Scituate ranks #8 in Massachusetts for safety
Scituate is ranked on 39 lists against the 284 Massachusetts towns with 2,500+ residents. It makes the top 10 on 1 and the top quarter on 11.
The lists Scituate does best on
Each list ranks every MA town with 2,500+ residents. Tap one to see the whole list with Scituate marked.
Scituate lands in the top half on 17 of 25 lists
Each dot is Scituate’s spot on one list: the left end is #1 in MA, the right end is last. Areas where Scituate does best come first.
Milder winters than 90% of Massachusetts
Not better or worse, just Scituate’s character, from the lists where neither end is the “good” one. The most distinctive come first.
Scituate out-ranks 1 of its 4 ranked neighbors
Head to head on the lists where both towns are ranked: a point for each list where one town places higher. Tap a town for its own rankings.
Where Scituate lands in every MA ranking
41 lists from Census, school, health, library, crime, climate and land data. Tap any list to see every town on it.
Safety
Safest#1 Groveland · 0.6
#8 Health
D Healthiest#1 Dover · 100 / 100 #68
Lowest obesity#1 Amherst Town · 19%
#110
Fewest smokers#1 Lexington · 6%
#53
D
Most active#1 Dover · 12%
#30
Fewest uninsured#1 Manchester-by-the-Sea · 2%
#24
Lowest depression#1 Lexington · 20%
#48
Closest to a top hospital#1 Milford · 0.0 mi
#243 
People
Most educated#1 Wellesley · 89%
#51
Youngest#1 Amherst Town · 21.4
#217
Oldest#1 Orleans · 64.7
#68
Most residents 65+#1 Orleans · 49.3%
#79
Most kids#1 Hopkinton · 29.5%
#70 
Libraries
Most-used libraries#1 Provincetown · 27.5 per resident
#59
Most library borrowing#1 West Tisbury · 34.6 per resident
#66
Best libraries for kids#1 West Tisbury · 115.2 per child
#63 Housing
Vacation-home towns#1 Edgartown · 62.9%
#43
Most new homes#1 Nantucket · 17.4 per 1,000
#110
Fastest-rising home prices#1 Orange · +69.9%
#27
Housing hasn't kept up#1 Malden · 83.1 per home
#127 
Cost of living
Most affordable#1 North Adams · 1.9 yrs
#241
Cheapest rent#1 Plympton · $555/mo
#129
D
Lowest property tax#1 Dennis · $2,877/yr
#230
Rent easiest to afford#1 Uxbridge · 25.6%
Outdoors
Most conserved land#1 Provincetown · 68.4%
#239
Most trails#1 Stoneham · 5.9 mi / sq mi
#221
Most walkable#1 Somerville · 306 / sq mi
#152 Getting around
Shortest commute#1 Edgartown · 11.5 min
#281 
The number on the right is Scituate’s spot. All of Massachusetts’s rankings, with the map → · National lists and other states: all rankings.
Do the numbers ring true?
The lists count what can be counted. Neighbors know the rest.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
- 2,500+ residents. Census estimates for smaller towns carry margins of error too wide to rank fairly, so they sit out every MA list.
- One town, one row. A city that is both a city and a town in Census data, or a village inside a town, is counted once.
- Ties share a rank. Towns on one weather station, one school district or one CDC estimate share a figure, so they share a spot (T).
- No “worst” lists. Lists rank toward the good end, and share cards are made only for the top half. Age, snow and the like are character, not grades.
U.S. Census Bureau (American Community Survey 5-year, 2010 and 2020 censuses, Building Permits Survey), U.S. Department of Education, FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, CDC PLACES, Medicare Care Compare, IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FHFA House Price Index, NOAA U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020, USGS PAD-US and OpenStreetMap. Each list explains its own method.