Best Places to Live America's best small towns
Vote for this town as fan favorite

Want more ?

Like MONEY magazine too for tips on saving more, investing better and spending wisely.

11 of 50
11. Westford, MA
BACK NEXT
Westford, MA
11
Top 50 rank: 11
Population: 22,407

You'd never guess that this seemingly rural town, dotted with apple orchards and lakes, is also home to a bevy of high-tech jobs at companies like Red Hat and Juniper Networks. But tech firms form the town's economic backbone.

That doesn't mean natural beauty is in short supply: Westford is home to more than 2,000 acres of conservation land, two public beaches, and the Nashoba Valley Ski Area. The town itself has few entertainment options, but Boston is just 35 miles away. --Kerry Flynn

@CNNMoney
Subscribe to Money Magazine
BACK NEXT
Westford, MA
Town stats
Median family income (per year)
$139,397
Job growth % (2010-2012)
4.06%
Median home price (2012)
$389,225
Reading test scores (% above/below average)
33.6%
Math test scores (% above/below average)
48.5%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000)
1
Property crime incidents (per 1,000)
8
Financials
Town stats
Median family income (per year)
$139,397
Family purchasing power (annual, cost-of-living adjusted)
$98,954
Sales tax (state)
6.25%
State income tax rate (highest bracket)
5.25%I
State income tax rate (lowest bracket)
5.25%I
Auto insurance premiums (Average price quotes, for the state)
N.A.
Job growth % (2010-2012)
4.06%
Housing
Median home price (2012)
$389,225
Average property taxes
(2012)
$6,707
Education
Reading test scores (% above/below state average)
33.6%
Test scores math (% above/below average)
48.5%
% students attending public/private schools (located within town limits)
93.4/6.6
Quality of life
Air quality index* (% of days AQI ranked as good)
91.6%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000)
1
Property crime incidents (per 1,000)
8
Median commute time (in minutes)
26.8
% population with commute 45 mins. or longer
20.6%
% population walk or bike to work
0.9%
Leisure and culture
Arts funding (Dollars per person of state funds spent on arts)
1.2
Weather
Annual rainfall (inches)
42.53
% clear days in the area
55%
High temp in July ° F
84.5°
Low temp in Jan ° F
14.1°
Meet the neighbors
Median age
41.0
Completed at least some college (% of residents)
81.5%
Married %
66.8%
Divorced %
4.8%
Racial diversity index (100 is national average; higher numbers indicate greater diversity)
60.4
View moreless See Westford homes for sale
From the September 2013 issue

Source: Onboard Informatics. Details


(I) Income tax notes:
17 states have statutory provision for automatically adjusting to the rate of inflation the dollar values of the income tax brackets, standard deductions, and/or personal exemptions. Massachusetts, Michigan, and Nebraska index the personal exemption only. Oregon does not index the income brackets for $125,000 and over.
Is Westford a great town, or what?
More Best Places
Full list: Top 50
Full list: Top 50
Top-earning towns
Top-earning towns
25 best places for the rich and single
25 hotspots for the rich and single
  • Homes for sale
  • Westford real estate
Real estate and homes for sale on Trulia
Fan Favorite Towns

Money picked the top 100. Now it's your turn: Which town will be our fan favorite? 'Like' your town and it might just make it to No. 1.

Town # of Likes
1. Sharon, MA 11,968
2. Apex, NC 10,738
3. Westford, MA 6,023
4. Peachtree City, GA 5,632
5. Hillsborough, NJ 5,329
See the rest
CNNMONEY CALCULATOR
Was my home a good investment?

I bought my home in

It cost:

It's now worth:

Calculate
How we pick the Best Places
Using statistics from data services company Onboard Informatics and other sources, we crunched the numbers in order to zero in on America's best small towns for families. (Last year, we looked at small cities, with populations between 50,000 and 300,000.) More

Comments? E-mail the editors

onboard
Contact Us Closed Captioning Manage Cookies+ Site Map

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.