Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Acushnet grades B+ overall, 142nd of 282 graded towns in Massachusetts. Natural-hazard risk is low. The median household earns $90K. The trade-off is money: the typical home is worth about $534K, 6.1 years of the Providence metro’s $87K median household income. Acushnet’s trail density is 0.2 miles per square mile, against 1.8 in Massachusetts’ towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. On the outdoors, just 12 of Massachusetts’ 325 towns do worse. Its National Register listings include Long Plain Friends Meetinghouse and Head of the River Historic District.
Where Acushnet beats most towns.
Census counts: 1,387 in 1860, 10,558 in 2020. The archive holds 11 old photos and papers going back to 1652 and 7 maps from 1888 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Massachusetts), ordered by how far Acushnet is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Acushnet. Close and well known come first.
Big draw32 mi Stadium & arenaGillette Stadium
Big draw27 mi MuseumThe Breakers
14 mi MuseumUSS Massachusetts
25 mi Ancient siteHMS Endeavour
27 mi MuseumMarble House
14 mi MuseumBattleship CoveGillette Stadium: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0 · The Breakers: UpstateNYer, CC BY-SA 3.0 · USS Massachusetts: USN, Public domain · HMS Endeavour: Samuel Atkins (c.1760-1810), Public domain · Marble House: [email protected], Public domain · Battleship Cove: Electroengie at English Wikipedia, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Acushnet, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Acushnet.
Acushnet sends most of its workers to New Bedford and beyond, is safe by national standards but not by Massachusetts’s and is healthy by national standards but behind most towns in Massachusetts.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 89% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Acushnet since 1997.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its public schools are run by the Acushnet school district. One of its 2 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acushnet Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 517 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MA on state tests
Acushnet has 1,502 jobs for its 5,083 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. Jobs based here grew from 1,030 in 2013 to 1,502.
Most working residents leave Acushnet for work: only 7% work in town. Jobs based in Acushnet grew to 1,502 in 2023, 472 more than in 2013. 10% of Acushnet workers work from home, where Massachusetts’ towns sit at 18% and U.S. towns at 11%.
| Acushnet | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 10% | 18% | 11% |
| Median household income | $90,000 | $120,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 6% | 6% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 10.8 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 53% of Massachusetts’s graded towns.
Acushnet’s property crime rate is 3.1 per 1,000 residents.
| Acushnet | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.1 per 1,000 residents | 4.9 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.2 per 1,000 residents | 1.4 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Acushnet has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 22° and about 31 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
65.4% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 51.8% across Massachusetts.
The median rent in Acushnet is $1,170 a month. The typical Acushnet home is worth about $534,000, up 3.8% in a year, 19% below the Massachusetts typical home. 85% of Acushnet households own their home.
| Acushnet | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 85% | 79% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,170 a month | $1,683 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Within Massachusetts it is less healthy than 83% of the 279 graded towns: Massachusetts sets a high bar.
Acushnet beats the Massachusetts average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 7. 15% of adults smoke cigarettes in Acushnet.
| Acushnet | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 11% | 14% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 83% | 82% | 79% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 16% | 17% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 28% | 35% |
| What stands out | Acushnet | MA |
|---|---|---|
| More smokers | 15% | 11.3% |
| More adults with COPD | 7.4% | 5.9% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 14.6% | 11.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
4.0 miles of trail in 15 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Town Forest, at 123 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Town Forest | — | 123 |
| 2. Kelleher Property | — | 73 |
| 3. Acushnet River Valley | — | 48 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
3 within 15 miles of the center of Acushnet
About 4 of every 100 Acushnet residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Massachusetts.
Where Acushnet’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
4 places in Acushnet on the National Register of Historic Places.
3 notable people were born in Acushnet.
Town in Massachusetts, United States
Acushnet ( ) is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 10,559 at the 2020 census. Acushnet is a part of the South Coast region of Massachusetts which encompasses the cities and towns that surround Buzzards Bay (excluding the Elizabeth Islands, Bourne and Falmouth), Mount Hope Bay and the Sakonnet River.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Acushnet.
| Town | MA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acushnet | #142 | B+ | C− | B+ | B | B |
| Freetown | #162 | B | C− | B− | B+ | A− |
| New Bedford | #278 | D− | C− | C | D | D |
| Acushnet Center | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Fairhaven | #181 | B | C | B− | B− | B |
| Rochester | #121 | B+ | C | A− | B | A− |
Acushnet Center isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Acushnet with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Acushnet grades B+ overall, better than 66% of U.S. towns and #142 of 282 in Massachusetts. It grades B for health, B+ for safety and B for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
3 notable people were born here, including Gil Santos and Clement Nye Swift.
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