Best PlacesSouth Wellfleet, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around South Wellfleet, 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.
South Wellfleet ranks 6,152nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in South Wellfleet
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 Wellfleet's strengths and weaknesses
Where South Wellfleet ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 99% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 97% of towns
- BikingBetter than 96% of towns
Where South Wellfleet ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Short commute48.5 minutes each way, better than only 1% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,514 a month, better than only 3% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in South Wellfleet
A household needs to earn about $226,000 a year to comfortably buy the median South Wellfleet home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $109,114, 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 Wellfleet's effective rate of 0.61%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in South Wellfleet
South Wellfleet 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 Wellfleet.
Who works in South Wellfleet, and how
Work in South Wellfleet centers on education and construction. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 66%
- Work from home 29%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in South Wellfleet
The coast is about 1 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across South Wellfleet, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in South Wellfleet, month by month
South Wellfleet sees roughly 101 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 South Wellfleet
The nearest airport, Provincetown Municipal, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 61 miles away.
The best schools in and around South Wellfleet
Schools across South Wellfleet average a B, better than 73% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Wellfleet ElementaryC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Nauset Regional MiddleB− · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Nauset Regional HighA · 78% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every South Wellfleet school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
South Wellfleet 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 Wellfleet against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in South Wellfleet
Is South Wellfleet a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, South Wellfleet ranks 6,152nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on fast internet, health care access, and an educated workforce, and lowest on an overheated housing market and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is South Wellfleet expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $886,131. The overall cost of living runs about 29% above the national average. Set against a $109,114 median income, cost of living beats 63% of towns.
Is South Wellfleet safe?
Yes, South Wellfleet is safer than 97% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $140 per resident a year.
Compare South Wellfleet with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to South Wellfleet. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in South Wellfleet 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 Wellfleet detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for South Wellfleet: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in South Wellfleet: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of South Wellfleet: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in South Wellfleet: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
South Wellfleet 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.