Best PlacesNantucket County, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Nantucket 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.
Nantucket County ranks 227th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Nantucket 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.
Nantucket County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Nantucket County ranks high
- BikingBetter than 99% of counties
- Household income$147,519 median, better than 99% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 98% of counties
Where Nantucket County ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Disaster 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
What it costs to buy a home in Nantucket County
A household needs to earn about $376,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Nantucket County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $147,519, 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 Nantucket County's effective rate of 0.27%, 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 Nantucket County
Nantucket County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Nantucket County.
Who works in Nantucket County, and how
Work in Nantucket County centers on construction and professional & technical. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in Nantucket County
Nantucket County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 87% of counties and more parkland per resident than 98% of counties. The coast is about 3 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Nantucket County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Nantucket County growing, and who is moving in?
Nantucket County has grown about 35% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Barnstable, MA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Nantucket County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Nantucket County, month by month
Nantucket County sees roughly 125 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 78 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs June through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 36° | 28° |
| April | 55° | 47° | 39° |
| July | 78° | 70° | 63° |
| October | 66° | 58° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Nantucket County
The nearest airport, Nantucket Memorial, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 89 miles away.
The best schools in and around Nantucket County
Schools across Nantucket County average a B−, better than 61% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Nantucket Intermediate SchoolC · 31% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cyrus PeirceC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- Nantucket HighB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Nantucket County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Nantucket 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 Nantucket County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Nantucket County
Is Nantucket County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Nantucket County ranks 227th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on biking, high incomes, and population health, and lowest on an overheated housing market and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Nantucket County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,551,000. The overall cost of living runs about 42% above the national average. Set against a $147,519 median income, cost of living beats 92% of counties.
Is Nantucket County safe?
Yes, Nantucket County is safer than 62% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $319 per resident a year.
Compare Nantucket County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Nantucket County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Nantucket 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.
Nantucket County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Nantucket County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Nantucket County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Nantucket County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Nantucket County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Nantucket 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.