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Place dossier plate
SheetMA-SOUTH-DENNIS-MA · South Dennis, MA 3,190 pop · income 68th 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 South Dennis
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest South Dennis on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Wesleyville · lowest
46,506
Wesleyville · lowest
46,506 median HH income
22.6% of the leader · rank #1
South Dennis · this city
86,500
South Dennis · this city
86,500 median HH income
42.0% of the leader · rank #2
Orange Blossom · near
86,500
Orange Blossom · near
86,500 median HH income
42.0% of the leader · rank #3
Fruitville · near
86,500
Fruitville · near
86,500 median HH income
42.0% of the leader · rank #4
Montgomery · near
86,500
Montgomery · near
86,500 median HH income
42.0% of the leader · rank #5
Rollingstone · near
86,500
Rollingstone · near
86,500 median HH income
42.0% of the leader · rank #6
South Duxbury · highest
206,111
South Duxbury · highest
206,111 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
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for South Dennis on ACS population and median household income
. 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: 3,190.
South Dennis ranks in the 68th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
68th
percentile, household income
82nd
percentile, home value
98th
percentile, median rent
📝 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: South Dennis, MA
3,190 people live in South Dennis, Massachusetts - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in South Dennis report a median income of $86,500 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 2.4%. Typical homes in South Dennis are valued around $454,400, and the median resident age is 55.2 years. About 37.1% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 59.2% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
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. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $2,261 per month. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Massachusetts's average monthly utility costs around $330 (state average). Workers in South Dennis report an average commute of 21.5 minutes, with 81.0% driving alone and 6.1% 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 South Dennis'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 comparison shortlist to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For South Dennis, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in South Dennis?
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.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 81.0%. The reported mean trip to work is 21.5 minutes.
Which cities make useful reference points for South Dennis?
Within Massachusetts, the closest population matches are Hopkinton (3,142 residents, $173,750 income); South Duxbury (3,272 residents, $206,111 income); Ocean Grove (3,099 residents, $97,109 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Old Mystic, CT (3,189 residents); Rockwood, MI (3,189 residents); Hoosick Falls, NY (3,189 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.
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.
How far does income reach against housing in South Dennis?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 5.3 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 2.4%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
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.
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-
2.4%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share B
37.1%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income B-
$86,500
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
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.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
South Dennis profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 83/100 (A-) · 2.4%
Bachelor's+ share: 70/100 (B) · 37.1%
Household income: 66/100 (B-) · $86,500
Cost of living: 18/100 (F) · 105.8 index
How does South Dennis compare to other US cities?
South Dennis measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income68% higher than other cities
Home value82% pricier than other cities
Median rent98% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares South Dennis 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 South Dennis near the bottom of Massachusetts's cities
Among the 247 Massachusetts cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, South Dennis ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares South Dennis only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#146 of 233
37th percentile in Massachusetts
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 247
0th percentile in Massachusetts
Median Home Value
#142 of 240
41st percentile in Massachusetts
Poverty Rate
#162 of 247
33rd percentile in Massachusetts
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#166 of 247
33rd 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
68th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How South Dennis's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$454,40018th percentilemore affordable than 18% 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
South Dennis's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.3×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#13,255 of 15,516
More affordable than 15% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#9,971 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 5.3×, South Dennis sits in the pressured band:
national rank #13,255 of 15,516 and #9,971 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
$86,500South Dennis, MA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context South Dennis, 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 South Dennis, MA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)37.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)2.4%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)59.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
3,190
Median Income
$86,500
Median Home Value
$454,400
Median Age
55.2
Poverty Rate
2.4%
Labor force participation
59.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
37.1%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
21.5 minutes
Drive Alone
81.0%
Carpool
12.9%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
6.1%
Based on 1,662 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 South Dennis. 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 South Dennis 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 South Dennis sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How South Dennis 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, 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.