Best PlacesDukes County, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Dukes County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Dukes County ranks 157th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Dukes County
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.
Dukes County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dukes County ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of counties
- Household income$130,816 median, better than 98% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of counties
- BikingBetter than 97% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 97% of counties
Where Dukes County ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,514 a month, better than only 2% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 22% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Dukes County
A household needs to earn about $315,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dukes County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $130,816, 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 Dukes County's effective rate of 0.49%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Dukes County
Dukes County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Dukes County.
Who works in Dukes County, and how
Work in Dukes County centers on construction and professional & technical. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 65%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 15%
Life in Dukes County
Dukes County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 88% of counties and more parkland per resident than 75% of counties. The coast is about 4 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Dukes County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Dukes County growing, and who is moving in?
Dukes County has grown about 22% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Boston, MA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Dukes County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Dukes County, month by month
Dukes County sees roughly 90 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 34° | 25° |
| April | 58° | 47° | 37° |
| July | 82° | 72° | 63° |
| October | 67° | 57° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Dukes County
The nearest airport, Martha's Vineyard, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 68 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dukes County
Schools across Dukes County average a B, better than 78% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Chilmark ElementaryB+ · 52% proficient
- West Tisbury ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- Oak Bluffs ElementaryB · 47% proficient
Top middle schools
- LawrenceB · 43% proficient
- Roosevelt Middle SchoolD− · 14% proficient
Top high schools
- Dartmouth HighA · 68% proficient
- Falmouth HighA · 68% proficient
- Martha's Vineyard Regional HighB+ · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dukes County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dukes County 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 Dukes County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Dukes County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 87% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 20% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Dukes County
Is Dukes County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dukes County ranks 157th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on health care access, high incomes, and an educated workforce, and lowest on an overheated housing market and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dukes County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,260,494. The overall cost of living runs about 37% above the national average. Set against a $130,816 median income, cost of living beats 87% of counties.
Is Dukes County safe?
Yes, Dukes County is safer than 80% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $275 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Dukes County?
July highs average about 82 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 25. That works out to about 90 pleasant days a year, more than 52% of counties.
Is Dukes County good for families?
Schools beat 78% of counties, crime safety beats 80%, and childcare runs $1,514 a month.
Compare Dukes County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dukes County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dukes County 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.
Dukes County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dukes County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dukes County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dukes County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dukes County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dukes County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.