Best Places02561, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 02561, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
02561 ranks 5,919th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 02561
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
02561's strengths and weaknesses
Where 02561 ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 93% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 92% of zip codes
Where 02561 ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,514 a month, better than only 5% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 27% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 28% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 02561
A household needs to earn about $128,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 02561 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $98,382, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 02561's effective rate of 0.71%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in 02561
02561 runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 02561.
Who works in 02561, and how
Work in 02561 centers on health care & social and wholesale trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in 02561
The coast is about 4 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 02561, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 02561, month by month
02561 sees roughly 97 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 80 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 32° | 25° |
| April | 55° | 47° | 39° |
| July | 80° | 73° | 66° |
| October | 63° | 56° | 48° |
Flying in and out of 02561
The nearest airport, Cape Cod Gateway, is about 15 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 48 miles away.
The best schools in and around 02561
Schools across 02561 average a B−, better than 58% of zip codes.
Top middle schools
- Bourne Middle SchoolC− · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Sandwich Middle High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
- Bourne High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 02561 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
02561 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 02561 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 02561
Is 02561 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 02561 ranks 5,919th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on civic engagement, health care access, and an educated workforce, and lowest on noise and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 02561 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $495,100. The overall cost of living runs about 6% above the national average. Set against a $98,382 median income, cost of living beats 61% of zip codes.
Is 02561 safe?
Yes, 02561 is safer than 87% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $181 per resident a year.
Compare 02561 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 02561. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 02561 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
02561 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 02561: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 02561: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 02561: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 02561: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
02561 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.