Adams makes Massachusetts’s top 10 on 3 lists
Adams is ranked on 39 lists against the 284 Massachusetts towns with 2,500+ residents. It makes the top 10 on 3 and the top quarter on 5.
A podium finish, and more
Each list ranks every MA town with 2,500+ residents. Tap one to see the whole list with Adams marked.
More snow than 100% of Massachusetts
Not better or worse, just Adams’s character, from the lists where neither end is the “good” one. The most distinctive come first.
Adams lands in the top half on 6 of 26 lists
Each dot is Adams’s spot on one list: the left end is #1 in MA, the right end is last. Areas where Adams does best come first.
1 spot from the top 3 for conserved land
Lists where Adams sits just outside a milestone, and what it would take to get in.
Adams out-ranks 1 of its 2 ranked neighbors
Head to head on the lists where both towns are ranked: a point for each list where one town places higher. Tap a town for its own rankings.
Where Adams lands in every MA ranking
41 lists from Census, school, health, library, crime, climate and land data. Tap any list to see every town on it.
Cost of living
Most affordable#1 North Adams · 1.9 yrs
#2
Cheapest rent#1 Plympton · $555/mo
#13
D
Lowest property tax#1 Dennis · $2,877/yr
#8
Rent easiest to afford#1 Uxbridge · 25.6%
#104 Getting around
Shortest commute#1 Edgartown · 11.5 min
#39 Outdoors
Most conserved land#1 Provincetown · 68.4%
#4
Most trails#1 Stoneham · 5.9 mi / sq mi
#105
Most walkable#1 Somerville · 306 / sq mi
#205 Health
D Healthiest#1 Dover · 100 / 100 #258
Lowest obesity#1 Amherst Town · 19%
#242
Fewest smokers#1 Lexington · 6%
#266
D
Most active#1 Dover · 12%
#244
Fewest uninsured#1 Manchester-by-the-Sea · 2%
#208
Lowest depression#1 Lexington · 20%
#230
Closest to a top hospital#1 Milford · 0.0 mi
#200 Libraries
Most-used libraries#1 Provincetown · 27.5 per resident
#176
Most library borrowing#1 West Tisbury · 34.6 per resident
#214
Best libraries for kids#1 West Tisbury · 115.2 per child
#218 
People
Most educated#1 Wellesley · 89%
#266
Youngest#1 Amherst Town · 21.4
#222
Oldest#1 Orleans · 64.7
#64
Most residents 65+#1 Orleans · 49.3%
#44
Most kids#1 Hopkinton · 29.5%
#235 
The number on the right is Adams’s spot. All of Massachusetts’s rankings, with the map → · National lists and other states: all rankings.
Do the numbers ring true?
The lists count what can be counted. Neighbors know the rest.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
- 2,500+ residents. Census estimates for smaller towns carry margins of error too wide to rank fairly, so they sit out every MA list.
- One town, one row. A city that is both a city and a town in Census data, or a village inside a town, is counted once.
- Ties share a rank. Towns on one weather station, one school district or one CDC estimate share a figure, so they share a spot (T).
- No “worst” lists. Lists rank toward the good end, and share cards are made only for the top half. Age, snow and the like are character, not grades.
U.S. Census Bureau (American Community Survey 5-year, 2010 and 2020 censuses, Building Permits Survey), U.S. Department of Education, FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, CDC PLACES, Medicare Care Compare, IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FHFA House Price Index, NOAA U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020, USGS PAD-US and OpenStreetMap. Each list explains its own method.