Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Hanson grades B+ overall, 133rd of 282 graded towns in Massachusetts. It has 38 miles of trail. The median household earns $132K and it is healthier than 85% of U.S. towns. The catch is cost: the typical home is worth about $614K, 5.3 years of the Boston metro’s $116K median household income. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 92% of U.S. towns, with 2 places on the National Register. Hanson’s trail density is 2.4 miles per square mile, above both the Massachusetts town median (1.8) and the median of U.S. towns (0.4). The biggest place to walk is Burrage Pond Wildlife Management Area, 952 acres with 8.6 miles of trail. Only 9 of the 283 Massachusetts towns we compare have a lower share of working residents who work in town than Hanson.
Where Hanson beats most towns.
Census counts: 1,217 in 1850, 10,639 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1901 and 7 maps from 1885 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Massachusetts), ordered by how far Hanson is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Hanson. Close and well known come first.
Big draw21 mi Stadium & arenaGillette Stadium
Big draw24 mi Stadium & arenaFenway Park
Big draw23 mi MuseumIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum
28 mi MuseumUSS Massachusetts
24 mi AttractionFreedom Trail
40 mi Ancient siteHMS EndeavourGillette Stadium: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fenway Park: Gatorfan252525, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: Sean Dungan, CC BY-SA 4.0 · USS Massachusetts: USN, Public domain · Freedom Trail: Ingfbruno, CC BY-SA 3.0 · HMS Endeavour: Samuel Atkins (c.1760-1810), Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Hanson, 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 Hanson.
Hanson sends most of its workers to Boston and beyond, is safe by national standards but not by Massachusetts’s and is healthy by national standards but mid-pack in Massachusetts.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Burrage Pond Wildlife Management Area | 8.6 mi | 952 |
| 2. Poor Meadow Brook Wildlife Conservation Easement | 2.4 mi | 111 |
| 3. Poor Meadow Brook Conservation Area | 1.8 mi | 131 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Whitman-Hanson school district. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Whitman Hanson Regional, with 993 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indian HeadLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–4 | Grades K–4 | 494 | C+ |
| Whitman Hanson RegionalLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 993 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MA on state tests and graduation
Within Massachusetts it is less healthy than 55% of the 279 graded towns: Massachusetts sets a high bar. Against the 4,320 U.S. towns with household incomes like Hanson’s, it is healthier than 54%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
19% of Hanson adults binge drink, above both Massachusetts’ towns (17%) and U.S. towns (16%). Hanson beats the Massachusetts average on 7 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 30% of Hanson adults have high blood pressure.
| Hanson | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 17% | 16% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 35% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 28% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 19% | 25% |
| What stands out | Hanson | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 3.8% | 5.2% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9.1% | 12.4% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.8% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 8.6 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 65% of Massachusetts’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 74 to 40 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Hanson’s property crime rate is 2.8 per 1,000 residents.
| Hanson | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.8 per 1,000 residents | 4.9 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.9 per 1,000 residents | 1.5 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 83% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 4 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Hanson.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Hanson has 1,564 jobs for its 5,655 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Most working residents leave Hanson for work: only 5% work in town. The average trip to work in Hanson is 34 minutes. Jobs based in Hanson grew to 1,564 in 2023, 252 more than in 2013.
| Hanson | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 34 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $132,000 | $120,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 7.9% | 18% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 2.7% | 6% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Hanson has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 20° and about 34 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Adults 18 to 34 are 18% of residents (24% statewide). 43% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Hanson. Hanson has grown 2.8% since 2020, to 10,927 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Hanson | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 43% | 47% | 29% |
| Median age | 42.8 years | 43.4 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 22% | 20% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 20% | 19% | 18% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.2 points. Across Massachusetts, 51.1% of residents are women.
| Hanson | MA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.6% | 10.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.9% | 9.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 10% | 9.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 8.1% | 14% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 14.4% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.2% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 13.2% | 10.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.5% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 7.4% | 8.6% | 10.4% |
| High school | 27% | 22.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 12.8% | 14.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.1% | 7.5% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 27.4% | 25.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 15.2% | 21.8% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
69% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 51.8% across Massachusetts.
The typical Hanson home is worth about $614,000, up 4.3% in a year, 6% below the Massachusetts typical home.
| Hanson | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 89% | 79% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,821 a month | $1,682 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
3 within 15 miles of the center of Hanson
About 5 of every 100 Hanson residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Massachusetts.
Where Hanson’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
2 places in Hanson on the National Register of Historic Places.
6 notable people were born in Hanson.
Town in the United States
Hanson is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. Part of Greater Boston, Hanson is located 20 miles (32 km) south of Boston and is one of the inland towns of the South Shore. The population was 10,639 at the 2020 census. It contains the census-designated place of the same name.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Hanson.
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Hanson grades B+ overall, better than 68% of U.S. towns and #133 of 282 in Massachusetts. It grades A− for health, A− for safety and C+ 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−.
6 notable people were born here, including Ally Sentnor and Kristen Merlin.
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