Greater Worcester Towns, Compared
New England's second-largest city and the towns around it — a real urban center with its own economy, ringed by affordable commuter suburbs.
Of the 18 Greater Worcester towns we cover, Southborough both leads on school tier and sits closest to downtown Boston, at about 60 minutes, and Spencer is the cheapest at roughly $450k for a 4BR house. 4 of them have MBTA rail.
Every Greater Worcester town
Sorted by school tier, then commute to Boston. Every column links through to the town’s own page.
| # | Town | Schools | 4BR house | Commute | Rail | Tax rate | Est. bill |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southborough | top schoolsT1 | $1.25MT3 | 60 minT3 | Rail · 60 min | $14.36T3 | ≈$18,000 |
| 2 | Westborough | top schools · Niche 13thT1 | $950kT3 | 66 minT4 | Rail · 76 min | $15.93T4 | ≈$15,100 |
| 3 | Northborough | strong schoolsT2 | $900kT3 | 68 minT4 | None | $14.82T3 | ≈$13,300 |
| 4 | Shrewsbury | strong schools · Niche 16thT2 | $850kT2 | 72 minT4 | None | $11.50T2 | ≈$9,800 |
| 5 | Grafton | solid schools · Niche 50thT3 | $725kT2 | 72 minT4 | Rail · 76 min | $13.69T3 | ≈$9,900 |
| 6 | Uxbridge | solid schoolsT3 | $600kT2 | 74 minT4 | None | $12.68T3 | ≈$7,600 |
| 7 | Millbury | solid schoolsT3 | $550kT1 | 77 minT4 | None | $12.87T3 | ≈$7,100 |
| 8 | Sutton | solid schoolsT3 | $650kT2 | 77 minT4 | None | $11.55T2 | ≈$7,500 |
| 9 | Holden | solid schools · Niche 76thT3 | $700kT2 | 79 minT4 | None | $13.48T3 | ≈$9,400 |
| 10 | Auburn | solid schools · Niche 105thT3 | $575kT1 | 80 minT4 | None | $14.24T3 | ≈$8,200 |
| 11 | Charlton | solid schools · Niche 106thT3 | $550kT1 | 87 minT4 | None | $10.94T2 | ≈$6,000 |
| 12 | Dudley | solid schools · Niche 106thT3 | $450kT1 | 88 minT4 | None | $10.06T2 | ≈$4,500 |
| 13 | Northbridge | mixed schoolsT4 | $525kT1 | 73 minT4 | None | $11.63T2 | ≈$6,100 |
| 14 | Worcester | mixed schoolsT4 | $550kT1 | 77 minT4 | Rail · 84 min | $13.28T3 | ≈$7,300 |
| 15 | Oxford | mixed schoolsT4 | $500kT1 | 82 minT4 | None | $12.23T2 | ≈$6,100 |
| 16 | Leicester | mixed schoolsT4 | $475kT1 | 83 minT4 | None | $11.09T2 | ≈$5,300 |
| 17 | Webster | mixed schoolsT4 | $450kT1 | 84 minT4 | None | $11.92T2 | ≈$5,400 |
| 18 | Spencer | mixed schoolsT4 | $450kT1 | 86 minT4 | None | $10.98T2 | ≈$4,900 |
How this region is defined: “Greater Worcester” has no legal boundary, so we use the membership of the Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission rather than drawing our own line. Data last reviewed . See the methodology for every source.
