Town comparison · Massachusetts

Fitchburg vs Gardner

Central MA · Central MA

Fitchburg leads 4–2 on headline livability metrics

Across the six headline livability metrics (schools, safety, walkability, biking, affordability, and commute), Fitchburg edges Gardner 4 to 2. Median home prices are close, within $35k of each other. Fitchburg is about 15 minutes closer to Boston by car at peak.

The two towns at a glance

Fitchburg

Central MA · pop. 41,946

College town at the end of the Fitchburg Line, surrounded by state forests and the cheapest urban housing within a 90-minute drive of Boston.

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Gardner

Central MA · pop. 21,287

Chair City and home of Mount Wachusett Community College, sitting on the high ground between the Connecticut and Nashua river basins.

Default fit score

equal weights, 0–100

Full Gardner profile →

Head-to-head: every metric

	Fitchburg	Gardner
Headline
Livability index	70 ✦	68
Economics
Median home	$336k ✦	$302k
Household income	$73k ✦	$68k
Price ÷ income	4.6× ✦	4.5×
Tax burden	65	70 ✦
Schools & Safety
Schools	77 ✦	73
Safety	70	73 ✦
Getting around
Commute to Boston	60 min	75 min ✦
Walkability	50 ✦	42
Transit	32 ✦	18
Biking	32 ✦	25
Lifestyle
Dining	90 ✦	80
Nightlife	90 ✦	80
Arts & culture	80 ✦	77
Green space	68	78 ✦
Community
Diversity	93 ✦	87
Climate	68	68
5-yr trend	58 ✦	55

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 Fitchburg vs Gardner 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.