Bay State Atlas
Massachusetts Living Index

Newton

Greater Boston · pop. 88,923

Thirteen villages, two top-10 high schools, and the Charles River at your back.

Family SuburbUrban Walker
Livability Index
75
/ 100
Ranks #5 of 194 MA towns

The numbers

Median home
$1.38M
7.3× household income
Household income
$190k
ACS median
Commute to Boston
22 min
peak driving
Population
88,923
5-yr trend 72/100

How Newton scores

Schools
96
Safety
89
Walkability
57
Transit
40
Biking
47
Dining
80
Nightlife
58
Arts & Culture
75
Green Space
82
Diversity
70
Climate
73

Who lives in Newton

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

Median age
41.7
Foreign-born
22%
Bachelor's or higher
80.4%
Population
88k
White73.4%
Hispanic / Latino3.6%
Asian14.2%
Black2.6%
Other / multi6.2%

Schools in Newton

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

Overall vs MA
Top 25% in MA
89/100
ELA · 3-8
p89
63.6%
Math · 3-8
p88
67.1%
ELA · 10
p90
83%
Math · 10
p90
78.1%
Grad rate
98.7%
Top 10% in MA
Spend / pupil
$26.6k
Top 25% in MA
Teachers / 100
9
Above average
Enrollment
11,752

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

The honest read

Best for
Two-career families with school-age children.
The tradeoff
Property taxes can exceed $20k on a typical single-family.

Read what Newton residents actually say ↓

Voices

What Newton residents actually say

3 quotes · sourced from Reddit

Pulled from r/boston, r/massachusetts, and town subreddits. Lightly edited for grammar only. The tradeoff quote is on purpose. The honest stuff is what makes the rest believable.

The good
Well-managed small city with leafy suburbs, its own hospital, top-tier schools, and 20 minutes to Boston or Cambridge without traffic. A lot of doctors who work in Boston actually live here.
r/newtonma · May 2025 view thread →
The tradeoff
The housing is expensive and a lot of the stock is old, meaning you'll spend six figures on renovations to make it livable. Contractors here charge double what they charge one town over.
r/newtonma · Dec 2024 view thread →
The feel
Elementary schools are honestly hit or miss, but middle and high school is where Newton really delivers. If you can grit through K-5 you'll be glad you stayed.
r/newtonma · Dec 2024 view thread →

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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 Newton lands for you.

Nearby towns

Bordering and adjacent Massachusetts towns near Newton.

Newton appears in

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

Popular comparisons

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Want my honest read on Newton?

I'm Gary Fikes, a licensed real estate agent at MP Signature Realty and the curator of this site. Tell me what you're looking for and I'll reply personally within 1 business day. No auto-dialer, no spam, no resale.