Lynnfield, MA Tier 2

Tier 2 · strong schools · 12 miles from downtown Boston, about 39 minutes door-to-door at peak · 89% of households own their home.

Lynnfield, Massachusetts
Lynnfield · photo via Wikipedia
4BR house
$1.2M
$870k townhouse · $645k condo
Dearer than 86% of MA towns
Property tax
$13,800/yr
$11.50 per $1,000 on that house
Higher than 82% of MA towns
To downtown Boston
39 min
No MBTA rail
Closer than 86% of MA towns
Schools
88th pct
growth 50th · 98% graduate
Ahead of 88% of MA districts

marks the Massachusetts median of $750k for a 4BR, $9,100 in tax and 62 min to Boston. Prices and the tax bill are estimates, not appraisals.

About Lynnfield

Lynnfield is a strong school district north of Boston, about 12 miles from downtown Boston as the crow flies and 39 minutes door-to-door at peak, and an expensive market: roughly $1.2M for a 4BR house and $645k for a 2BR condo. The residential rate is $11.50 per $1,000, about average for Massachusetts, but on a $1.2M house that is still about $13,800 a year. There is no MBTA rail here, so the commute is by car. The district sits in the 88th percentile statewide on MCAS, and Niche ranks it 25th of 236. MarketStreet's outdoor retail and small-school attention.

The good, the bad, the ugly

From the data
Good

Schools are the draw: a Tier 2 district, and only 23 towns rate higher.

Bad

A 4BR runs about $1.20M — 41st-priciest of the 241 places here.

Ugly

39 minutes each way. That is roughly 6 hours a week in the car — a part-time job you pay for.

Schools and child carestrong schools · 88th MCAS · 4 schools

Public elementary & middle schools

4 public schools in Lynnfield — 3 elementary and 1 middle
ElementaryK–4 · 427 students
ElementaryK–4 · 407 students
ElementaryPK · 33 students
Elementary / middle5–8 · 710 students

These are assigned by address, not chosen. A regional district’s schools appear on every member town’s page. Charters are public but allocated by lottery, and are listed separately below.

DESE 2025–26 enrolment report

Before kindergarten

Licensed programs 5 center-based · 1 family child care6
Licensed places, all ages The ceiling these programs may operate to409
Places in centers Commercial premises, licensed room by room399
Places in family child care A provider’s own home, mixed ages together10
Infant & toddler places in centers Age bands ending under three; family programs are not broken down86
Preschool places in centers Roughly 33 months to kindergarten304

Licensed capacity is not availability. These are places programs may operate, not vacancies. The age split covers centers only — family programs report no breakdown, so 86 is a floor on infant care here, not a count of it.

MA Dept. of Early Education and Care, pulled 2026-08-02 · search current openings

Public School Rankings

Publisher rankingResult
Niche 2026 · Best School Districts#25 of 236 MA districts · A
SchoolDigger 2025 · City/locality test-score rank#41 of 361 MA localities
U.S. News 2025-26 · Assigned high school#36 of 366 MA · Lynnfield High School
Boston Magazine 2025 · Greater Boston high school#38 of 135 · Lynnfield High School
Official Massachusetts data (DESE)Result
MCAS achievement88th percentile statewide
Student growth (SGP)50th percentile
4-year graduation rate97.9%
DESE accountabilitySubstantial progress toward targets

Each publisher ranks a different thing. A district, a locality, or one high school, each by its own method — shown separately, never blended.

MCAS percentile is the district’s statewide rank on % Meeting/Exceeding expectations, ELA + Math.

School building projects: No major full-school construction or comprehensive rebuild with a published total project budget was located in the live MSBA, municipal, school-project, contractor, and local-news review completed in July 2026. This does not mean no school capital work occurred.

Charter School Options

2 charter schools near Lynnfield
Adjacent town · SaugusTuition-free · lotteryK–12 · Charter (public, tuition-free) · growth 70th pct · 93.2% graduate · Meeting or exceeding targets · $17k/pupil
Adjacent town · LynnTuition-free · lotteryK–12 · Charter (public, tuition-free) · growth 49th pct · 97.6% graduate · Moderate progress toward targets · $21k/pupil

Admission is by lottery, not address — a seat is never guaranteed. Some charters here are alternative or recovery high schools enrolling students already off-track, so their MCAS and graduation figures are not comparable with a traditional school’s.

Public and tuition-free; results from DESE

Available Private School Options

16 private schools in Lynnfield and within 12 miles
In LynnfieldPK–8 · Elementary / middle · 330 students · 12.1:1 student-teacher · ~$8k–$15k/yr (est.)
Adjacent town · WakefieldPK–8 · Elementary / middle · 262 students · ~$8k–$15k/yr (est.)
Adjacent town · WakefieldAISNE accreditedPK–8 · Elementary / middle · 46 students · 7.6:1 student-teacher · ~$32k–$45k/yr (est.)
Austin PrepNiche #77 · A
Adjacent town · ReadingNEASC accredited6–12 · Middle / high · 775 students · ~$18k–$28k/yr (est.)
Adjacent town · Peabody9–12 · High school · 451 students · 12:1 student-teacher · ~$18k–$28k/yr (est.)
Adjacent town · PeabodyPK–12 · PK/K–12 · 427 students · 9.4:1 student-teacher · ~$10k–$20k/yr (est.)
Adjacent town · PeabodyPK–8 · Elementary / middle · 391 students · ~$8k–$15k/yr (est.)
Adjacent town · StonehamPK–8 · Elementary / middle · 254 students · ~$8k–$15k/yr (est.)
Adjacent town · DanversNEASC accredited6–12 · Middle / high · 1,432 students · ~$18k–$28k/yr (est.)
Adjacent town · DanversPK–8 · Elementary / middle · 339 students · ~$8k–$15k/yr (est.)
Adjacent town · DanversPK–12 · PK/K–12 · 169 students · ~$10k–$20k/yr (est.)
Adjacent town · MelrosePK–8 · Elementary / middle · 191 students · ~$8k–$15k/yr (est.)
Adjacent town · LynnPK–12 · PK/K–12 · 862 students · ~$18k–$28k/yr (est.)
Adjacent town · LynnPK–8 · Elementary / middle · 300 students · ~$8k–$15k/yr (est.)
Adjacent town · LynnPK–8 · Elementary / middle · 124 students · ~$10k–$20k/yr (est.)
Adjacent town · WoburnPK–8 · Elementary / middle · 173 students · ~$8k–$15k/yr (est.)

Tuition is an estimated range by school type, not school-published pricing — a parochial school and an independent day school are priced very differently. Private schools sit no MCAS, so no figure here is a state measure.

How to read this list

Schools within 12 miles of Lynnfield, from the MA DESE 2025–26 non-public enrollment report plus the Niche ranking of Massachusetts private high schools. Tuition shown as an estimated range by school type, grades and region — not school-published pricing. A parochial school and an independent day school are priced very differently, so treat these as a starting point and confirm with the school. Niche ranks private high schools only, so an elementary school never carries a number; where one shows a letter instead, that is Niche’s own overall grade, which reaches schools no ranked list does. Neither is a state measure — private schools sit no MCAS and report no results to Massachusetts. That Niche extract is also partial, so a school showing neither was not judged and found wanting; it may simply not have been in it. Student numbers are the figure schools do report, from the same DESE return. Where a student-teacher ratio is shown it is students over full-time-equivalent teachers in the federal Private School Universe Survey, 2021–22, the most recent published — a rough guide to class size, not a class size, and not a ranking either. It is shown only where that survey and the state agree on how many pupils the school has, which is why many schools here have none. Accreditation comes from the AISNE member directory, which records whether a school holds AISNE or NEASC accreditation — the two split the work by age rather than compete, AISNE taking the elementary and middle schools and NEASC the secondary ones. It means an outside body has reviewed the school against published standards on a ten-year cycle. It is not a measure of results, and its absence is not a mark against a school: plenty are not members at all. That directory is also where the schools marked files no enrolment with the state come from. They are real schools that simply make no return to Massachusetts, so the state holds no size for them and this page can show none — and for those, the grade range is read off AISNE’s age bands rather than taken from the school, so treat it as approximate and confirm with the school.

The vibe of Lynnfield

High-cost suburbsmedium confidence

Low-key, lower-density, and extensively provided with recreation programs, playgrounds and athletic fields; high-cost in housing, upscale in commercial districts, and extensively maintained in public realm, with limited cultural offerings, mostly residential, and moderate gathering options.

Energy4
Compact town center4
Family amenities5
Culture4
Visitor presence2
Public gathering places6

Six 1–10 scales for the intensity of each quality, not a score of how good the place is. Higher just means more of that thing. Family amenities counts public recreation infrastructure, not who lives here; these never use race, ethnicity or other protected characteristics, and never measure safety. See the methodology.

What it takes to live here$1.2M 4BR · ≈$13,800 tax
To buyMedian price (est.)
4BR / 2BA detached house$1.2M
3BR / 2BA townhouse$870k
2BR condo$645k
Property taxes (FY2026)$11.50 per $1,000 (1.15%)

These are modeled estimates, not listings. Each row opens the real Redfin market in ZIP 01940, and the two will not match.

To rentPer month (est.)
4 bedrooms$3,733/mo
3 bedrooms$3,383/mo
2 bedrooms$2,820/mo
1 bedroom$2,377/mo

These are benchmark rents, not asking rents. HUD sets them at the 40th percentile of standard-quality units, so a nice single-family will ask more — which is why the links are not capped at the figure beside them.

HUD FY2026 Small Area Fair Market Rents for Lynnfield’s ZIP codes

Home values over the last decade

Lynnfield home values, 2016–2026Zillow Home Value Index for Lynnfield, 2016 to 2026: $627k to $1.13M, up 80 per cent.$567k$879k$1.19M20162026
Lynnfield, 2016 to 2026: $627k to $1.13M, up 80% in 10 years — 6.1% a year compounded.
If a $1.20M house grew at…5 yrs10 yrs15 yrs30 yrs
6.1% — Lynnfield’s own last decade$1.61M$2.17M$2.92M$7.09M
3% — inflation, holding its real value$1.39M$1.61M$1.87M$2.91M

These are not forecasts. They are what $1.20M becomes at a fixed rate, shown for two rates because nobody can tell you which one the next thirty years will bring. The last decade included a period of unusually fast growth across Massachusetts; repeating it for thirty years would be a strong assumption. The inflation row is the conservative case — a house that holds its value and earns nothing beyond it. History from the Zillow Home Value Index, a whole-town index that sits at a different level from the 4BR estimate above and is used here for the trend.

What’s around Lynnfield

suburban1,319 people per square mile across 9.9 sq mi suburban — 500–2,000 per square mile

What’s hereCount
Cafés and coffee shops
See the list
2
Bookshops
See the list
1
Museums, theatres and galleries0
Colleges and universities0
Public libraryLynnfield Public Library

Density is Census population over land area. Café, bookshop and culture counts are what is mapped in OpenStreetMap — a volunteer map, so a well-mapped town looks busier than a thinly-mapped one. Read a low count as “little mapped here”, not “nothing here”. Colleges are active degree-granting institutions in the federal IPEDS directory; enrolment and campus housing capacity are its 2023 figures. The public library comes from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, which lists library systems rather than every branch. These figures describe places, never the people in them — see our methodology.

Census snapshot
ACS 2019–2023 (via MAPC DataCommon)Share
Homeowner households89%
White (non-Hispanic)87%
Asian (non-Hispanic)6.0%
Latino / Hispanic3.0%
African American (non-Hispanic)1.0%
These figures are neutral census facts, shown for every town equally. They are never used to filter, rank, or recommend towns — see our methodology and the federal Fair Housing Act.

Town spending & civic data

LynnfieldFigure
Residents13,000
Municipal budgetFY2025, DLS Schedule A$72.8M
School district spending$45.8M
Spending per pupil DESE, total expenditures$20,466
School spending per resident$3,524
Affordable housing units (Ch. 40B inventory)571

Budget: FY2025 General Fund total expenditures, DLS Schedule A · Schools: DESE Per Pupil Expenditure · Affordable units: state Subsidized Housing Inventory. Never used to rank or filter towns.

Realistic alternatives to Lynnfield

BedfordTier 2
Also Tier 2, $1.15M for a 4BR and 42 min to Boston
ReadingTier 2
Also Tier 2, about $225k cheaper
North ReadingTier 2
Also Tier 2, about $250k cheaper
WenhamTier 2
Also Tier 2, about $250k cheaper
TopsfieldTier 2
Also Tier 2, about $200k cheaper
HamiltonTier 2
Also Tier 2, about $250k cheaper

Surprisingly similar in character

HansonTier 3
Both quiet and spread out · $550k cheaper
WilbrahamTier 2
Both quiet and spread out · $650k cheaper, 73 min further out
West NewburyTier 3
Both quiet and spread out · 31 min further out
WilmingtonTier 3
Both quiet and spread out · $425k cheaper

Read next

Test scores tell you who moved in. Growth tells you what the school did.
Scores in the 88th percentile but moves children in the 50th — the intake flatters this district.
7 min read
Quiet towns, strong schools, a real Boston commute: pick two
Quiet, Tier 2 schools, 39 minutes to Boston — the combination the search was for, and it is never cheap.
6 min read
The better the schools, the more you pay to own instead of rent
A house here costs 27 years of the local rent, against a statewide median of 18. Buying is the expensive way to live here.
6 min read
How much income do you need to buy in a good Massachusetts school district?
A 4BR here needs roughly $317k of household income. That is what a Tier 2 district costs to buy into.
7 min read
Data statusSome figures preliminary · reviewed August 14, 2026
FigureStatus
Home pricesCalibrated to the Zillow Home Value Index and Redfin market pages. For comparison, not appraisal.Preliminary
Property tax rateFY2026 residential rate per $1,000, from municipal assessor and treasurer pages.Preliminary
RentsHUD FY2026 Small Area Fair Market Rents, by ZIP.Sourced
School dataDESE published state reports. Publisher ranks carry their own edition and denominator. The school tier is editorial.Sourced
CommuteRail times for the 75 towns we could verify against the MBTA's published timetable are real scheduled journeys, transfers included. Where a town has rail but no verified journey, its rail time is modeled too, and the town page says so. Driving is modeled from distance with corridor adjustments, and station access is a flat allowance. Not measured by a routing API.Measured + modeled

This community was added after the original hundred, so its prices and tax rate are preliminary estimates pending verification against municipal and census records. Data last reviewed . Full detail on every source is in the methodology.

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