Best PlacesNorth Chatham, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around North Chatham, 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.
North Chatham ranks 9,293rd of 50,333 U.S. towns 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 North Chatham
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.
North Chatham's strengths and weaknesses
Where North Chatham ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 99% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 96% of towns
- TransitBetter than 95% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 94% of towns
Where North Chatham ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,514 a month, better than only 3% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 20% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in North Chatham
A household needs to earn about $321,000 a year to comfortably buy the median North Chatham home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $80,683, 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 North Chatham's effective rate of 0.37%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in North Chatham
North Chatham runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for North Chatham.
Who works in North Chatham, and how
Work in North Chatham centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 58%
- Work from home 37%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in North Chatham
The coast is about 6 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across North Chatham, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in North Chatham, month by month
North Chatham sees roughly 105 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 35° | 27° |
| April | 56° | 47° | 39° |
| July | 82° | 73° | 65° |
| October | 66° | 58° | 50° |
Flying in and out of North Chatham
The nearest airport, Cape Cod Gateway, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 70 miles away.
The best schools in and around North Chatham
Schools across North Chatham average a B+, better than 75% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Orleans ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Eastham ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
- Chatham Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Monomoy Regional Middle SchoolA− · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Monomoy Regional High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Barnstable HighC+ · 36% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every North Chatham school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
North Chatham 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 North Chatham against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in North Chatham
Is North Chatham a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, North Chatham ranks 9,293rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on health care access, fast internet, 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 North Chatham expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,303,481. The overall cost of living runs about 44% above the national average. Set against a $80,683 median income, cost of living beats 29% of towns.
Is North Chatham safe?
Yes, North Chatham is safer than 94% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $154 per resident a year.
Compare North Chatham with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to North Chatham. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in North Chatham 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.
North Chatham detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for North Chatham: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in North Chatham: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of North Chatham: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in North Chatham: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
North Chatham 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.