BOSTON -- It's famous for a congested downtown, a bustling retail district on Route 9, and a women's prison. Buying a house in Framingham offers a lot of town without breaking the bank.

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"I'm going to predict that Framingham is the up-and-coming town in our list here. Framingham is a good example of where you get about $75,000 more than you pay for because it has a very high ranking in lifestyle, in education, and the costs are relatively low as compared to a town like Natick, next door, where the costs are much higher, even though the education ranking is comparable," said Elaine Allen, a Babson College statistician.

Framingham comes in at No. 11 on Boston Magazine's biggest bang for your buck town survey. How did neighboring Natick fare in the survey? No. 29

"I can go 5 minutes from here and have big fields, there are lakes, three different public beaches," said Nelson Zide, a Framingham Realtor.

It has starter homes and million-dollar mansions. The Vatcher family likes Framingham for all its amenities -- without the attitude.

"When you're buying houses in [more affluent] towns, you are buying the exclusivity. So you are excluding families that are not the same socioeconomic level that you are. You don't really get that in Framingham," said Rita Vatcher.

And talk about cache. The Vatchers live in the house that pitcher Roger Clemens once called home.

Of course, the closer to the city you get, the higher the real estate prices. But Melrose, Mass., just north of Boston comes in at No. 18 for value.

"It has a great health ranking, environment, safety and lifestyle. Schools are about average for its ranking, but it's high on lifestyle, cultural institutions, restaurant libraries and the ability to get into town," said Allen.

Fashion writer Kate Bowers and her husband like Melrose because it has a lot of the qualities of some of the pricier towns that they couldn't afford.

"If you like Winchester, Arlington Belmont … we love those towns and we felt we got some of those characteristics here," said Bowers.

According to the survey, if you spend less you can often get more in towns that may not even be on your radar list. The biggest top 20 surprise?

The unsung town of Hanson, Mass. comes in with a big bang at No. 16.

"It has a great health ranking, education ranking. Finding those hidden gems would be a great thing," said Allen.