Hingham, MA Tier 2

Tier 2 · strong schools · 13 miles from downtown Boston, about 47 minutes door-to-door at peak · 80% of households own their home.

Hingham, Massachusetts
Hingham · photo via Wikipedia
4BR house
$1.65M
$1.05M townhouse · $775k condo
Dearer than 93% of MA towns
Property tax
$17,300/yr
$10.47 per $1,000 on that house
Higher than 89% of MA towns
To downtown Boston
47 min
Commuter rail · ~39 min to terminal
Closer than 73% of MA towns
Schools
97th pct
growth 54th · 95% graduate
Ahead of 97% of MA districts

marks the Massachusetts median of $750k for a 4BR, $9,100 in tax and 62 min to Boston. Prices and the tax bill are estimates, not appraisals.

About Hingham

Hingham is a strong school district south-east of Boston, about 13 miles from downtown Boston as the crow flies and 47 minutes door-to-door at peak, and one of the priciest markets in the state: roughly $1.65M for a 4BR house and $775k for a 2BR condo. The residential rate is $10.47 per $1,000, about average for Massachusetts, but on a $1.65M house that is still about $17,300 a year. Commuter rail runs downtown in about 39 minutes, against a 47-minute peak drive. The district sits in the 97th percentile statewide on MCAS, and Niche ranks it 29th of 236. A harbor town with a commuter boat to Rowes Wharf and a preserved Main Street.

The good, the bad, the ugly

Editorial
Good

A preserved Main Street, a harbor, and a commuter boat to Rowes Wharf.

Bad

$1.65M for a 4BR — South Shore money.

Ugly

The Greenbush line's arrival split the town for years and the fight still echoes.

Schools and child carestrong schools · 97th MCAS · 5 schools

Public elementary & middle schools

5 public schools in Hingham — 4 elementary and 1 middle
ElementaryK–5 · 488 students
ElementaryPK–5 · 477 students
ElementaryK–5 · 442 students
ElementaryK–5 · 345 students
Middle6–8 · 819 students

These are assigned by address, not chosen. A regional district’s schools appear on every member town’s page. Charters are public but allocated by lottery, and are listed separately below.

DESE 2025–26 enrolment report

Before kindergarten

Licensed programs 12 center-based · 5 family child care17
Licensed places, all ages The ceiling these programs may operate to1,060
Places in centers Commercial premises, licensed room by room1,016
Places in family child care A provider’s own home, mixed ages together44
Infant & toddler places in centers Age bands ending under three; family programs are not broken down343
Preschool places in centers Roughly 33 months to kindergarten646

Licensed capacity is not availability. These are places programs may operate, not vacancies. The age split covers centers only — family programs report no breakdown, so 343 is a floor on infant care here, not a count of it.

MA Dept. of Early Education and Care, pulled 2026-08-02 · search current openings

Public School Rankings

Publisher rankingResult
Niche 2026 · Best School Districts#29 of 236 MA districts · A
SchoolDigger 2025 · City/locality test-score rank#13 of 361 MA localities
U.S. News 2025-26 · Assigned high school#39 of 366 MA · Hingham High School
Boston Magazine 2025 · Greater Boston high school#22 of 135 · Hingham High School
Official Massachusetts data (DESE)Result
MCAS achievement97th percentile statewide
Student growth (SGP)54th percentile
4-year graduation rate94.9%
DESE accountabilityMeeting or exceeding targets

Each publisher ranks a different thing. A district, a locality, or one high school, each by its own method — shown separately, never blended.

MCAS percentile is the district’s statewide rank on % Meeting/Exceeding expectations, ELA + Math.

Latest school building project: A replacement Foster Elementary School reached Building Complete status; total project budget was about $113.3 million. MSBA project list.

Charter School Options

1 charter school near Hingham
Adjacent town · NorwellTuition-free · lotteryK–12 · Charter (public, tuition-free) · growth 46th pct · 96.2% graduate · Moderate progress toward targets · $18k/pupil

Admission is by lottery, not address — a seat is never guaranteed. Some charters here are alternative or recovery high schools enrolling students already off-track, so their MCAS and graduation figures are not comparable with a traditional school’s.

Public and tuition-free; results from DESE

Available Private School Options

17 private schools in Hingham and within 12 miles
Notre Dame AcademyNiche #78 · A
In HinghamNEASC accredited6–12 · Middle / high · 449 students · 11.1:1 student-teacher · ~$18k–$28k/yr (est.)
In HinghamAISNE accreditedPK–8 · Elementary / middle · 340 students · 6.4:1 student-teacher · ~$32k–$45k/yr (est.)
In HinghamK–8 · Elementary / middle · 195 students · 14.2:1 student-teacher · ~$8k–$15k/yr (est.)
In HinghamPK–4 · Elementary · 109 students · ~$18k–$30k/yr (est.)
In Hingham7–12 · Middle / high · 23 students · 1.5:1 student-teacher · ~$38k–$50k/yr (est.)
Adjacent town · WeymouthPK–4 · Elementary · 283 students · ~$8k–$15k/yr (est.)
Adjacent town · Weymouth5–8 · Elementary / middle · 132 students · ~$8k–$15k/yr (est.)
Adjacent town · Weymouth3–5 · Elementary · 5 students · ~$32k–$45k/yr (est.)
Adjacent town · NorwellAISNE accredited6–8 · Middle school · files no enrolment with the state
Adjacent town · BraintreeNEASC accredited5–12 · Middle / high · 746 students · 6.4:1 student-teacher · ~$36k–$50k/yr (est.)
Adjacent town · BraintreeNEASC accredited7–12 · Middle / high · 768 students · 11.8:1 student-teacher · ~$18k–$28k/yr (est.)
Adjacent town · BraintreePK–5 · Elementary · 106 students · ~$18k–$30k/yr (est.)
Adjacent town · Braintree6–12 · Specialized / placement · 48 students · placement/specialized
Calvary Chapel AcademyNiche #108 · B
Adjacent town · RocklandPK–12 · PK/K–12 · 156 students · ~$10k–$20k/yr (est.)
Adjacent town · Rockland8–12 + SP · Specialized / placement · 113 students · placement/specialized
Adjacent town · QuincyNEASC accredited6–12 · Middle / high · 74 students · ~$36k–$50k/yr (est.)
Adjacent town · QuincyPK–8 · Elementary / middle · 309 students · 7.9:1 student-teacher · ~$8k–$15k/yr (est.)

Tuition is an estimated range by school type, not school-published pricing — a parochial school and an independent day school are priced very differently. Private schools sit no MCAS, so no figure here is a state measure.

How to read this list

Schools within 12 miles of Hingham, from the MA DESE 2025–26 non-public enrollment report plus the Niche ranking of Massachusetts private high schools. Tuition shown as an estimated range by school type, grades and region — not school-published pricing. A parochial school and an independent day school are priced very differently, so treat these as a starting point and confirm with the school. Niche ranks private high schools only, so an elementary school never carries a number; where one shows a letter instead, that is Niche’s own overall grade, which reaches schools no ranked list does. Neither is a state measure — private schools sit no MCAS and report no results to Massachusetts. That Niche extract is also partial, so a school showing neither was not judged and found wanting; it may simply not have been in it. Student numbers are the figure schools do report, from the same DESE return. Where a student-teacher ratio is shown it is students over full-time-equivalent teachers in the federal Private School Universe Survey, 2021–22, the most recent published — a rough guide to class size, not a class size, and not a ranking either. It is shown only where that survey and the state agree on how many pupils the school has, which is why many schools here have none. Accreditation comes from the AISNE member directory, which records whether a school holds AISNE or NEASC accreditation — the two split the work by age rather than compete, AISNE taking the elementary and middle schools and NEASC the secondary ones. It means an outside body has reviewed the school against published standards on a ten-year cycle. It is not a measure of results, and its absence is not a mark against a school: plenty are not members at all. That directory is also where the schools marked files no enrolment with the state come from. They are real schools that simply make no return to Massachusetts, so the state holds no size for them and this page can show none — and for those, the grade range is read off AISNE’s age bands rather than taken from the school, so treat it as approximate and confirm with the school.

The vibe of Hingham

High-cost suburbsCoastalRail-servedhigh confidence

Moderate energy, town-centered/mixed, and extensively provided with recreation programs, playgrounds and athletic fields; high-cost in housing, upscale in commercial districts, and extensively maintained in public realm, with visible cultural identity, some visitor activity, and strong gathering-place network.

Energy6
Compact town center6
Family amenities8
Culture7
Visitor presence6
Public gathering places8

Six 1–10 scales for the intensity of each quality, not a score of how good the place is. Higher just means more of that thing. Family amenities counts public recreation infrastructure, not who lives here; these never use race, ethnicity or other protected characteristics, and never measure safety. See the methodology.

What it takes to live here$1.65M 4BR · ≈$17,300 tax
To buyMedian price (est.)
4BR / 2BA detached house$1.65M
3BR / 2BA townhouse$1.05M
2BR condo$775k
Property taxes (FY2026)$10.47 per $1,000 (1.05%)

These are modeled estimates, not listings. Each row opens the real Redfin market in ZIP 02043, and the two will not match.

To rentPer month (est.)
4 bedrooms$3,823/mo
3 bedrooms$3,463/mo
2 bedrooms$2,887/mo
1 bedroom$2,433/mo

These are benchmark rents, not asking rents. HUD sets them at the 40th percentile of standard-quality units, so a nice single-family will ask more — which is why the links are not capped at the figure beside them.

HUD FY2026 Small Area Fair Market Rents for Hingham’s ZIP codes

Home values over the last decade

Hingham home values, 2016–2026Zillow Home Value Index for Hingham, 2016 to 2026: $743k to $1.38M, up 86 per cent.$666k$1.06M$1.46M20162026
Hingham, 2016 to 2026: $743k to $1.38M, up 86% in 10 years — 6.4% a year compounded.
If a $1.65M house grew at…5 yrs10 yrs15 yrs30 yrs
6.4% — Hingham’s own last decade$2.25M$3.07M$4.18M$10.6M
3% — inflation, holding its real value$1.91M$2.22M$2.57M$4.00M

These are not forecasts. They are what $1.65M becomes at a fixed rate, shown for two rates because nobody can tell you which one the next thirty years will bring. The last decade included a period of unusually fast growth across Massachusetts; repeating it for thirty years would be a strong assumption. The inflation row is the conservative case — a house that holds its value and earns nothing beyond it. History from the Zillow Home Value Index, a whole-town index that sits at a different level from the 4BR estimate above and is used here for the trend.

What’s around Hingham

suburban1,094 people per square mile across 22.2 sq mi suburban — 500–2,000 per square mile

What’s hereCount
Cafés and coffee shops
See the list
3
Bookshops0
Museums, theatres and galleries
See the list
4
Colleges and universities0
Public libraryHingham Public Library

Density is Census population over land area. Café, bookshop and culture counts are what is mapped in OpenStreetMap — a volunteer map, so a well-mapped town looks busier than a thinly-mapped one. Read a low count as “little mapped here”, not “nothing here”. Colleges are active degree-granting institutions in the federal IPEDS directory; enrolment and campus housing capacity are its 2023 figures. The public library comes from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, which lists library systems rather than every branch. These figures describe places, never the people in them — see our methodology.

Census snapshot
ACS 2019–2023 (via MAPC DataCommon)Share
Homeowner households80%
White (non-Hispanic)93%
Asian (non-Hispanic)2.3%
Latino / Hispanic1.9%
African American (non-Hispanic)0.5%
These figures are neutral census facts, shown for every town equally. They are never used to filter, rank, or recommend towns — see our methodology and the federal Fair Housing Act.

Town spending & civic data

HinghamFigure
Residents24,284
Municipal budgetFY2025, DLS Schedule A$139.6M
School district spending$81.6M
Spending per pupil DESE, total expenditures$21,837
School spending per resident$3,362
Affordable housing units (Ch. 40B inventory)1,066

Budget: FY2025 General Fund total expenditures, DLS Schedule A · Schools: DESE Per Pupil Expenditure · Affordable units: state Subsidized Housing Inventory. Never used to rank or filter towns.

Realistic alternatives to Hingham

CohassetTier 2
Also Tier 2, higher tax at $12.00 per $1,000
MiltonTier 2
Also Tier 2, about $300k cheaper
DuxburyTier 2
Also Tier 2, about $250k cheaper

Surprisingly similar in character

North AndoverTier 2
Both social and well-equipped for recreation · $775k cheaper
GardnerTier 4
Both well-equipped for recreation and social · $1.25M cheaper, 41 min further out
WoburnTier 3
Both social and well-equipped for recreation · $825k cheaper
AndoverTier 2
Both social and well-equipped for recreation · $650k cheaper

Read next

Test scores tell you who moved in. Growth tells you what the school did.
Scores in the 97th percentile but moves children in the 54th — the intake flatters this district.
7 min read
The state already grades every district. It costs $950,000 to buy into the top of it.
The state's own determination for this district is "meeting or exceeding targets" — one of only 25 towns on its top rung, and none of them is cheap.
7 min read
A low property tax rate does not mean a low tax bill
18th percentile on the tax rate at $10.47 per $1,000, and 90th on the bill — about $17,300. Rate times value is what you actually pay.
6 min read
Two numbers explain 82% of what a Massachusetts house costs
Dearer than its school tier and commute predict, by 39%. Something here is being paid for that neither of those two numbers can see.
8 min read
Data statusreviewed August 14, 2026
FigureStatus
Home pricesCalibrated to the Zillow Home Value Index and Redfin market pages. For comparison, not appraisal.Estimate
Property tax rateFY2026 residential rate per $1,000, from municipal assessor and treasurer pages.Sourced
RentsHUD FY2026 Small Area Fair Market Rents, by ZIP.Sourced
School dataDESE published state reports. Publisher ranks carry their own edition and denominator. The school tier is editorial.Sourced
CommuteRail times for the 75 towns we could verify against the MBTA's published timetable are real scheduled journeys, transfers included. Where a town has rail but no verified journey, its rail time is modeled too, and the town page says so. Driving is modeled from distance with corridor adjustments, and station access is a flat allowance. Not measured by a routing API.Measured + modeled

This town’s prices and tax rate are sourced as described in our methodology. Data last reviewed . Full detail on every source is in the methodology.

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