Bay State Atlas
Massachusetts Living Index

Belchertown

Pioneer Valley · pop. 15,400

Belchertown is the affordable family suburb east of Amherst, better schools than the Pioneer Valley cities, low crime, and Five Colleges proximity without Five Colleges rent.

Family SuburbRural Retreat
Livability Index
51
/ 100
Ranks #170 of 194 MA towns

The numbers

Median home
$472k
4.4× household income
Household income
$108k
ACS median
Commute to Boston
104 min
peak driving
Population
15,400
5-yr trend 60/100

How Belchertown scores

Schools
75
Safety
82
Walkability
20
Transit
12
Biking
22
Dining
32
Nightlife
18
Arts & Culture
40
Green Space
48
Diversity
22
Climate
72

Who lives in Belchertown

U.S. Census ACS 2018–2022 estimates. Rounded.

Median age
44
Foreign-born
5.5%
Bachelor's or higher
45.1%
Population
15k
White87.6%
Hispanic / Latino4.6%
Asian3.2%
Black1.1%
Other / multi3.5%

Schools in Belchertown

Belchertown School District. Massachusetts DESE FY2024 (FY2025 graduation rates).

Overall vs MA
Below average
43/100
ELA · 3-8
p47
42.8%
Math · 3-8
p29
35.1%
ELA · 10
p70
70.2%
Math · 10
p44
46.2%
Grad rate
89.7%
Bottom 25%
Spend / pupil
$17.8k
Bottom 25%
Teachers / 100
8.2
Below average
Enrollment
2,081

Source: Massachusetts DESE Education-to-Career Research and Data Hub. Percentile ranks against 194 MA towns in our index.

The honest read

Best for
Families working in the Amherst or Springfield areas who want suburban safety and reasonable school quality.
The tradeoff
Car-only, no real center, and a 100-minute commute to Boston makes it a true Western Mass commitment.

You've now seen the honest read. Here's what most sites don't give you.

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Compare on your terms

These scores reflect a neutral weighting. Your priorities are not neutral. Open the full atlas to tune schools, walkability, affordability, commute, and seven more dimensions, and see where Belchertown lands for you.

Nearby towns

Bordering and adjacent Massachusetts towns near Belchertown.

Belchertown appears in

Rankings where Belchertown qualifies on the data. See where it lands vs the other 14 picks.

Popular comparisons

Common head‑to‑heads people search when looking at Belchertown.

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