Lancaster ranks #17 in Massachusetts for working from home
Lancaster is ranked on 39 lists against the 284 Massachusetts towns with 2,500+ residents. It makes the top 10 on 0 and the top quarter on 2.
The lists Lancaster does best on
Each list ranks every MA town with 2,500+ residents. Tap one to see the whole list with Lancaster marked.
Lancaster lands in the top half on 13 of 25 lists
Each dot is Lancaster’s spot on one list: the left end is #1 in MA, the right end is last. Areas where Lancaster does best come first.
More year-round than 89% of Massachusetts
Not better or worse, just Lancaster’s character, from the lists where neither end is the “good” one. The most distinctive come first.
Lancaster out-ranks 2 of its 5 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 Lancaster 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.
Health
D Healthiest#1 Dover · 100 / 100 #106
Lowest obesity#1 Amherst Town · 19%
#210
Fewest smokers#1 Lexington · 6%
#91
D
Most active#1 Dover · 12%
#108
Fewest uninsured#1 Manchester-by-the-Sea · 2%
#208
Lowest depression#1 Lexington · 20%
#48
Closest to a top hospital#1 Milford · 0.0 mi
#227 
Libraries
Most-used libraries#1 Provincetown · 27.5 per resident
#142
Most library borrowing#1 West Tisbury · 34.6 per resident
#107
Best libraries for kids#1 West Tisbury · 115.2 per child
#96 Housing
Vacation-home towns#1 Edgartown · 62.9%
#251
Most new homes#1 Nantucket · 17.4 per 1,000
#118
Fastest-rising home prices#1 Orange · +69.9%
#127
Housing hasn't kept up#1 Malden · 83.1 per home
#162 People
Most educated#1 Wellesley · 89%
#125
Youngest#1 Amherst Town · 21.4
#134
Oldest#1 Orleans · 64.7
#154
Most residents 65+#1 Orleans · 49.3%
#131
Most kids#1 Hopkinton · 29.5%
#167 
Cost of living
Most affordable#1 North Adams · 1.9 yrs
#130
Cheapest rent#1 Plympton · $555/mo
#251
D
Lowest property tax#1 Dennis · $2,877/yr
#200
Rent easiest to afford#1 Uxbridge · 25.6%
Getting around
Shortest commute#1 Edgartown · 11.5 min
#177 
The number on the right is Lancaster’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.