Best PlacesSouth Dartmouth, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around South Dartmouth, 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.
South Dartmouth ranks 5,439th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in South Dartmouth
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.
South Dartmouth's strengths and weaknesses
Where South Dartmouth ranks high
- TransitBetter than 96% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 96% of towns
- BikingBetter than 92% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 92% of towns
- Household income$112,321 median, better than 91% of towns
Where South Dartmouth ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,514 a month, better than only 3% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 24% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 25% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 32% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in South Dartmouth
A household needs to earn about $147,000 a year to comfortably buy the median South Dartmouth home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $112,321, 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 South Dartmouth's effective rate of 0.81%, 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 South Dartmouth
South Dartmouth 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 South Dartmouth.
Who works in South Dartmouth, and how
Work in South Dartmouth centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in South Dartmouth
South Dartmouth has more parkland per resident than 85% of towns. The coast is about 3 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of South Dartmouth and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in South Dartmouth, month by month
South Dartmouth sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 33° | 23° |
| April | 60° | 48° | 37° |
| July | 86° | 74° | 63° |
| October | 68° | 56° | 45° |
Flying in and out of South Dartmouth
The nearest airport, Martha's Vineyard, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 53 miles away.
The best schools in and around South Dartmouth
Schools across South Dartmouth average a B−, better than 61% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Joseph DemelloB+ · 50% proficient
- James M. Quinn SchoolB · 49% proficient
- Westport ElementaryB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dartmouth MiddleB · 45% proficient
- Roosevelt Middle SchoolD− · 14% proficient
Top high schools
- Dartmouth HighA · 68% proficient
- New Bedford HighD · 19% proficient
- Whaling City Junior/senior High SchoolD− · 18% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every South Dartmouth school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
South Dartmouth 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 South Dartmouth against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in South Dartmouth
Is South Dartmouth a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, South Dartmouth ranks 5,439th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on transit, health care access, and biking, and lowest on childcare costs 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 South Dartmouth expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $562,376. The overall cost of living runs about 15% above the national average. Set against a $112,321 median income, cost of living beats 79% of towns.
Is South Dartmouth safe?
Yes, South Dartmouth is safer than 79% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $211 per resident a year.
Compare South Dartmouth with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to South Dartmouth. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in South Dartmouth 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.
South Dartmouth detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for South Dartmouth: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in South Dartmouth: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of South Dartmouth: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in South Dartmouth: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
South Dartmouth 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.