Best PlacesPlymouth County, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Plymouth County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Plymouth County ranks 203rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $124,577, wages outrun the cost of living, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are childcare costs, long commutes, and an overheated housing market.
The best neighborhoods in Plymouth 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.
The best areas in Plymouth County
The parts of Plymouth County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Hingham, Hanover & Norwell
Local pay stretches further, more adults hold degrees, and incomes run higher.
Pembroke, Halifax & Hanson
Tree cover is thicker and crime runs lower.
Duxbury & Kingston
Schools score higher, though fewer households have young kids.
Marshfield, Scituate & Ocean Bluff-Brant Rock
More residents vote, though more homes sit empty.
Lakeville & Middleborough Center
Prices have run up less.
Plymouth & Wareham Center
Streets are more car-dependent.
Carver, Middleboro & Marion
Biking is worse and transit reaches fewer jobs.
Bridgewater, East Bridgewater & Whitman
Health care is harder to reach.
Brockton & Abington
Plymouth County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 9% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Plymouth County's strengths and weaknesses
Plymouth County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Low crime is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. High incomes and big-city access follow.
The one real hole is childcare costs, near the bottom of the country. Long commutes and an overheated housing market also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Plymouth County ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Household income$124,577 median, better than 98% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 97% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 94% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 92% of counties
Where Plymouth County ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,514 a month, better than only 2% of counties
- Short commute32.5 minutes each way, better than only 8% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 8% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 19% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Plymouth County
A household needs to earn about $159,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Plymouth County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $124,577, 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 Plymouth County's effective rate of 1.08%, 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 Plymouth County
Plymouth County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Plymouth County.
Who works in Plymouth County, and how
Work in Plymouth County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Plymouth County
Plymouth County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 72% of counties. The coast is about 16 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Plymouth County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Plymouth County growing, and who is moving in?
Plymouth County has grown about 7% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Boston, MA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Plymouth County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Plymouth County, month by month
Plymouth County sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 33° | 26° |
| April | 56° | 48° | 41° |
| July | 82° | 74° | 66° |
| October | 64° | 56° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Plymouth County
General Edward Lawrence Logan International sits about 25 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 21.1 million passengers in 2025, with 199 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Plymouth County
Schools across Plymouth County average a B−, better than 72% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- South ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Wm L Foster ElementaryA+ · 74% proficient
- Gov Edward WinslowA+ · 73% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hingham Middle SchoolA+ · 70% proficient
- Old HammondtownA · 67% proficient
- Norwell Middle SchoolA · 62% proficient
Top high schools
- Hingham HighA+ · 87% proficient
- Duxbury HighA+ · 86% proficient
- Norwell HighA+ · 85% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Plymouth County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Plymouth 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 Plymouth County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Plymouth County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 88% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 16% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Plymouth County
Is Plymouth County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Plymouth County ranks 203rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low crime, high incomes, and big-city access, and lowest on childcare costs and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Plymouth County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $586,733. The overall cost of living runs about 23% above the national average. Set against a $124,577 median income, cost of living beats 88% of counties.
Is Plymouth County safe?
Yes, Plymouth County is safer than 99% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $183 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Plymouth County?
July highs average about 82 degrees, and January highs near 40 with lows near 26. That works out to about 75 pleasant days a year, more than 30% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Plymouth County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Hingham, Hanover & Norwell, Pembroke, Halifax & Hanson, and Duxbury & Kingston. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Plymouth County good for families?
Schools beat 72% of counties, crime safety beats 99%, and childcare runs $1,514 a month.
Is Plymouth County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 88% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 73% of counties. About 16% of workers already work from home.
Compare Plymouth County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Plymouth County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Plymouth 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.
Plymouth County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Plymouth County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Plymouth County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Plymouth County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Plymouth County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Plymouth 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.