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Place dossier plate
SheetMA-SCITUATE-MA · Scituate, MA 5,602 pop · income 89th pct
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 Scituate
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Scituate on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Dundee · lowest
41,550
Dundee · lowest
41,550 median HH income
32.0% of the leader · rank #1
Scituate · this city
126,379
Scituate · this city
126,379 median HH income
97.4% of the leader · rank #2
South Jordan · near
126,400
South Jordan · near
126,400 median HH income
97.4% of the leader · rank #3
Durham · near
126,406
Durham · near
126,406 median HH income
97.4% of the leader · rank #4
Gregory · near
126,406
Gregory · near
126,406 median HH income
97.4% of the leader · rank #5
Seabeck · near
126,442
Seabeck · near
126,442 median HH income
97.4% of the leader · rank #6
Rancho Murieta · highest
129,767
Rancho Murieta · highest
129,767 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 Scituate 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: 5,602.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Scituate - the verdict
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Scituate places in the 89th percentile for household income and the 97th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
89th
percentile, household income
93rd
percentile, home value
98th
percentile, median rent
97th
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: Scituate, MA
Scituate is a small town in Massachusetts, home to 5,602 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Scituate brings in $126,379 a year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 0.0%. Home values in Scituate run a median of $699,200, and the median resident age is 53.2 years. Educational attainment runs 63.3% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 57.2% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Scituate reports a comparatively low crime rate: per-100,000 total crime stands at 157.1 in FBI UCR data, below the national average (a voluntary reporting program, read this as reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
Massachusetts carries a cost-of-living premium: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Massachusetts scores 105.8 (Above Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $2,261 monthly. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Massachusetts's average monthly utility costs around $330 (state average). Natural-hazard exposure scores 78.8 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Scituate'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 work and mobility to schools and households to reported crime to housing and income to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Scituate, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for annual population history, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
What does the journey to work look like in Scituate?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 58.9%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
The NCES join finds 6 public schools within the city match. 63.3% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Scituate?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 157.1 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 93% 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Scituate?
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 Adams (5,584 residents, $48,750 income); Oxford (5,572 residents, $91,742 income); Bliss Corner (5,666 residents, $73,919 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Dundee, FL (5,604 residents); New Brighton, PA (5,600 residents); Mena, AR (5,605 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.
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.
Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Scituate?
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 5.5 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 0.0%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
5.5×
Home value
$699,200
Household income
$126,379
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
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.
Poverty rate A+
0.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share A+
63.3%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income A
$126,379
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime A
41 /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.
Scituate profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 100/100 (A+) · 0.0%
Bachelor's+ share: 94/100 (A+) · 63.3%
Household income: 89/100 (A) · $126,379
Violent crime: 86/100 (A) · 41 /100k
Cost of living: 18/100 (F) · 105.8 index
Where Scituate sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Scituate'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 - Scituate highlighted among 8 peers.Read the chart values
Scituate, MA (this city): home $699,200, crime 157/100k
Mena, AR : home $114,200, crime 2,947/100k
Holtville, CA : home $268,800, crime 415/100k
Bellevue, KY : home $186,200, crime 1,103/100k
Adams, MA : home $189,100, crime 1,510/100k
Oxford, MA : home $327,300, crime 900/100k
Spencer, MA : home $297,700, crime 363/100k
Ware, MA : home $229,700, crime 1,052/100k
How does Scituate compare to other US cities?
Where Scituate sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income89% higher than other cities
Home value93% pricier than other cities
Median rent98% pricier than other cities
Safety97% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just Massachusetts and the picture shifts: Scituate ranks #5 of 149 Massachusetts cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Scituate 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 Scituate near the bottom of Massachusetts's cities
Among the 247 Massachusetts cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Scituate ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Scituate only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#58 of 233
75th percentile in Massachusetts
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 247
0th percentile in Massachusetts
Median Home Value
#52 of 240
78th percentile in Massachusetts
Poverty Rate
#208 of 247
0th percentile in Massachusetts
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#48 of 247
81st 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
89th percentile nationally for median household income · 97th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Scituate's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Scituate'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 Scituate's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$699,2007th percentilemore affordable than 7% 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
Scituate's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#13,626 of 15,516
More affordable than 12% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#10,183 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 5.5×, Scituate sits in the pressured band:
national rank #13,626 of 15,516 and #10,183 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
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
$126,379Scituate, MA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Scituate, 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 Scituate, MA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)63.3%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)0.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)57.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
5,602
Median Income
$126,379
Median Home Value
$699,200
Median Age
53.2
Poverty Rate
0.0%
Labor force participation
57.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
63.3%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
157.1
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
40.5
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
116.5
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.
Schools
Total Schools
6
Public schools in this city
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
58.9%
Carpool
5.4%
Public Transit
7.9%
Walk
3.6%
Work from Home
23.0%
Other
1.2%
Based on 2,635 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 Scituate. 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 Scituate 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 Scituate sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Scituate 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, NCES CCD, 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.