Small Town Guide
Menu

Towns / Massachusetts

Carlisle, Massachusetts

Carlisle is a suburb of about 5,300 people in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the Boston area. Its population has held about steady since 2020. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Boston, is about 22 miles away as the crow flies.

Suburb of Boston

Population
5,286
up 1% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$1,103,900
Middlesex County prices up 19% since 2022
Household income
$250,000 or more
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Boston area
108.3
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
6 miles
W Concord, MA
To Boston
22 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 8.3% above the U.S. average in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton metro area.
  • More house for the moneyThe Census survey didn't reach enough homes in Carlisle to say.
  • A safer neighborhood4 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 0.8 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 2.4 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town2 public schools. No public high school in town: the nearest is Billerica Memorial High School, about 5 miles away.
  • A hospital close byEmerson Hospital - in W Concord, about 6 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityBoston is about 22 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Carlisle meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

What kind of town

A suburb, not a stand-alone small town

Carlisle runs into the built-up area around Boston (Census Bureau, 2020 urban areas). We include suburbs under 20,000 people because some still feel like small towns, but daily life here is closer to the suburbs than to the towns Frank and Dave's book describes. Weigh it against towns farther out.

The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$1,103,900U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 19%Middlesex County, 2022 to 2025
Typical household income
$250,000 or moreU.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
94%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$10,000 or more a yearMassachusetts: $5,992
Homes built before 1940
13%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
5%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
108.3U.S. average = 100 (the Boston-Cambridge-Newton metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 19% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Boston-Cambridge-Newton metro area, not Carlisle alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
5,2862020: 5,233
Median age
45.3 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
22%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
26%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
87%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
4%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Professional and business services (35%); schools, health care and social services (22%); manufacturing (13%)
Unemployment rate
4%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
35 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
38%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
2%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Emerson Hospital -, W Concord, MA, about 6 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 5 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

2 public schools in Carlisle, run by Carlisle and Chelmsford. The nearest public high school is Billerica Memorial High School, about 5 miles away.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Massachusetts's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
93%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
97%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
18°F
July average high
84°F
Days 90°F or hotter
13 a year
Nights at or below freezing
140 a year
Rain and melted snow
48.9 inches a year
Snow
59 inches a year
Elevation
267 feet

Weather station: Bedford (5 miles away). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Emerson Hospital -, Lowell, Boston.

Middlesex County is in a metro area of 1 million people or more (USDA rural-urban code 1, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Minute Man National Historical Park4 miles
  • Lowell National Historical Park7 miles
  • Longfellow House-Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site16 miles
  • John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site18 miles
  • Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site19 miles

Read about Carlisle's history on Wikipedia.

Know Carlisle?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.