Melrose is a medium-sized city located in the state of Massachusetts. With a population of 29,357 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.

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.

Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 25.58% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. 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.

One downside of living in Melrose, however, is that residents on average have to contend with a long commute, spending on average 35.92 minutes every day commuting to work. It is, however, a pedestrian-friendly city. Many of its neighborhoods are dense enough and have amenities close enough together that people find it feasible to get around on foot. In addition, local public transit is widely used. For those who would prefer to avoid driving entirely and leave their car at home, it may be an option to use the transit instead.

Although the majority of commuting trips in the city are by private automobile, Melrose is somewhat unusual for a city of its size for having a substantial number of people who use public transportation. For a lot of people, the subway helps to get to and from their jobs every morning, which benefits everyone in the Melrose area by reducing both traffic and air pollution.

If knowledge is power, Melrose is a pretty powerful place. 61.99% 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 $65,038, which is upper middle income relative to Massachusetts, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $260,152 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.

In addition, Melrose has a lot of people living here who were born outside of the US (15.96%).

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