Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Even on the area’s higher pay, Hingham costs more to live in than 94% of U.S. towns
It ranks #245 of 282 in Massachusetts for affordability. Up 8.4% in a year, about twice the Massachusetts typical home.
Census 2020–24 home values, rents, tax bills and cost burden, measured against the median household income of the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area ($116K). How TownRatings grades cost of living
The grade measures what housing costs against what households in the area earn. Hingham’s area earns well above the typical U.S. town ($116K against $74K), but homes, rent and taxes here run higher still. Owners keep up better than renters: 22% of owners pay 30% or more of income for housing (typical U.S. town: 20%), against 60% of renters.
In dollars
- $1.3Mtypical home, 105% above the Massachusetts typical homeZillow, September 2026
- $2,930a month for a two-bedroom, utilities includedHUD Fair Market Rent, 2026
- 108prices across the Boston metro, where the U.S. is 100 (housing 148)BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024
In paychecks the grade
- 9.8 yrsof area income buys the typical home; the typical U.S. town: 3.3$116K, Boston-area income
- 26%of area income goes to the median rent; the typical U.S. town: 18%Census 2020–24
- 60%of renters pay 30%+ of income for housing; across Massachusetts: 52%Census 2020–24
- 22%of owners do; the typical U.S. town: 20%Census 2020–24
What Hingham’s housing numbers say
Renting costs far less than owning
A two-bedroom rents for about $2,930 a month. Owning the typical Hingham home, with 20% down at the calculator’s rate, runs about $8,240 with tax and insurance: 3 times as much. Can I afford it? ↓
Prices vary a lot across the town lines
Typical values in the towns next door run from $617K in Weymouth Town to $1.45M in Cohasset. At $1.34M, Hingham is the second most expensive of the 6. Vs. neighbors ↓
Most new homes are apartments and condos
Of the 863 homes permitted in Hingham’s past 10 years, 70% were in buildings with two or more homes, not single-family houses. New homes ↓
Written from the data on this page. Home values are the Zillow Home Value Index, through September 2026; sales and supply are Redfin’s for September 2026; permits are Census figures through 2025; incomes, rents paid, taxes and ownership come from the Census American Community Survey.
What’s behind Hingham’s grade
Measured against what households in the area earn, Hingham is more affordable than 6% of U.S. towns, #245 of 282 in Massachusetts. Home prices pull the grade down most; the share of households paying 30%+ for housing holds it up.
Values have outpaced Massachusetts: the typical Hingham home is up 36.4% in five years, against 25.7% statewide (Zillow).
Up 8.4% in a year
Faster than Massachusetts (2.3%).
Show as a table
| January | Hingham | Massachusetts |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | $722,000 | $378,000 |
| 2018 | $762,000 | $402,000 |
| 2019 | $793,000 | $421,000 |
| 2020 | $791,000 | $433,000 |
| 2021 | $871,000 | $479,000 |
| 2022 | $1,019,000 | $529,000 |
| 2023 | $1,089,000 | $565,000 |
| 2024 | $1,183,000 | $609,000 |
| 2025 | $1,231,000 | $640,000 |
| 2026 | $1,283,000 | $650,000 |
| September 2026 | $1,344,000 | $655,000 |
A typical Hingham home worth $709K in October 2016 is worth about $1.34M today.
Zillow Home Value Index: the typical value of all homes (middle third), smoothed and seasonally adjusted, through September 2026.
Too few sales to read the market
Only 7 homes sold in September 2026, the latest month in Redfin’s figures: too few to describe the market or quote a median sale price.
A typical home costs 9.8 years of area income
The calculator starts from the area income the grade uses. Switch to Hingham’s own median, or type yours.
That’s $902K short of a typical Hingham home.
A two-bedroom rents for about $2,930 a month here, $5,310 less than owning.
An estimate, not a loan offer: payments of up to 28% of income, a 30-year fixed loan, the Massachusetts typical property tax (1.07% of value a year, from the Census) and insurance of about 0.35%. Mortgage insurance, HOA fees and other debts aren’t included.
A two-bedroom rents for about $2,930
Renters already here pay a median of $2,465, so moving in tends to cost more than staying put.
Fair Market Rent a month, utilities included
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fair Market Rents by ZIP code (Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH HUD Metro FMR Area): the 40th-percentile rent plus utilities for a standard unit. Median rent and renters: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey.
24 new homes permitted in 2025
Builders were permitted 24 new homes in Hingham in 2025, all single-family houses, worth about $23.3 million to build. That's 1 per 1,000 residents, slower than across Massachusetts (1.8). Over the past 10 years, Hingham has permitted 863 homes in all.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses, Hingham gained 2,127 residents while 1,088 new homes were permitted: about 2 new residents per new home, fewer than across Massachusetts (3.4): building outpaced growth.
Every year as a table
| Year | New homes | Single-family | 2+ per building | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (Jan–Aug) | 22 | 22 | 0 | $22 million |
| 2025 | 24 | 24 | 0 | $23.3 million |
| 2024 | 25 | 25 | 0 | $21.8 million |
| 2023 | 26 | 26 | 0 | $23.9 million |
| 2022 | 29 | 29 | 0 | $23.8 million |
| 2021 | 25 | 25 | 0 | $17.4 million |
| 2020 | 30 | 30 | 0 | $15.5 million |
| 2019 | 27 | 23 | 4 | $12.5 million |
| 2018 | 323 | 20 | 303 | $80.8 million |
| 2017 | 214 | 21 | 193 | $41.8 million |
| 2016 | 140 | 36 | 104 | $36 million |
| 2015 | 23 | 23 | 0 | $7.4 million |
| 2014 | 72 | 72 | 0 | $22.5 million |
| 2013 | 78 | 78 | 0 | $23.4 million |
| 2012 | 76 | 50 | 26 | $20.7 million |
| 2011 | 97 | 59 | 38 | $26.1 million |
| 2010 | 38 | 38 | 0 | $14.6 million |
| 2009 | 50 | 13 | 37 | $14.6 million |
| 2008 | 274 | 22 | 252 | $30.9 million |
| 2007 | 88 | 74 | 14 | $30.2 million |
| 2006 | 374 | 34 | 340 | $57.2 million |
| 2005 | 198 | 63 | 135 | $36.4 million |
| 2004 | 179 | 61 | 118 | $30 million |
| 2003 | 377 | 64 | 313 | $50.6 million |
| 2002 | 76 | 39 | 37 | $16 million |
| 2001 | 13 | 13 | 0 | $5.7 million |
| 2000 | 54 | 54 | 0 | $12.5 million |
Homes authorized by building permits, counted in the year the permit was issued. U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey.
High tax bills, but a low tax rate
The median bill is $10,000+ (Massachusetts: $5,992), because homes cost more. As a share of value it’s 0.88%+ a year, against 1.07% statewide.
Census American Community Survey 2020–24: the median real-estate tax bill homeowners report, and that bill ÷ the median home value. Bills include town, school and county taxes. The Census reports bills over $10,000 only as “$10,000+”.
The rest of a budget near Hingham
Only figures published free for the whole country, each labeled with the area it covers: the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, or Massachusetts. Groceries follow the goods price level; nobody publishes them town by town.
| Cost | Here | Compared with | Area | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prices overall U.S. = 100 | 108 | MA 106 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
| Goods (groceries, clothing, cars…) U.S. = 100 | 100 | MA 99 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
| Utilities U.S. = 100 | 149 | MA 152 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
| Other services U.S. = 100 | 104 | MA 103 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
Price levels: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities 2024 (metro area and state). Electricity: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.A.
Hingham vs. its neighbors
Of the 6 towns here with a Zillow value, Hingham has the 5th-lowest.
Cost next door · one source per column
| Town | Cost | Typical home Zillow, September 2026 | Median value Census 2020–24 | Tax rate bill ÷ value | 2-bed rent HUD 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hingham | D | $1.3M | $1.1M | 0.88%+ | $2,930 |
| Hull | D | $708K | $646K | 0.94% | $2,640 |
| Weymouth Town | D | $617K | $552K | 0.97% | $2,620 |
| Cohasset | D | $1.5M | $1.3M | 0.76%+ | $3,170 |
| Norwell | D | $1.1M | $866K | 1.16%+ | $2,930 |
| Scituate | D | $1.0M | $848K | 1.04% | $2,560 |
“+”: the Census reports the tax bill only as $10,000 or more, so the rate is at least that.
Questions about the cost of living in Hingham
Is Hingham expensive to live in?
Measured against what households in the area earn, Hingham costs more than 94% of U.S. towns: a D for cost of living, #245 of 282 in Massachusetts. The typical home costs 9.8 years of the median household income of the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area ($116K).
How much does a house cost in Hingham?
About $1.3M, Zillow’s typical value for September 2026, up 8.4% in a year. The Massachusetts typical home is $655K.
What salary do you need to live in Hingham?
To buy the typical home with 20% down at 6.3%, about $353,000 a year, keeping the payment (about $8,240 a month with tax and insurance) at 28% of income. To rent a two-bedroom at 30% of income, about $117,000.
How much is rent in Hingham?
HUD puts a two-bedroom at about $2,930 a month with utilities, the going rate for someone moving in. Renters already here pay a median of $2,465 (Census 2020–24).
What are property taxes in Hingham?
The median bill is $10,000+ a year, 0.88% of the median home value (Massachusetts: $5,992, 1.07%), from the Census 2020–24.
Are home prices in Hingham going up?
Yes: up 8.4% in the past year and 36.4% in five years, against 25.7% across Massachusetts (Zillow).
Neighbors talk housing
What Hingham buyers, sellers and renters are saying.
Home values: Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), Zillow Research, September 2026. Sales, days on market and supply: Redfin Data Center, September 2026. Income, ownership, taxes and rent: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey. New homes: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey. Fair Market Rents: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The calculator is an estimate, not a loan offer. Regional price levels: BEA; electricity: EIA. How TownRatings grades cost of living.