Bay State Atlas
Massachusetts Living Index

Wellesley

MetroWest · pop. 30,347

Two walkable village centers, commuter rail, and Wellesley College's campus.

Family SuburbCollege Town
Livability Index
70
/ 100
Ranks #27 of 194 MA towns

The numbers

Median home
$2.07M
8× household income
Household income
$250k+
ACS median
Commute to Boston
35 min
peak driving
Population
30,347
5-yr trend 71/100

How Wellesley scores

Schools
97
Safety
92
Walkability
37
Transit
26
Biking
33
Dining
64
Nightlife
36
Arts & Culture
56
Green Space
80
Diversity
70
Climate
74

Who lives in Wellesley

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

Median age
37.6
Foreign-born
17.4%
Bachelor's or higher
86.2%
Population
30k
White73.6%
Hispanic / Latino5.3%
Asian13.3%
Black2.1%
Other / multi5.7%

Schools in Wellesley

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

Overall vs MA
Top 10% in MA
90/100
ELA · 3-8
p97
71.8%
Math · 3-8
p97
75.7%
ELA · 10
p92
84.2%
Math · 10
p93
81.1%
Grad rate
96.7%
Above average
Spend / pupil
$29.9k
Top 10% in MA
Teachers / 100
9.6
Top 25% in MA
Enrollment
4,101

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 who want a walkable village inside a leafy suburb.
The tradeoff
Income required to compete in this market is substantial.

Read what Wellesley residents actually say ↓

Voices

What Wellesley 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
Grew up in Wellesley and it's a very nice place to grow up. Very safe, terrific schools, easy proximity to Boston. The town basics just work.
r/boston · Mar 2022 view thread →
The tradeoff
Wellesley is definitely not known for its diversity. That's slowly changing as empty nesters sell and younger families move in, but the demographics are what they are.
r/boston · Mar 2022 view thread →
The feel
Within a few blocks you'll find both serene wooded stretches and bustling almost-urban pockets. The college presence is woven in too, refined and quiet, not the typical college-town energy.
r/boston · Mar 2025 view thread →

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 Wellesley lands for you.

Nearby towns

Bordering and adjacent Massachusetts towns near Wellesley.

Wellesley appears in

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

Popular comparisons

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Want my honest read on Wellesley?

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.