menu
Data on this report is based on areas within the legal city boundary, outlined in black on the map. Any additional neighborhoods shown on the map are associated with the city by name and are included for reference only.

Needham, MA
Real Estate & Demographic Data






Needham profile


Living in Needham



Needham is a medium-sized town located in the state of Massachusetts. With a population of 32,114 people and six constituent neighborhoods, Needham is the 55th largest community in Massachusetts.

Needham home prices are not only among the most expensive in Massachusetts, but Needham real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.

Also of interest is that Needham has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 19.39% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

In addition, Needham is home to many people who could be described as "urban sophisticates". Urban sophisticates are educated, wealthy, executives and professionals, who have urbane tastes in books, food, and travel, whether they actually live in a big city, or choose to reside in a small town. In big or medium-sized cities, urban sophisticates tend to frequent art institutions such as opera, symphonies, ballet, live theatre, and museums.

Because of many things, Needham is a very good place for families to consider. With an enviable combination of good schools, low crime, college-educated neighbors who tend to support education because of their own experiences, and a high rate of home ownership in predominantly single-family properties, Needham really has some of the features that families look for when choosing a good community to raise children. Is Needham perfect? Of course not, and if you like frenetic nightlife, it will be far from your cup of tea. But overall this is a solid community, with many things to recommend it as a family-friendly place to live.

One downside of living in Needham is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In Needham, the average commute to work is 31.98 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average. On the other hand, local public transit is widely used in the town, so leaving the car at home and taking transit is often a viable alternative.

Like elsewhere in America, most people in Needham use a private automobile to get to work. But notably, a substantial number of Needham‘s citizens do make use of public transit in their daily commute, primarily riding the train. This helps more people get to work with less air pollution, and require fewer highways to get them there.

Do you have a 4-year college degree or graduate degree? If so, you may feel right at home in Needham. 80.98% of adults here have a 4-year degree or graduate degree, whereas the national average for all cities and towns is just 21.84%.

The per capita income in Needham in 2018 was $87,067, which is wealthy relative to Massachusetts and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $348,268 for a family of four.

Needham is a somewhat ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Needham home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Needham residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Needham include Irish, English, Italian, German, and Russian.

In addition, Needham has a lot of people living here who were born outside of the US (15.22%).

The most common language spoken in Needham is English. Other important languages spoken here include Chinese and Spanish.