Cape Cod Towns, Compared
The peninsula — a summer economy, some of the lowest tax rates in the state on some of the highest-value houses, and the year-round-versus-seasonal question in every town.
Of the 10 Cape Cod towns we cover, Bourne both leads on school tier and sits closest to downtown Boston, at about 88 minutes, and Yarmouth is the cheapest at roughly $625k for a 4BR house. 0 of them have MBTA rail.
Every Cape Cod town
Sorted by school tier, then commute to Boston. Every column links through to the town’s own page.
| # | Town | Schools | 4BR house | Commute | Rail | Tax rate | Est. bill |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bourne | solid schoolsT3 | $650kT2 | 88 minT4 | None | $7.65T1 | ≈$5,000 |
| 2 | Sandwich | solid schools · Niche 103rdT3 | $725kT2 | 91 minT4 | None | $10.19T2 | ≈$7,400 |
| 3 | Falmouth | solid schools · Niche 79thT3 | $975kT3 | 96 minT4 | None | $5.73T1 | ≈$5,600 |
| 4 | Mashpee | solid schoolsT3 | $750kT2 | 97 minT4 | None | $6.41T1 | ≈$4,800 |
| 5 | Barnstable | solid schoolsT3 | $775kT2 | 98 minT4 | None | $6.80T1 | ≈$5,300 |
| 6 | Yarmouth | solid schoolsT3 | $625kT2 | 101 minT4 | None | $6.97T1 | ≈$4,400 |
| 7 | Dennis | solid schoolsT3 | $700kT2 | 102 minT4 | None | $4.29T1 | ≈$3,000 |
| 8 | Brewster | solid schools · Niche 39thT3 | $750kT2 | 104 minT4 | None | $6.77T1 | ≈$5,100 |
| 9 | Harwich | solid schools · Niche 71stT3 | $750kT2 | 106 minT4 | None | $5.81T1 | ≈$4,400 |
| 10 | Chatham | solid schools · Niche 71stT3 | $1.1MT3 | 113 minT4 | None | $3.67T1 | ≈$4,000 |
How this region is defined: “Cape Cod” has no legal boundary, so we use the membership of the Cape Cod Commission rather than drawing our own line. Orleans, Eastham, Wellfleet, Truro, Provincetown are members but sit outside the 223 municipalities we cover, so they are not listed. Data last reviewed . See the methodology for every source.
