Middleton, MA Tier 3

Tier 3 · solid schools · 18 miles from downtown Boston, about 49 minutes door-to-door at peak · 84% of households own their home.

Middleton, Massachusetts
Middleton · photo via Wikipedia
4BR house
$950k
$730k townhouse · $540k condo
Dearer than 72% of MA towns
Property tax
$11,900/yr
$12.50 per $1,000 on that house
Higher than 73% of MA towns
To downtown Boston
49 min
No MBTA rail
Closer than 70% of MA towns
Schools
70th pct
growth 48th · 97% graduate
Ahead of 70% 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 Middleton

Middleton is a middle-tier school district north of Boston, about 18 miles from downtown Boston as the crow flies and 49 minutes door-to-door at peak, and an expensive market: roughly $950k for a 4BR house and $540k for a 2BR condo. The residential rate is $12.50 per $1,000, on the high side for Massachusetts, which on a $950k house works out to about $11,900 a year. There is no MBTA rail here, so the commute is by car. The district sits in the 70th percentile statewide on MCAS, and Niche ranks it 43rd of 236. Masconomet schools and river-bend golf courses.

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

About 49 minutes to downtown at peak, and no rail to escape it.

Ugly

$950k buys a 4-bedroom — which is only cheap next to the towns you actually want.

Schools and child caresolid schools · 70th MCAS · 3 schools

Public elementary & middle schools

3 public schools in Middleton — 1 elementary and 2 middle
ElementaryK–2 · 231 students
Elementary / middlePK–6 · 466 students
Middle7–8 · 552 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 3 center-based · 1 family child care4
Licensed places, all ages The ceiling these programs may operate to356
Places in centers Commercial premises, licensed room by room346
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 down113
Preschool places in centers Roughly 33 months to kindergarten197

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 113 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#43 of 236 MA districts · A-
U.S. News 2025-26 · Assigned high school#75 of 366 MA · Masconomet Regional High School
Boston Magazine 2025 · Greater Boston high school#44 of 135 · Masconomet Regional High School
Official Massachusetts data (DESE)Result
MCAS achievement70th percentile statewide
Student growth (SGP)48th percentile
4-year graduation rate96.9%
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.

Available Private School Options

18 private schools in Middleton and within 12 miles
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 · BoxfordPK–10 · PK/K–12 · 53 students · ~$18k–$28k/yr (est.)
Adjacent town · LynnfieldPK–8 · Elementary / middle · 330 students · 12.1:1 student-teacher · ~$8k–$15k/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.)
BrooksNiche #15 · A+
Adjacent town · North AndoverNEASC accredited9–12 · High school · 362 students · 7:1 student-teacher · ~$40k–$52k/yr (est.) · ~$70k/yr boarding
Adjacent town · North AndoverPK–8 · Elementary / middle · 519 students · 17:1 student-teacher · ~$8k–$15k/yr (est.)
Austin PrepNiche #77 · A
Adjacent town · ReadingNEASC accredited6–12 · Middle / high · 775 students · ~$18k–$28k/yr (est.)
Pingree ↗ searchNiche #62 · A+
Adjacent town · HamiltonAISNE accredited9–12 · High school · 397 students · ~$38k–$50k/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.)
Adjacent town · AndoverNEASC accredited9–12 · High school · 1,169 students · 6:1 student-teacher · ~$40k–$52k/yr (est.) · ~$70k/yr boarding
Adjacent town · AndoverPK–8 · Elementary / middle · 416 students · ~$8k–$15k/yr (est.)
Adjacent town · AndoverAISNE accreditedPK–9 · PK/K–12 · 402 students · 7:1 student-teacher · ~$38k–$50k/yr (est.)
Adjacent town · AndoverK–12 + SP · Specialized / placement · 196 students · placement/specialized

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 Middleton, 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 Middleton

Residential suburbs & small townsmedium confidence

Low-key, lower-density, and well provided with recreation programs, playgrounds and athletic fields; mixed in housing stock, from multifamily properties and smaller condos to higher-priced single-family homes, 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$950k 4BR · ≈$11,900 tax
To buyMedian price (est.)
4BR / 2BA detached house$950k
3BR / 2BA townhouse$730k
2BR condo$540k
Property taxes (FY2026)$12.50 per $1,000 (1.25%)

These are modeled estimates, not listings. Each row opens the real Redfin market in ZIP 01949, and the two will not match.

To rentPer month (est.)
4 bedrooms$3,503/mo
3 bedrooms$3,180/mo
2 bedrooms$2,647/mo
1 bedroom$2,233/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 Middleton’s ZIP codes

Home values over the last decade

Middleton home values, 2016–2026Zillow Home Value Index for Middleton, 2016 to 2026: $531k to $897k, up 69 per cent.$488k$714k$941k20162026
Middleton, 2016 to 2026: $531k to $897k, up 69% in 10 years — 5.4% a year compounded.
If a $950k house grew at…5 yrs10 yrs15 yrs30 yrs
5.4% — Middleton’s own last decade$1.24M$1.61M$2.09M$4.60M
3% — inflation, holding its real value$1.10M$1.28M$1.48M$2.31M

These are not forecasts. They are what $950k 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 Middleton

suburban727 people per square mile across 13.4 sq mi suburban — 500–2,000 per square mile

What’s hereCount
Cafés and coffee shops0
Bookshops
See the list
1
Museums, theatres and galleries0
Colleges and universities0
Public libraryMiddleton, Flint 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 households84%
White (non-Hispanic)87%
Asian (non-Hispanic)5.0%
Latino / Hispanic4.0%
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

MiddletonFigure
Residents9,779
Municipal budgetFY2025, DLS Schedule A$46.8M
School district spendingMasconomet district$43.8M
Spending per pupil DESE, total expenditures$27,426
School spending per resident$4,475
Affordable housing units (Ch. 40B inventory)429

Masconomet is a regional district, so the school spend covers every member town, not just this one.

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 Middleton

WilmingtonTier 3
Also Tier 3, about $175k cheaper
West NewburyTier 3
Also Tier 3, 21 min further from Boston
DanversTier 3
Also Tier 3, about $125k cheaper
GeorgetownTier 3
Also Tier 3, about $150k cheaper
GrovelandTier 3
Also Tier 3, about $200k cheaper
BurlingtonTier 3
Also Tier 3, 8 min closer to Boston

Surprisingly similar in character

HansonTier 3
Both quiet and spread out · $300k cheaper
WilbrahamTier 2
Both quiet and spread out · $400k cheaper, 63 min further out
HoldenTier 3
Both quiet and spread out · $250k cheaper, 30 min further out
MedfieldTier 1
Both quiet and spread out · $400k dearer, Tier 1 schools

Read next

Charter and private school options for North Shore families
What the charter and private options actually look like from a North Shore address, and where the charter scores below the district it sits in.
8 min read
The best North Shore towns under $900,000
On the North Shore at $950k — inside the budget that clears only ten towns up here.
8 min read
Test scores tell you who moved in. Growth tells you what the school did.
Scores in the 70th percentile but moves children in the 48th — the intake flatters this district.
7 min read
The child care near you depends on what your town costs
Only 25% of the child care here is home-based, against two-thirds statewide — the pattern the expensive towns share.
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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