winchester (Photos | Homes For Sale)
5. Longmeadow (Photos | Homes For Sale)
6. Arlington (Photos | Homes For Sale)
7. Swampscott (Photos | Homes For Sale)
8. Brookline (Photos | Homes For Sale)
9. Newton (Photos | Homes For Sale)
10. Reading (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 some more reading about Massachusetts and the best places for families in the country:

• Best Places To Live In Massachusetts
• Cheapest Places To Live In Massachusetts
• Best Cities To Raise A Family In America
• Best Cities To Raise A Family In America

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.

Wellesley 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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

Swampscott is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States located 15 miles up the coast from Boston in an area known as the North Shore. The population was 13,787 as of 2010. 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.

Brookline 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.

Newton is a suburban city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately 7 miles 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.

Reading RED-ing) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, 16 miles north of central Boston. The population was 24,747 at the 2010 census.

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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. Pittsfield

For more Massachusetts reading, check out:

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

Detailed List Of The Best Places For Families In Massachusetts