Melrose is a medium-sized city located in the state of Massachusetts. With a population of 29,155 people and seven associated neighborhoods, Melrose is the 61st largest community in Massachusetts. Melrose has a large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic cities in the country. Melrose home prices are not only among the most expensive in Massachusetts, but Melrose real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.Melrose is a decidedly white-collar city, with fully 90.27% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Melrose is a city of professionals, managers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Melrose who work in management occupations (19.53%), business and financial occupations (9.97%), and sales jobs (8.87%). Also of interest is that Melrose has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. Of important note, Melrose is also a city of artists. Melrose has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Melrose’s character. One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 20.57% 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, Melrose 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. Melrose is a good choice for families with children because of several factors. Many other families with children live here, making it a place where both parents and children are more likely to develop social ties with other families. The city’s good public school district and large population of college-educated adults provide an environment conducive to academic success. Many people own their own single-family homes, providing areas for children to play and stability in the community. Finally, Melrose’s overall crime rate is lower than average for the country. In Melrose, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 36.05 minutes each day getting to work, which is significantly higher than the national average. One bright side is that local public transit is widely used, so it may be an option to avoid the headache of driving in the heavy traffic by leaving the car at home and taking transit. In addition, the city is also quite pedestrian-friendly, because many neighborhoods are very dense and have amenities close enough together that people find it feasible to get around on foot. Like elsewhere in America, most people in Melrose use a private automobile to get to work. But notably, a substantial number of Melrose‘s citizens do make use of public transit in their daily commute, primarily riding the subway. This helps more people get to work with less air pollution, and require fewer highways to get them there.If knowledge is power, Melrose is a pretty powerful place. 61.28% of the adults in Melrose have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns. The per capita income in Melrose in 2022 was $60,957, which is upper middle income relative to Massachusetts, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $243,828 for a family of four. Melrose is a very ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Melrose home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Melrose residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Melrose include Irish, Italian, English, German, and Polish. Foreign born people are also an important part of Melrose's cultural character, accounting for 15.44% of the city’s population. The most common language spoken in Melrose is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Chinese.
