Best PlacesWest Wareham, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Wareham, 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.
West Wareham ranks 18,574th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in West Wareham
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 Wareham's strengths and weaknesses
Where West Wareham ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 92% of towns
- Household income$109,595 median, better than 90% of towns
- TransitBetter than 90% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 89% of towns
- BikingBetter than 85% of towns
Where West Wareham ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,514 a month, better than only 3% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% 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 West Wareham
A household needs to earn about $109,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Wareham home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $109,595, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 Wareham's effective rate of 0.97%, 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 Wareham
West Wareham runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for West Wareham.
Who works in West Wareham, and how
Work in West Wareham centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in West Wareham
The coast is about 11 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across West Wareham, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in West Wareham, month by month
West Wareham sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 32° | 22° |
| April | 60° | 48° | 37° |
| July | 86° | 74° | 63° |
| October | 67° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of West Wareham
The nearest airport, Cape Cod Gateway, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 42 miles away.
The best schools in and around West Wareham
Schools across West Wareham average a C, better than 31% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Rochester MemorialB+ · 53% proficient
- SippicanB+ · 52% proficient
- Mary K. Goode Elementary SchoolB · 46% proficient
Top middle schools
- John T. Nichols MiddleC+ · 38% proficient
- Wareham MiddleD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Middleborough HighB+ · 55% proficient
- Carver Middle/high SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Wareham Senior HighC− · 29% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Wareham school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Wareham 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 Wareham against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in West Wareham
Is West Wareham a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Wareham ranks 18,574th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on big-city access, high incomes, and transit, and lowest on noise 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 Wareham expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $408,999. The overall cost of living runs about 21% above the national average. Set against a $109,595 median income, cost of living beats 62% of towns.
Is West Wareham safe?
Yes, West Wareham is safer than 89% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $216 per resident a year.
Compare West Wareham with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Wareham. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Wareham 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 Wareham detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Wareham: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Wareham: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Wareham: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Wareham: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Wareham 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.