Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Bourne's standout: it has 188 miles of trail and 36% conserved land. Overall it grades C+, 222nd of 282 graded towns in Massachusetts. Residents are healthier than 89% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Its weakest subject is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $681K, 7.2 years of the Barnstable Town metro’s $95K median household income. 36% of the land in Bourne is conserved, above both Massachusetts’ towns (19%) and U.S. towns (4.3%). Bourne is home to Massachusetts Maritime Academy. Bourne has 9 places on the National Register.
Where Bourne beats most towns.
Census counts: 1,442 in 1890, 20,452 in 2020. The archive holds 24 old photos and papers going back to 1802 and 7 maps from 1886 on.
9 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Massachusetts), ordered by how far Bourne is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Bourne. Close and well known come first.
30 mi MuseumUSS Massachusetts
40 mi Ancient siteHMS Endeavour
15 mi MuseumPlimoth Patuxet
34 mi Ancient siteSS Pendleton
17 mi LandmarkNational Monument to the Forefathers
29 mi MuseumBattleship CoveUSS Massachusetts: USN, Public domain · HMS Endeavour: Samuel Atkins (c.1760-1810), Public domain · Plimoth Patuxet: Tr!sie, CC BY-SA 3.0 · SS Pendleton: United States Coast Guard, Richard C. Kelsey, Public domain · National Monument to the Forefathers: T.S. Custadio aka ToddC4176 at en.wikipedia, Public domain · Battleship Cove: Electroengie at English Wikipedia, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Bourne, 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 Bourne.
Bourne keeps more of its land conserved than most of Massachusetts, trades workers with Falmouth and other neighbors and is safe by national standards but not by Massachusetts’s.
Its 12,115 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 89% of Massachusetts towns.
In Bourne, the density of trails is 3.6 miles per square mile, above both the Massachusetts town median (1.8) and the median of U.S. towns (0.4). Count the trails in 75 parks and preserves and they come to 188 miles. Deer Horn Hill Conservation Area, at 245 acres with 10.3 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Deer Horn Hill Conservation Area | 10.3 mi | 245 |
| 2. Town Forest | 6.4 mi | 146 |
| 3. Four Ponds Conservation Area | 3.9 mi | 131 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The largest public high school is Upper Cape Cod Vocational Technical, with 838 students. Of its 6 schools, two are listed below, each with the reason. Its public schools are run by the Bourne school district.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bournedale Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–2 | Grades PK–2 | 425 | – |
| Upper Cape Cod Vocational TechnicalLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 838 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MA on state tests and graduation
Within Massachusetts it is healthier than 58% of the 279 graded towns: Massachusetts sets a high bar.
In Bourne, just over a third of adults feel lonely. Of 32 CDC measures, Bourne beats the Massachusetts average on 3 and trails it on 1. 27% of adults locally have obesity; 17% get no exercise outside work.
| Bourne | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 7.7% | 9.3% | 12% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 28% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 19% | 25% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 32% | 35% |
| What stands out | Bourne | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with diabetes | 7.7% | 9.8% |
| Fewer adults who get no exercise | 17.2% | 21.7% |
| Fewer adults treating high blood pressure | 70.8% | 75.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Here, 46% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree, against 47% in Massachusetts as a whole. People 65 and older are 30% of residents (18% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 19% of residents (24% statewide). For Bourne, the age of the median resident is 52 years.
| Bourne | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 30% | 19% | 18% |
| Median age | 52 years | 43.4 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 15% | 20% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 46% | 47% | 29% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.4 points. Across Massachusetts, 51.1% of residents are women. Median age: women 53.3, men 50.6.
| Bourne | MA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 7.7% | 10.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7% | 9.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9% | 9.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 10% | 14% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 7.9% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.1% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.5% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 17.7% | 10.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 12.1% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 3.6% | 8.6% | 10.4% |
| High school | 20.5% | 22.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 22% | 14.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 7.9% | 7.5% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 26.2% | 25.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 19.8% | 21.8% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
396 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 14 properties have flooded more than once.
Federal aid has come to Bourne households in 8 declared disasters; the latest was in 2015. Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in just over two thirds of U.S. communities. Since 1978, Bourne has seen 396 flood insurance claims paid out. 54% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by hurricanes at 25%.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Bourne has about as many jobs (6,674) as working residents, but only 1,290 people both live and work here.
For most workers, Bourne is a place to come home to: only 18% work in town. The town’s middle household income comes in at $91,000. Jobs based in Bourne grew to 6,674 in 2023, 386 more than in 2013. Half commute less than 17 miles.
| Bourne | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 18% | 9.8% | 8% |
| Median household income | $91,000 | $120,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 15% | 18% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Bourne: 63% of renter households spend 30% or more of their income on rent. Zillow values the typical Bourne home at about $681,000, up 3.8% in a year, close to the Massachusetts typical home. The typical rent locally is $1,379 a month.
| Bourne | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 63% | 52% | 48% |
| Median rent | $1,379 a month | $1,683 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 76% | 79% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
At 19.3 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 72% of Massachusetts’s graded towns.
Bourne’s rate of reported violence stands at 2.6 per 1,000 residents. The rate of thefts and burglaries for Bourne comes to 8.4 per 1,000 residents.
| Bourne | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.6 per 1,000 residents | 1.4 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 8.4 per 1,000 residents | 4.9 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
2 within 15 miles of the center of Bourne
About 7 of every 100 Bourne residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Massachusetts.
Coastal flooding makes up 10% of the storm damage FEMA expects here.
17% of homes are seasonal or vacation homes, so the town is fuller in summer than its census count suggests.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA · OpenStreetMap
9 places in Bourne on the National Register of Historic Places.
4 notable people were born in Bourne.
Town in Massachusetts, United States
Bourne ( BORN) is a town on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. The population was 20,452 at the 2020 census. For geographic and demographic information on specific parts of the town of Bourne, please see the articles on Bourne (CDP), Buzzards Bay, Monument Beach, Pocasset, Sagamore, and Sagamore Beach.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
9 towns share a border with Bourne.
| Town | MA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bourne | #222 | C+ | C− | B− | C | A |
| Sandwich | #100 | A− | D | A− | B+ | A |
| Wareham | #247 | C− | C+ | C+ | D | B |
| Buzzards Bay | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Sagamore | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| North Falmouth | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Falmouth | #193 | B− | C− | B− | B− | A |
| Plymouth | #180 | B | D | B− | B− | A− |
Buzzards Bay, Sagamore and North Falmouth aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Bourne with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Bourne grades C+ overall, better than 41% of U.S. towns and #222 of 282 in Massachusetts. It grades A for health, B− for safety and C for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Massachusetts has less crime than most states, so among its own towns Bourne sits nearer the middle.
4 notable people were born here, including Crystal Taliefero and Otto B. Blackwell.
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