Best PlacesWest Chatham, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Chatham, 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.
West Chatham ranks 1,554th 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 West 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.
West Chatham's strengths and weaknesses
Where West Chatham ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of towns
- Household income$157,538 median, better than 98% of towns
- BikingBetter than 96% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 95% of towns
Where West 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
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 24% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 25% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in West Chatham
A household needs to earn about $261,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Chatham home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $157,538, 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 West Chatham's effective rate of 0.40%, 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 West Chatham
West 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 West Chatham.
Who works in West Chatham, and how
Work in West Chatham centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 68%
- Work from home 23%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in West Chatham
West Chatham has more restaurants and bars per resident than 94% of towns. The coast is about 2 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of West Chatham and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in West Chatham, month by month
West 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 West Chatham
The nearest airport, Cape Cod Gateway, is about 15 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 West Chatham
Schools across West Chatham average a B+, better than 75% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Chatham Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Monomoy Regional Middle SchoolA− · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Monomoy Regional High SchoolB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Chatham school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West 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 West Chatham against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in West Chatham
Is West Chatham a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Chatham ranks 1,554th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on health care access, an educated workforce, and high incomes, 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 West Chatham expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,055,024. The overall cost of living runs about 32% above the national average. Set against a $157,538 median income, cost of living beats 93% of towns.
Is West Chatham safe?
Yes, West Chatham is safer than 80% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $205 per resident a year.
Compare West Chatham with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Chatham. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West 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.
West Chatham detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Chatham: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Chatham: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Chatham: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Chatham: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West 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.