Reading Ranks Near the Bottom of "Worst Places to Live in Mass." List

It’s probably no surprise to Reading residents, but one recent ranking has it near the bottom of the list of worst places to live in Massachusetts.

A recent list published by RoadSnacks ranked the worst places to live in Massachusetts, and Reading came in at No. 207. Looked at another way, that means Reading ranks in the top 20 places to live in Massachusetts.

According to RoadSnacks, it assumed people wanted “low crime, solid education, great weather, things to do and a stable economy,” in their towns and then looked for statistics that showed the opposite of those things in order to come up with a “worst places” list from among the state’s 224 most populous cities.

So who topped this not-so-illustrious list? That would be New Bedford, which is, according to RoadSnacks’ data, “by far the worst place to live in the state of Massachusetts,” with its high crime rate (fourth highest in the state), high unemployment (10.4 percent) and the sixth lowest salaries in the state.

Wondering who made the top 10 among the worst? Check out the list.

Weston ranked at the bottom of the list, making it the best place to live in Massachusetts, at least according to a website that goes by the name RoadSnacks.

Brooklyn Lowery contributed to this report.

Photo courtesy Town of Reading website