Town comparison · Massachusetts

Kingston vs Plymouth

South Shore · South Shore

Plymouth leads 3–2 on headline livability metrics

Across the six headline livability metrics (schools, safety, walkability, biking, affordability, and commute), Plymouth edges Kingston 3 to 2 with 1 tie. Median home prices are close, within $24k of each other. Kingston is about 5 minutes closer to Boston by car at peak.

The two towns at a glance

Kingston

South Shore · pop. 14,462

Kingston sits at the junction of Route 3 and the commuter rail, which makes it the most logistically convenient entry point to the South Shore under $700K.

Default fit score

equal weights, 0–100

Full Kingston profile →

Plymouth

South Shore · pop. 66,663

America's hometown delivers real water views, a walkable downtown waterfront, and genuine history without a Hingham price tag. The South Shore's largest town has enough going on to keep it interesting year-round.

Default fit score

equal weights, 0–100

Full Plymouth profile →

Head-to-head: every metric

	Kingston	Plymouth
Headline
Livability index	50	56 ✦
Economics
Median home	$673k ✦	$649k
Household income	$116k ✦	$112k
Price ÷ income	5.8×	5.8×
Tax burden	50 ✦	48
Schools & Safety
Schools	77 ✦	75
Safety	84 ✦	75
Getting around
Commute to Boston	40 min	45 min ✦
Walkability	28	55 ✦
Transit	30	30
Biking	22	32 ✦
Lifestyle
Dining	42	60 ✦
Nightlife	20	38 ✦
Arts & culture	24	45 ✦
Green space	32	40 ✦
Community
Diversity	25	30 ✦
Climate	65 ✦	64
5-yr trend	60	65 ✦

Clay = wins this metric. Direction matters: lower median home and shorter commute are better; everything else, higher is better.

Compare on your terms

These winners are based on a neutral, equal weighting of every metric. Your priorities are not neutral. Open Kingston vs Plymouth in the interactive atlas to tune schools, walkability, affordability, commute, and seven more dimensions, and watch the verdict change.

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About this comparison

Bay State Atlas ranks 194 Massachusetts towns using public data (Census ACS, MA DESE schools, Walk Score, MA Department of Revenue tax data, and the FBI UCR safety index) normalized to 0–100. Every weight is editable. This page is a static, indexable snapshot. The live tool is faster and lets you customize what counts.