Commuting to Downtown Boston by MBTA

The destination every other table assumes. Here it is measured from the published timetable rather than modeled from distance.

Timetable-based, not distance-modeled. Scheduled MBTA journey time from each town’s best station to Downtown Boston, including transfers, for services arriving between 07:00 and 09:30. It is computed from the MBTA’s published timetable, not modeled from distance. It does not include getting to your origin station or the walk at the far end, and it does not cover driving. Only towns with a station appear: 81 of our 223 — and Boston contains Downtown Boston rather than commuting to it, which is why 80 are ranked below.

How far the network actually gets you

Journey you will accept	Towns	…with Tier 1–2 schools	…under $900k	Cheapest of them
Within 30 minutes	20	7	10	Chelsea, $650k
Within 45 minutes	40	15	21	Brockton, $550k
Within 60 minutes	59	24	30	Lawrence, $500k
Within 75 minutes	67	27	36	Lawrence, $500k

40 towns put you in Downtown Boston within 45 minutes on a scheduled service, and 15 of those have a Tier 1–2 school district. Push to an hour and it is 59 towns and 24 strong districts. Only 20 manage it in half an hour.

Strong schools within 45 minutes

The list families usually want, and it is short. These are the Tier 1–2 districts with a scheduled journey of 45 minutes or less.

Cambridge — 6 min from Kendall/MIT · $1.7M · Tier 2 · tax ≈$11,300
Winchester — 20 min from Wedgemere · $1.85M · Tier 1 · tax ≈$20,500
Belmont — 21 min from Belmont · $1.9M · Tier 1 · tax ≈$21,900
Brookline — 21 min from Saint Mary's Street · $2.05M · Tier 1 · tax ≈$21,000
Milton — 26 min from Milton · $1.35M · Tier 2 · tax ≈$15,900
Newton — 26 min from Newtonville · $1.9M · Tier 1 · tax ≈$18,400
Westwood — 29 min from Route 128 · $1.4M · Tier 2 · tax ≈$17,500
Swampscott — 31 min from Swampscott · $1.05M · Tier 2 · tax ≈$12,100
Reading — 32 min from Reading · $975k · Tier 2 · tax ≈$10,700
Needham — 34 min from Hersey · $1.85M · Tier 1 · tax ≈$20,000
Sharon — 35 min from Sharon · $950k · Tier 2 · tax ≈$16,600
Weston — 36 min from Kendal Green · $2.9M · Tier 1 · tax ≈$33,400
Wellesley — 38 min from Wellesley Farms · $2.25M · Tier 1 · tax ≈$22,900
Hingham — 39 min from West Hingham · $1.65M · Tier 2 · tax ≈$17,300
Lincoln — 43 min from Lincoln · $2.5M · Tier 1 · tax ≈$31,300

The cheapest towns within 45 minutes

Sorted by price rather than speed, because at some point the budget is the binding constraint.

#	Town	Typical	Fastest	Station	4BR	Schools	Est. tax bill
1	Brockton	38 min	37 min	Montello	$550k	Tier 4	≈$6,400
2	Whitman	43 min	42 min	Whitman	$600k	Tier 3	≈$8,100
3	Chelsea	18 min	13 min	Box District	$650k	Tier 4	≈$7,500
4	Lynn	28 min	27 min	Lynn Interim	$650k	Tier 4	≈$6,700
5	Randolph	32 min	31 min	Holbrook/Randolph	$650k	Tier 4	≈$7,500
6	Abington	39 min	38 min	Abington	$650k	Tier 3	≈$9,100
7	Revere	17 min	14 min	Beachmont	$675k	Tier 4	≈$6,000
8	Malden	11 min	11 min	Malden Center	$700k	Tier 4	≈$8,000

Every town with an MBTA route to Downtown Boston

All 75 towns with regular service, fastest first. “Typical” is the median scheduled journey across peak departures; “fastest” is the quickest single service.

#	Town	Typical	Fastest	Station	4BR	Schools	Est. tax bill
1	Somerville	6 min	6 min	Assembly	$1.25M	Tier 3	≈$11,200
2	Cambridge	6 min	6 min	Kendall/MIT	$1.7M	Tier 2	≈$11,300
3	Medford	8 min	8 min	Wellington	$900k	Tier 3	≈$7,800
4	Malden	11 min	11 min	Malden Center	$700k	Tier 4	≈$8,000
5	Quincy	14 min	14 min	North Quincy	$875k	Tier 3	≈$10,300
6	Melrose	16 min	15 min	Wyoming Hill	$950k	Tier 3	≈$10,900
7	Revere	17 min	14 min	Beachmont	$675k	Tier 4	≈$6,000
8	Chelsea	18 min	13 min	Box District	$650k	Tier 4	≈$7,500
9	Winchester	20 min	18 min	Wedgemere	$1.85M	Tier 1	≈$20,500
10	Belmont	21 min	21 min	Belmont	$1.9M	Tier 1	≈$21,900
11	Brookline	21 min	19 min	Saint Mary's Street	$2.05M	Tier 1	≈$21,000
12	Wakefield	22 min	21 min	Greenwood	$875k	Tier 3	≈$10,300
13	Braintree	25 min	23 min	Braintree	$875k	Tier 3	≈$8,800
14	Milton	26 min	20 min	Milton	$1.35M	Tier 2	≈$15,900
15	Newton	26 min	22 min	Newtonville	$1.9M	Tier 1	≈$18,400
16	Lynn	28 min	27 min	Lynn Interim	$650k	Tier 4	≈$6,700
17	Weymouth	28 min	28 min	Weymouth Landing/East Braintree	$725k	Tier 3	≈$7,300
18	Dedham	29 min	27 min	Endicott	$850k	Tier 3	≈$10,500
19	Westwood	29 min	23 min	Route 128	$1.4M	Tier 2	≈$17,500
20	Woburn	30 min	26 min	Anderson/Woburn	$825k	Tier 3	≈$7,500
21	Canton	31 min	28 min	Canton Junction	$825k	Tier 3	≈$8,000
22	Swampscott	31 min	30 min	Swampscott	$1.05M	Tier 2	≈$12,100
23	Randolph	32 min	31 min	Holbrook/Randolph	$650k	Tier 4	≈$7,500
24	Reading	32 min	30 min	Reading	$975k	Tier 2	≈$10,700
25	Needham	34 min	31 min	Hersey	$1.85M	Tier 1	≈$20,000
26	Wilmington	35 min	31 min	Wilmington	$775k	Tier 3	≈$8,800
27	Sharon	35 min	28 min	Sharon	$950k	Tier 2	≈$16,600
28	Weston	36 min	36 min	Kendal Green	$2.9M	Tier 1	≈$33,400
29	Brockton	38 min	37 min	Montello	$550k	Tier 4	≈$6,400
30	Salem	38 min	37 min	Salem	$725k	Tier 3	≈$7,800
31	Norwood	38 min	36 min	Norwood Depot	$800k	Tier 3	≈$7,900
32	Wellesley	38 min	33 min	Wellesley Farms	$2.25M	Tier 1	≈$22,900
33	Abington	39 min	38 min	Abington	$650k	Tier 3	≈$9,100
34	Hingham	39 min	38 min	West Hingham	$1.65M	Tier 2	≈$17,300
35	Billerica	42 min	39 min	North Billerica	$700k	Tier 3	≈$8,100
36	Beverly	42 min	41 min	Beverly	$850k	Tier 3	≈$9,200
37	Whitman	43 min	42 min	Whitman	$600k	Tier 3	≈$8,100
38	Lincoln	43 min	43 min	Lincoln	$2.5M	Tier 1	≈$31,300
39	Mansfield	44 min	37 min	Mansfield	$775k	Tier 3	≈$10,100
40	Waltham	44 min	28 min	Waltham	$1M	Tier 3	≈$10,300
41	Lowell	47 min	47 min	Lowell	$525k	Tier 4	≈$6,000
42	Cohasset	47 min	46 min	Cohasset	$1.6M	Tier 2	≈$19,200
43	Hanson	48 min	47 min	Hanson	$650k	Tier 3	≈$9,400
44	Walpole	48 min	47 min	Walpole	$875k	Tier 3	≈$10,900
45	Natick	49 min	46 min	Natick Center	$1M	Tier 2	≈$12,200
46	Concord	49 min	49 min	Concord	$2.2M	Tier 1	≈$28,600
47	Hamilton	52 min	51 min	Hamilton/Wenham	$950k	Tier 2	≈$13,800
48	Bridgewater	53 min	52 min	Bridgewater	$625k	Tier 3	≈$7,500
49	Attleboro	54 min	47 min	Attleboro	$620k	Tier 3	≈$7,600
50	Halifax	54 min	53 min	Halifax	$625k	Tier 3	≈$9,100
51	Scituate	54 min	53 min	North Scituate	$1.1M	Tier 2	≈$12,700
52	Norfolk	55 min	54 min	Norfolk	$950k	Tier 2	≈$14,300
53	Ashland	56 min	52 min	Ashland	$850k	Tier 3	≈$11,500
54	Framingham	57 min	41 min	Framingham	$800k	Tier 3	≈$9,500
55	Ipswich	58 min	57 min	Ipswich	$900k	Tier 3	≈$10,400
56	Acton	58 min	41 min	South Acton	$1.1M	Tier 1	≈$17,900
57	Lawrence	59 min	51 min	Lawrence	$500k	Tier 4	≈$4,300
58	Manchester-by-the-Sea	59 min	59 min	Manchester	$1.5M	Tier 2	≈$14,300
59	Southborough	60 min	58 min	Southborough	$1.25M	Tier 1	≈$17,500
60	Franklin	62 min	61 min	Franklin	$850k	Tier 2	≈$9,700
61	Kingston	63 min	62 min	Kingston	$800k	Tier 3	≈$10,800
62	Middleborough	64 min	63 min	Middleborough	$525k	Tier 4	≈$6,900
63	Rowley	64 min	63 min	Rowley	$800k	Tier 3	≈$10,400
64	Littleton	64 min	47 min	Littleton/Route 495	$900k	Tier 2	≈$13,100
65	Newburyport	71 min	70 min	Newburyport	$1.1M	Tier 2	≈$11,600
66	Ayer	72 min	55 min	Ayer	$550k	Tier 4	≈$6,900
67	Taunton	74 min	74 min	East Taunton	$575k	Tier 4	≈$6,400
68	Grafton	76 min	72 min	Grafton	$725k	Tier 3	≈$9,900
69	Westborough	76 min	67 min	Westborough	$950k	Tier 1	≈$15,100
70	Leominster	84 min	68 min	North Leominster	$500k	Tier 4	≈$6,800
71	Worcester	84 min	70 min	Worcester	$550k	Tier 4	≈$7,300
72	Fitchburg	91 min	75 min	Fitchburg	$420k	Tier 4	≈$5,600
73	New Bedford	94 min	92 min	Church Street	$475k	Tier 4	≈$5,200
74	Freetown	96 min	86 min	Freetown	$625k	Tier 3	≈$7,500
75	Fall River	103 min	93 min	Fall River Depot	$450k	Tier 4	≈$5,200

Towns where service barely runs

These 5 towns have a station and a scheduled journey, but fewer than three peak departures — flag stops and end-of-line halts. The time is real; treating it as a commute is not, because missing one service can mean an hour.

Town	Typical	Station	Peak departures	4BR
Stoughton	40 min	Stoughton	2	$675k
Andover	43 min	Ballardvale	2	$1M
Foxborough	58 min	Foxboro	1	$800k
Haverhill	62 min	Bradford	2	$625k
Gloucester	66 min	West Gloucester	2	$875k

What this page cannot tell you

It is a timetable, not a journey. Add your walk, drive or bus to the station at one end and the walk to your desk at the other. For a park-and-ride town that can be fifteen minutes before you board.
Scheduled is not actual. These are the times the MBTA publishes. They are not adjusted for how reliably each line keeps them, and reliability varies a lot by line.
Driving is not here at all. Traffic-aware routing needs a data source we do not have, and we would rather leave the column out than model it. If you will drive, treat this page as silent on your commute.
142 of our 223 towns have no station and so cannot appear, however good a place they might be to live.

Transit times computed from the MBTA GTFS feed for 2026-08-05, a weekday with normal service. Prices, tax bills and school tiers are ours — see the methodology. Data last reviewed July 18, 2026.