Melrose ranks #11 in Massachusetts for walkable streets
Melrose is ranked on 36 lists against the 284 Massachusetts towns with 2,500+ residents. It makes the top 10 on 0 and the top quarter on 11.
The lists Melrose does best on
Each list ranks every MA town with 2,500+ residents. Tap one to see the whole list with Melrose marked.
Melrose lands in the top half on 19 of 26 lists
Each dot is Melrose’s spot on one list: the left end is #1 in MA, the right end is last. Areas where Melrose does best come first.
Steadier prices than 94% of Massachusetts
Not better or worse, just Melrose’s character, from the lists where neither end is the “good” one. The most distinctive come first.
1 spot from the top 10 for walkable streets
Lists where Melrose sits just outside a milestone, and what it would take to get in.
Melrose out-ranks 2 of its 3 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 Melrose 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.
Outdoors
Most conserved land#1 Provincetown · 68.4%
#86
Most trails#1 Stoneham · 5.9 mi / sq mi
#23
Most walkable#1 Somerville · 306 / sq mi
#11 Health
D Healthiest#1 Dover · 100 / 100 #44
Lowest obesity#1 Amherst Town · 19%
#41
Fewest smokers#1 Lexington · 6%
#53
D
Most active#1 Dover · 12%
#56
Fewest uninsured#1 Manchester-by-the-Sea · 2%
#24
Lowest depression#1 Lexington · 20%
#149
Closest to a top hospital#1 Milford · 0.0 mi
#89 
People
Most educated#1 Wellesley · 89%
#67
Youngest#1 Amherst Town · 21.4
#146
Oldest#1 Orleans · 64.7
#137
Most residents 65+#1 Orleans · 49.3%
#114
Most kids#1 Hopkinton · 29.5%
#136 
Libraries
Most-used libraries#1 Provincetown · 27.5 per resident
#179
Most library borrowing#1 West Tisbury · 34.6 per resident
#106
Best libraries for kids#1 West Tisbury · 115.2 per child
#104 
Cost of living
Most affordable#1 North Adams · 1.9 yrs
#237
Cheapest rent#1 Plympton · $555/mo
#201
D
Lowest property tax#1 Dennis · $2,877/yr
#209
Rent easiest to afford#1 Uxbridge · 25.6%
#45 Getting around
Shortest commute#1 Edgartown · 11.5 min
#239 
The number on the right is Melrose’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.