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All the best places to live in the state are in or around Boston, according to Niche’s 2021 Best Places to Live survey. The ranked list features 486 Massachusetts cities, towns, and neighborhoods.
Overall, the best places to live in Massachusetts, according to Niche are Brookline, The Port, Cambridgeport, and East Cambridge neighborhoods in Cambridge, and Peabody.
If you aren’t in Boston, the best place to live outside of the metro region is Pelham, a little hamlet of 1,280 people over by Amherst. Pelham was ranked the 33rd best place in Massachusetts to live.
Out of the top 100 best places to live in Massachusetts, Niche named only 8 communities in Worcester, Hampshire, Franklin, Hampden, and Berkshire counties.
Here are the other local communities that made the top-100 list:
- Williamstown ranked 35the best place to live,
- Westborough, 37,
- Shrewsbury, 41,
- Northborough, 50,
- Longmeadow, 53,
- Southborough, 64,
- Northampton, 88.
Take the survey with a grain of salt. Displaying an utter lack of local knowledge, Niche listed the Housatonic section of Great Barrington in the Berkshires as the 5th worst place to live in Massachusetts. If you’ve never been, Housatonic is surrounded by pristine mountains, lakes, and streams. It hosts numerous farms, art galleries, and restaurants helmed by NYC chefs looking for a slower-paced lifestyle. The crime rate is low as well as the unemployment rate - which is at 3 percent as of March.
Niche’s ranking is based on crime, public school, cost of living, job opportunities, and local amenities of each community.
To see the full ranking, visit niche.com.
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