Bay State Atlas ← All 194 towns
Massachusetts Living Index

Orleans

Cape & Islands · pop. 6,170

Orleans is the last real town before the Outer Cape gets truly wild. Nauset Beach is one of the best on the East Coast and the small downtown has enough year-round life to feel inhabited.

Coastal QuietHistoric Village
Livability Index
58
/ 100
Ranks #102 of 194 MA towns

The numbers

Median home
$1.04M
10.1× household income
Household income
$102k
ACS median
Commute to Boston
88 min
peak driving
Population
6,170
5-yr trend 60/100

How Orleans scores

Schools
82
Safety
90
Walkability
42
Transit
10
Biking
30
Dining
60
Nightlife
28
Arts & Culture
45
Green Space
52
Diversity
18
Climate
62

The honest read

Best for
Buyers who want Outer Cape prices that are marginally more accessible than Chatham with excellent beach access.
The tradeoff
Over 11x price-to-income ratio and very far from Boston.

Compare on your terms

These scores reflect a neutral weighting. Your priorities are not neutral. Open the full atlas to tune schools, walkability, affordability, commute, and seven more dimensions, and see where Orleans lands for you.

Open Orleans in the atlas About Gary Browse all 194 towns

Nearby towns

Bordering and adjacent Massachusetts towns near Orleans.

Eastham
53/100 · $810k
Cape & Islands
Brewster
50/100 · $787k
Cape & Islands
Chatham
61/100 · $1.31M
Cape & Islands
Wellfleet
56/100 · $933k
Cape & Islands

Popular comparisons

Common head‑to‑heads people search when looking at Orleans.

OrleansvsEastham
58 · 53livability
Side‑by‑side →
OrleansvsBrewster
58 · 50livability
Side‑by‑side →
OrleansvsChatham
58 · 61livability
Side‑by‑side →

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