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Place dossier plate
SheetMA-BARNSTABLE-MA · Barnstable, MA 49,232 pop · income 76th pct · 57 tracts
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Barnstable
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Barnstable on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Lawrence · lowest
73,455
Lawrence · lowest
73,455 median HH income
47.3% of the leader · rank #1
West Glens Fa… · near
97,333
West Glens Fa… · near
97,333 median HH income
62.7% of the leader · rank #2
Aberdeen · near
97,344
Aberdeen · near
97,344 median HH income
62.7% of the leader · rank #3
Barnstable · this city
97,348
Barnstable · this city
97,348 median HH income
62.7% of the leader · rank #4
Nephi · near
97,348
Nephi · near
97,348 median HH income
62.7% of the leader · rank #5
Lake Shore · near
97,357
Lake Shore · near
97,357 median HH income
62.7% of the leader · rank #6
Dublin · highest
155,282
Dublin · highest
155,282 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Barnstable on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 49,232.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Barnstable - the verdict
Barnstable ranks in the 76th percentile for household income and the 56th percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
76th
percentile, household income
87th
percentile, home value
98th
percentile, median rent
56th
percentile, safety
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Barnstable, MA
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 49,232 residents in Barnstable, a small city within Massachusetts. Households in Barnstable report a median income of $97,348 per year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 4.6%. Typical homes in Barnstable are valued around $559,200, and the median resident age is 48.6 years. 42.3% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 63.1% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 193 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Building Boom), up 117% from five years earlier. Barnstable reports a comparatively low crime rate: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 1195.8 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, below the national average (agency reporting is voluntary, so this measures reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
Massachusetts carries a cost-of-living premium: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Massachusetts at 105.8 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Above Average). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $2,261 per month. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Massachusetts run around $330, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. The average commute for Barnstable workers runs 22.4 minutes, with 76.4% driving alone and 11.0% working from home. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 78.8 out of 100 (High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Barnstable's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from population change to comparison shortlist to housing and income to within-city variation to reported crime to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Barnstable, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, annual population history, commute-mode shares, within-city Census tract profiles.
No matched row is reported here for matched public-school count; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Is Barnstable growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +1,238 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +2.5% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 193 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
Which cities make useful reference points for Barnstable?
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
Within Massachusetts, the closest population matches are Everett (49,236 residents, $79,658 income); Attleboro (46,499 residents, $93,266 income); Arlington (46,015 residents, $141,440 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Coral Gables, FL (49,243 residents); Bedford, TX (49,191 residents); Lawrence, IN (49,284 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
How far does income reach against housing in Barnstable?
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 5.7 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 4.6%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
What can 57 Census tracts reveal inside Barnstable?
PlainCities matches 57 Census tracts to this city.
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Barnstable?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 1195.8 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 48% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
Total reported rate
1195.8
Violent rate
410.4
Property rate
785.4
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
What does the journey to work look like in Barnstable?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 76.4%. The reported mean trip to work is 22.4 minutes.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Drive alone
76.4%
Work from home
11.0%
Public transit
1.6%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 25,701 workers age 16+.
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Bachelor's+ share B+
42.3%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income B+
$97,348
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate B-
4.6%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime F
410 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Cost of living F
105.8 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Barnstable profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 77/100 (B+) · 42.3%
Household income: 76/100 (B+) · $97,348
Poverty rate: 68/100 (B-) · 4.6%
Violent crime: 22/100 (F) · 410 /100k
Cost of living: 18/100 (F) · 105.8 index
Where Barnstable sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Barnstable's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Barnstable highlighted among 11 peers.Read the chart values
Barnstable, MA (this city): home $559,200, crime 1,196/100k
Bedford, TX : home $322,300, crime 1,691/100k
Lawrence, IN : home $220,400, crime 2,020/100k
Azusa, CA : home $607,400, crime 1,755/100k
Dublin, OH : home $514,900, crime 1,025/100k
Everett, MA : home $605,200, crime 1,662/100k
Attleboro, MA : home $409,100, crime 1,347/100k
Arlington, MA : home $885,000, crime 490/100k
Methuen, MA : home $472,200, crime 972/100k
Peabody, MA : home $566,200, crime 1,092/100k
Salem, MA : home $497,400, crime 1,706/100k
How does Barnstable compare to other US cities?
Barnstable measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income76% higher than other cities
Home value87% pricier than other cities
Median rent98% pricier than other cities
Safety56% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
A national percentile can hide a lot of local variation: narrowed to Massachusetts alone, Barnstable ranks #100 of 149 Massachusetts cities by lowest crime rate - a different, more locally useful comparison than stacking it against the entire country.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Barnstable against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Massachusetts only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Massachusetts-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Barnstable near the bottom of Massachusetts's cities
Among the 247 Massachusetts cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Barnstable ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Barnstable only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#117 of 233
50th percentile in Massachusetts
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 247
0th percentile in Massachusetts
Median Home Value
#101 of 240
58th percentile in Massachusetts
Poverty Rate
#102 of 247
58th percentile in Massachusetts
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#144 of 247
42nd percentile in Massachusetts
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Massachusetts only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
76th percentile nationally for median household income · 56th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Barnstable's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Barnstable's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Barnstable's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$559,20013th percentilemore affordable than 13% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Barnstable's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.7×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#13,859 of 15,516
More affordable than 11% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,898 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 5.7×, Barnstable sits in the pressured band:
national rank #13,859 of 15,516 and #2,898 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median, a comparison flag, not a verdict on any household.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$97,348Barnstable, MA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Barnstable, MA median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Barnstable, MA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)42.3%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)4.6%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)63.1%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
49,232
Median Income
$97,348
Median Home Value
$559,200
Median Age
48.6
Poverty Rate
4.6%
Labor force participation
63.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
42.3%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1195.8
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
410.4
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
785.4
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Barnstable's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
48,863 residents
2021
49,605 residents
2022
49,679 residents
2023
50,117 residents
2024
50,068 residents
2025
50,101 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
193
housing units authorized
Single-Family
34
detached homes
Multifamily
159
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
3.9
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
89
60
29
$40.6M
2020
57
49
8
$40.7M
2021
58
56
2
$45.4M
2022
317
45
272
$71.5M
2023
37
37
0
$23.2M
2024
193
34
159
$56.9M
Permit volume increased 117% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
22.4 minutes
Drive Alone
76.4%
Carpool
7.8%
Public Transit
1.6%
Walk
1.6%
Work from Home
11.0%
Other
1.6%
Based on 25,701 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Massachusetts statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $330
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Massachusetts at $330 (electricity about $160 , water and sewer about $60 ).
These are Massachusetts statewide averages, not a meter reading for Barnstable. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Massachusetts's BEA cost-of-living index is 105.8 (Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Barnstable is $2,261/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Massachusetts statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 78.8 / 100 (High).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Massachusetts statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Barnstable sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Barnstable compares to similar-size Massachusetts cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.