Why look at Lowell?
- Mid-tier housing market. Median home is $484k.
- Stable market. Home values +0.1% year-over-year — neither overheated nor falling.
- Higher tax state. Top marginal income tax rate around 9.0% — factor into salary comparisons.
Where Lowell stands
At or near all-time high.
Home value trajectory · last 10 years
Zillow ZHVI · monthlyLifestyle scores
Scores are heuristic estimates from population density, state, and known transit/walkable cities. Not based on a paid Walk Score / Transit Score API — see methodology for the formula.
Rent trajectory · last 5 years
Zillow ZORI · monthlyHome value vs rent · indexed to 100
Both rebased at first month of ZORI data (~2015)Rent vs buy
At a 17.7 price-to-rent ratio, Lowell is in the 'depends on horizon' zone. Buy if you'll be there 5+ years and value flexibility on the home; rent if you might move, want zero maintenance friction, or expect rates to drop.
How the momentum score breaks down
methodology →About Lowell (Wikipedia)
Lowell is a city in Massachusetts, United States. Alongside Cambridge, it is one of the two traditional seats of Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in 2020, it was the fifth most populous city in Massachusetts as of the last census, and the third most populous in the Boston metropolitan statistical area. The city is also part of a smaller Massachusetts statistical area, called Greater Lowell, and of New England's Merrimack Valley region.
Source: Wikipedia · this summary is contributed and licensed under CC-BY-SA.
City facts
Extracted from the Wikipedia infobox. Values may be slightly out of date relative to the latest sources.
Local safety & alerts
No active National Weather Service alerts for Middlesex County right now.
Public-safety links are official .gov sources, not curated by us. Middlesex County routes NWS alerts; check the state EM portal for non-weather emergencies.
Neighborhoods of Lowell
11 tracked · ranked by median home valueRun the numbers for Lowell
Massachusetts context
Schools
Lowell is served by 29 public schools enrolling about 15,952 students, with a student-teacher ratio of 13.4:1 — smaller classes than the US average of ~15:1. Public-school facts are from the NCES Common Core of Data; check ratings and attendance boundaries by exact address below.
Ratings, districts & boundaries:
Sources: Zillow ZHVI (home values), Zillow ZORI (rents), US Census ACS + place population. Updated when source agencies publish revisions.
Climate & natural-disaster risk
State-level averages from NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020) and FEMA National Risk Index. City-level conditions can vary significantly within a state.
Local sports teams
Major professional teams the Boston-Cambridge-Newton area cheers for. Detailed stats, schedules, and player pages on intherafters.com.
Current weather
Find rentals & listings
Open current Lowell listings on the major real-estate sites.
Links open the live search on the destination site — results are always current.
Local news & community
Latest news in Lowell
5 from local press- City of Lowell Comes Together to Recognize Memorial DayLOCALLowell, MA (.gov)22h ago
- UMass Lowell Announces Appointment of Lynne Cossman as ProvostLOCALUMass Lowell1w ago
- Play ball! Lowell Spinners return after 6-year hiatusLOCALWCVB1w ago
- May 26: Start and Grow Your Small Business WorkshopLOCALLowell, MA (.gov)1w ago
- UMass Lowell Awarded $4.1M Grant to Develop Climate-Resilient Housing Innovation TestbedLOCALUMass Lowell6d ago
- Baseball splits doubleheader at UMass LowellBinghamton University Athletics1w ago
What locals are saying
Updated 2026-05-28 from Google News + Reddit RSS. Filtered for Lowell-specific coverage. Headlines link to original sources.
Local economy & environment
Humidity is annual average relative humidity (NOAA). Income is Census ACS 5-year estimate. Industries are largest employment sectors statewide (BLS); the local mix in a given city may vary.
Find more cities like Lowell
Open the matchmaker pre-filled to match Lowell’s price band, region, and size — refine to taste.
Find more like Lowell →Cities similar to Lowell
Explore other places with comparable momentum or affordability.
Cost-of-ownership at the median
Snapshot assumes a $150k single earner buying at the median home. Your real numbers depend on bracket, deductions, school district, and HOA. Use the affordability calculator and net-pay calculator for your specific case.
Schools & crime context
School quality is district-by-district and varies dramatically within a city. Check GreatSchools or your state DOE rankings for specific schools before deciding. City-level school data coming soon.
Massachusetts: 316 violent crimes per 100K residents (state avg, FBI UCR). Neighborhood-level rates can vary 10× within one city — research specific areas via CrimeGrade or local police data.
Compare to where you live now
Set your current city once and we’ll show the cost delta on every city profile.
Jobs & hiring
In Lowell, unemployment sits around 5.7%, and hiring momentum has been steady. The strongest local sectors are tech, healthcare and skilled trades & manufacturing.
Search current openings: