Town comparison · Massachusetts

Bellingham vs Hopedale

MetroWest · Central MA

Hopedale leads 4–0 on headline livability metrics

Across the six headline livability metrics (schools, safety, walkability, biking, affordability, and commute), Hopedale edges Bellingham 4 to 0 with 2 ties. Median home prices are close, within $4k of each other. Schools tilt clearly toward Hopedale (80 vs. 65).

The two towns at a glance

Bellingham

MetroWest · pop. 16,945

Bellingham is the value play between Franklin and Milford: good highway access, lower home prices than its neighbors, and a school district that is improving but still rates C+ on Niche. Route 126 commercial activity keeps local retail alive.

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Full Bellingham profile →

Hopedale

Central MA · pop. 6,017

Hopedale is a company town built by the Draper Corporation in the 19th century and it shows: carefully planned streets, a central parkway, and unusual architectural coherence for a Massachusetts mill town. Small, safe, and underrated.

Default fit score

equal weights, 0–100

Full Hopedale profile →

Head-to-head: every metric

	Bellingham	Hopedale
Headline
Livability index	49	54 ✦
Economics
Median home	$542k	$538k
Household income	$121k ✦	$115k
Price ÷ income	4.5×	4.7× ✦
Tax burden	65 ✦	63
Schools & Safety
Schools	65	80 ✦
Safety	75	85 ✦
Getting around
Commute to Boston	52 min	52 min
Walkability	28	28
Transit	8	8
Biking	30	32 ✦
Lifestyle
Dining	45 ✦	38
Nightlife	30 ✦	22
Arts & culture	22	28 ✦
Green space	30	42 ✦
Community
Diversity	28	30 ✦
Climate	70	70
5-yr trend	60	62 ✦

Clay = wins this metric. Direction matters: lower median home and shorter commute are better; everything else, higher is better.

Compare on your terms

These winners are based on a neutral, equal weighting of every metric. Your priorities are not neutral. Open Bellingham vs Hopedale in the interactive atlas to tune schools, walkability, affordability, commute, and seven more dimensions, and watch the verdict change.

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About this comparison

Bay State Atlas ranks 194 Massachusetts towns using public data (Census ACS, MA DESE schools, Walk Score, MA Department of Revenue tax data, and the FBI UCR safety index) normalized to 0–100. Every weight is editable. This page is a static, indexable snapshot. The live tool is faster and lets you customize what counts.