Bay State Atlas
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
124 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

Who lives in Orleans

U.S. Census ACS 2018–2022 estimates. Rounded.

Median age
63.2
Foreign-born
5.1%
Bachelor's or higher
62.6%
Population
6,322
White96.7%
Hispanic / Latino1.6%
Asian0.9%
Other / multi0.6%

Schools in Orleans

Orleans School District. Massachusetts DESE FY2024 (FY2025 graduation rates).

Overall vs MA
Below average
43/100
ELA · 3-8
p81
58.2%
Math · 3-8
p80
61.2%
ELA · 10
p6
0%
Math · 10
p6
0%
Grad rate
Spend / pupil
$40.5k
Top 10% in MA
Teachers / 100
14.8
Top 10% in MA
Enrollment
142

Source: Massachusetts DESE Education-to-Career Research and Data Hub. Percentile ranks against 194 MA towns in our index.

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.

You've now seen the honest read. Here's what most sites don't give you.

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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.

Nearby towns

Bordering and adjacent Massachusetts towns near Orleans.

Orleans appears in

Rankings where Orleans qualifies on the data. See where it lands vs the other 14 picks.

Popular comparisons

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

Want my honest read on Orleans?

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