Belmont

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has an area of 4.7 square miles (12.2 km2), of which 4.7 square miles (12.1 km2) is land and less than 0.1 square miles (0.1 km2), or 1.06%, is water. Belmont is bordered by Cambridge on the east, Arlington on the north, Lexington on the northwest, Waltham on the west, and Watertown on the south. In 2002, Middlesex County was ranked in the worst 10% of polluted counties in the United States in terms of air and water pollution. Two companies that ranked in the top 10 for polluters in the county were Polaroid Corporation in Waltham and the Cambridge Plating Company in Belmont, which is several hundred feet from Belmont High School. The Environmental Protection Agency fined Cambridge Plating Company, now operated by Purecoat North LLC, in 2002 following various violations and in 2004 after a fire that led to an accumulation of toxic wastewater. The chemicals released were trichloroethylene and dichloromethane, both of which have been shown to cause cancer. These chemicals are released into the air so it is difficult to trace them and to determine the source, as there are also several other industries in the area that release the same pollutants.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  173,410
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  161,592
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  143,629
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  135,134
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  131,986
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  130,541
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  128,053
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  113,325

Largest nearby schools

• Lexington High
  High · Lexington · 2,303 students · 12.3:1 ratio
• Everett High
  High · Everett · 2,231 students · 13.4:1 ratio
• Newton North High
  High · Newtonville · 2,099 students · 10.9:1 ratio
• Cambridge Rindge and Latin
  High · Cambridge · 1,867 students · 8.7:1 ratio
• Malden High
  High · Malden · 1,856 students · 16:1 ratio
• Newton South High
  High · Newton Centre · 1,837 students · 11.8:1 ratio
• Waltham Sr High
  High · Waltham · 1,751 students · 10.9:1 ratio
• Mystic Valley Regional Charter School
  Other · Malden · 1,608 students · 16.8:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 3.8 — 2025-01-27
  9 km SE of York Harbor, Maine
• M 2.7 — 2023-12-23
  5 km SW of Chichester, New Hampshire
• M 3.6 — 2020-11-08
  10 km S of Bliss Corner, Massachusetts
• M 2.7 — 2018-02-15
  0 km SE of East Kingston, New Hampshire
• M 2.6 — 2015-01-13
  2 km E of Wauregan, Connecticut
• M 3.3 — 2015-01-12
  0 km NE of Wauregan, Connecticut