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Place dossier plate
SheetMA-READING-MA · Reading, MA 25,448 pop · income 96th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Reading
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Reading on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Reedley · lowest
62,923
Reedley · lowest
62,923 median HH income
34.3% of the leader · rank #1
Erie · near
163,644
Erie · near
163,644 median HH income
89.2% of the leader · rank #2
Oakton · near
163,662
Oakton · near
163,662 median HH income
89.2% of the leader · rank #3
Reading · this city
163,725
Reading · this city
163,725 median HH income
89.2% of the leader · rank #4
Annetta North · near
163,750
Annetta North · near
163,750 median HH income
89.3% of the leader · rank #5
Fairmount · near
163,785
Fairmount · near
163,785 median HH income
89.3% of the leader · rank #6
Mill Creek Ea… · highest
183,466
Mill Creek Ea… · highest
183,466 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Reading on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 25,448.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Reading - the verdict
Nationally, Reading sits in the 96th percentile for household income and the 82nd percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
96th
percentile, household income
94th
percentile, home value
98th
percentile, median rent
82nd
percentile, safety
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Reading, MA
Massachusetts's Reading is a small city, with 25,448 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Households in Reading report a median income of $163,725 per year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 1.8%. Typical homes in Reading are valued around $741,100, and the median resident age is 44.1 years. Educational attainment runs 65.1% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 66.2% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Reading reports a comparatively low crime rate: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 572.1 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, below the national average (agency reporting is voluntary, so this measures reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). NOAA climate normals record an annual average temperature of 50.6°F with 50.0 inches of precipitation per year and 63.5 inches of snowfall.
Massachusetts carries a cost-of-living premium: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Massachusetts at 105.8 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Above Average). A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $2,261 per month statewide. Monthly utility costs average around $330 across Massachusetts, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 78.8 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Reading's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from climate and hazard context to housing and income to work and mobility to reported crime to comparison shortlist to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Reading, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, commute-mode shares, FBI reported-crime rates.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, annual population history, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Climate and hazard context
What physical conditions frame life in Reading?
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 50.6°F, with 50.0 inches of precipitation and 63.5 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Massachusetts is 78.8 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
How far does income reach against housing in Reading?
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 4.5 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 1.8%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
What does the journey to work look like in Reading?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 59.6%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
Which cities make useful reference points for Reading?
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
Within Massachusetts, the closest population matches are Dedham (25,109 residents, $124,375 income); Burlington (26,223 residents, $142,207 income); Belmont (27,009 residents, $178,188 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Reedley, CA (25,446 residents); Avon Lake, OH (25,456 residents); Bailey's Crossroads, VA (25,458 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Reading?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 572.1 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 75% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
Total reported rate
572.1
Violent rate
38.7
Property rate
533.4
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
The NCES join finds 9 public schools within the city match. 65.1% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
Poverty estimate
1.8%
Bachelor's degree+
65.1%
Matched public schools
9
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Household income A+
$163,725
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share A+
65.1%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate A
1.8%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime A
39 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Cost of living F
105.8 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Reading profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 100/100 (A+) · $163,725
Bachelor's+ share: 95/100 (A+) · 65.1%
Poverty rate: 87/100 (A) · 1.8%
Violent crime: 87/100 (A) · 39 /100k
Cost of living: 18/100 (F) · 105.8 index
Where Reading sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Reading's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Reading highlighted among 10 peers.Read the chart values
Reading, MA (this city): home $741,100, crime 572/100k
Reedley, CA : home $311,700, crime 1,427/100k
Avon Lake, OH : home $337,200, crime 310/100k
West Chicago, IL : home $306,500, crime 797/100k
Dedham, MA : home $630,400, crime 1,597/100k
Burlington, MA : home $679,400, crime 1,888/100k
Belmont, MA : home $1,108,800, crime 755/100k
Wakefield, MA : home $670,100, crime 584/100k
Wilmington, MA : home $646,200, crime 1,177/100k
Stoneham, MA : home $629,000, crime 764/100k
How does Reading compare to other US cities?
Here's how Reading stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income96% higher than other cities
Home value94% pricier than other cities
Median rent98% pricier than other cities
Safety82% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
National percentiles can mask local variation. Looking only at Massachusetts, Reading ranks #38 of 149 Massachusetts cities by lowest crime rate - a narrower, more locally useful cut than the national comparison above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Reading against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Massachusetts only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Massachusetts-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Reading near the bottom of Massachusetts's cities
Among the 247 Massachusetts cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Reading ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Reading only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#26 of 233
89th percentile in Massachusetts
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 247
0th percentile in Massachusetts
Median Home Value
#41 of 240
83rd percentile in Massachusetts
Poverty Rate
#189 of 247
23rd percentile in Massachusetts
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#43 of 247
83rd percentile in Massachusetts
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Massachusetts only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
96th percentile nationally for median household income · 82nd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Reading's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Reading's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Reading's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$741,1006th percentilemore affordable than 6% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Reading's home-value-to-income ratio: 4.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#12,030 of 15,516
More affordable than 22% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,360 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 4.5×, Reading sits in the moderate band:
national rank #12,030 of 15,516 and #2,360 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$163,725Reading, MA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Reading, MA median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Reading, MA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)65.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)1.8%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)66.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
25,448
Median Income
$163,725
Median Home Value
$741,100
Median Age
44.1
Poverty Rate
1.8%
Labor force participation
66.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
65.1%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
572.1
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
38.7
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
533.4
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Climate
Avg Temperature
50.6°F
Annual Precipitation
50.0"
Annual Snowfall
63.5"
Schools
Total Schools
9
Public schools in this city
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
59.6%
Carpool
6.3%
Public Transit
5.1%
Walk
1.2%
Work from Home
27.7%
Based on 13,323 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Massachusetts statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $330
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Massachusetts at $330 (electricity about $160 , water and sewer about $60 ).
These are Massachusetts statewide averages, not a meter reading for Reading. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Massachusetts's BEA cost-of-living index is 105.8 (Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Reading is $2,261/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Massachusetts statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 78.8 / 100 (High).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Massachusetts statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Reading sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Reading compares to similar-size Massachusetts cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES CCD, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.