Plainville ranks #8 in Massachusetts for growth
Plainville is ranked on 39 lists against the 284 Massachusetts towns with 2,500+ residents. It makes the top 10 on 1 and the top quarter on 2.
The lists Plainville does best on
Each list ranks every MA town with 2,500+ residents. Tap one to see the whole list with Plainville marked.
Plainville lands in the top half on 13 of 25 lists
Each dot is Plainville’s spot on one list: the left end is #1 in MA, the right end is last. Areas where Plainville does best come first.
More year-round than 87% of Massachusetts
Not better or worse, just Plainville’s character, from the lists where neither end is the “good” one. The most distinctive come first.
Plainville out-ranks 0 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 Plainville 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%
#218
Most trails#1 Stoneham · 5.9 mi / sq mi
#54
Most walkable#1 Somerville · 306 / sq mi
#136 Health
D Healthiest#1 Dover · 100 / 100 #161
Lowest obesity#1 Amherst Town · 19%
#84
Fewest smokers#1 Lexington · 6%
#166
D
Most active#1 Dover · 12%
#108
Fewest uninsured#1 Manchester-by-the-Sea · 2%
#116
Lowest depression#1 Lexington · 20%
#149
Closest to a top hospital#1 Milford · 0.0 mi
#173 Cost of living
Most affordable#1 North Adams · 1.9 yrs
#104
Cheapest rent#1 Plympton · $555/mo
#203
D
Lowest property tax#1 Dennis · $2,877/yr
#98
Rent easiest to afford#1 Uxbridge · 25.6%
Libraries
Most-used libraries#1 Provincetown · 27.5 per resident
#138
Most library borrowing#1 West Tisbury · 34.6 per resident
#114
Best libraries for kids#1 West Tisbury · 115.2 per child
#86 Getting around
Shortest commute#1 Edgartown · 11.5 min
#118 
People
Most educated#1 Wellesley · 89%
#157
Youngest#1 Amherst Town · 21.4
#136
Oldest#1 Orleans · 64.7
#149
Most residents 65+#1 Orleans · 49.3%
#80
Most kids#1 Hopkinton · 29.5%
#190 
The number on the right is Plainville’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.