Best PlacesWhite Island Shores, MA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around White Island Shores, 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.
White Island Shores ranks 7,047th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in White Island Shores
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.
White Island Shores' strengths and weaknesses
Where White Island Shores ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Household income$129,457 median, better than 95% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- BikingBetter than 94% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 93% of towns
Where White Island Shores ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,514 a month, better than only 3% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 7% of towns
- Short commute34.4 minutes each way, better than only 16% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in White Island Shores
A household needs to earn about $124,000 a year to comfortably buy the median White Island Shores home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $129,457, 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 White Island Shores' effective rate of 1.09%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in White Island Shores
White Island Shores runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for White Island Shores.
Who works in White Island Shores, and how
Work in White Island Shores centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in White Island Shores
The coast is about 12 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across White Island Shores, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in White Island Shores, month by month
White Island Shores sees roughly 80 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 White Island Shores
The nearest airport, Cape Cod Gateway, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 44 miles away.
The best schools in and around White Island Shores
Schools across White Island Shores average a B−, better than 61% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- South ElementaryB− · 44% proficient
- Wareham Elementary SchoolD · 21% proficient
Top middle schools
- Plymouth South MiddleC+ · 38% proficient
- Bourne Middle SchoolC− · 31% proficient
- Wareham MiddleD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Plymouth South HighA− · 61% proficient
- Bourne High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Wareham Senior HighC− · 29% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every White Island Shores school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
White Island Shores 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 White Island Shores against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in White Island Shores
Is White Island Shores a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, White Island Shores ranks 7,047th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, high incomes, and tree cover, 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 White Island Shores expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $456,791. The overall cost of living runs about 22% above the national average. Set against a $129,457 median income, cost of living beats 82% of towns.
Is White Island Shores safe?
Yes, White Island Shores is safer than 96% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $153 per resident a year.
Compare White Island Shores with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to White Island Shores. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in White Island Shores 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.
White Island Shores detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for White Island Shores: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in White Island Shores: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of White Island Shores: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in White Island Shores: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
White Island Shores 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.