Mass. Towns Report Card: Did Melrose Make the Grade?

MELROSE, MA — This is one heck of a report card. Niche has come out with its new 2017 rankings of the "Best Places to Live" in Massachusetts, but it took a bit of a unique approach: The consumer rankings service assigned a grade, on an A+-to-D- scale, to almost every city and town and many neighborhoods around the state.

Sixty-three towns received A+ grades. None received a grade less than a C, though several did receive an "incomplete" of sorts.

Melrose was among over 80 towns and neighborhoods to receive an A.

To arrive at the rankings, Niche.com took several factors into consideration, such as the quality of local schools, crime rates, housing trends, employment statistics and access to amenities.

Niche created a standardized score for each factor, and after weighting each factor, an overall score was calculated, which was again given a new standardized score.

Finally, Niche.com created a numerical ranking and assigned grades for each place. Click here to read more about the methodology.

Click here for the full list.

Story by Tom Davis, Patch staff