Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Kingston's standout: it has 32 miles of trail. Overall it grades A−, 92nd among Massachusetts's 282 graded towns. The median household earns $120K and it is healthier than 92% of U.S. towns. Kingston’s trail density is 1.6 miles per square mile, where Massachusetts’ towns sit at 1.8 and U.S. towns at 0.4. Its National Register listings include Kingston Center Historic District and Bradford House.
Where Kingston beats most towns.
Its founding year, 1620, is the earliest of any Massachusetts town we grade.
Census counts: 1,004 in 1790, 13,708 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1714 and 7 maps from 1886 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 Kingston is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Kingston. Close and well known come first.
Big draw31 mi Stadium & arenaFenway Park
Big draw28 mi Stadium & arenaGillette Stadium
Big draw30 mi MuseumIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum
29 mi MuseumUSS Massachusetts
7 mi MuseumPlimoth Patuxet
4 mi LandmarkNational Monument to the ForefathersFenway Park: Gatorfan252525, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Gillette Stadium: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: Sean Dungan, CC BY-SA 4.0 · USS Massachusetts: USN, Public domain · Plimoth Patuxet: Tr!sie, CC BY-SA 3.0 · National Monument to the Forefathers: T.S. Custadio aka ToddC4176 at en.wikipedia, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Kingston, 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 Kingston.
Kingston is safe by national standards but not by Massachusetts’s and is healthy by national standards but mid-pack in Massachusetts.
Within Massachusetts it is healthier than 67% of the 279 graded towns: Massachusetts sets a high bar. Its widest gap with Massachusetts is no health insurance: 3.1% of those 18–64 have no health insurance, against 5.2% statewide.
19% of Kingston adults binge drink, above both Massachusetts’ towns (17%) and U.S. towns (16%). 13% of adults say their health is fair or poor in Kingston.
| Kingston | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 17% | 16% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 19% | 25% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 15% | 19% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 28% | 35% |
| What stands out | Kingston | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 3.1% | 5.2% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.5% | 12.4% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.1% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Silver Lake school district. Two of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Silver Lake Regional High, with 1,034 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kingston IntermediateLargest public elementary schoolGrades 3–6 | Grades 3–6 | 645 | B |
| Silver Lake Regional HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,034 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MA on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 86% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 11 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Kingston.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The biggest place to walk is Camp Nekon, 221 acres with 2.4 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Camp Nekon | 2.4 mi | 221 |
| 2. Sampson Forest & Memorial Park | 0.9 mi | 116 |
| 3. Wildlands Trust - The Nook | 0.3 mi | 18 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Adults 18 to 34 are 15% of residents (24% statewide); people 65 and older are 23% of residents (18% statewide). 48% of Kingston adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more. Kingston has grown 6.2% since 2020, to 14,548 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Kingston | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 46.5 years | 43.4 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 48% | 47% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 23% | 19% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 20% | 20% | 22% |
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.9 points. Across Massachusetts, 51.1% of residents are women.
| Kingston | MA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.9% | 10.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10% | 9.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5.1% | 9.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 10.2% | 14% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.1% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.6% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.3% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 13.5% | 10.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.2% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 2.7% | 8.6% | 10.4% |
| High school | 20% | 22.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 18.9% | 14.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.2% | 7.5% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 30.4% | 25.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 17.8% | 21.8% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Kingston has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. Kingston’s July high is 82°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 12.9 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 54% of Massachusetts’s graded towns. Violent crime is rare: 14 reported in 2025, 1 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Most working residents leave Kingston for work: only 11% work in town. The average trip to work in Kingston is 35 minutes. Since 2013, Kingston has added 597 jobs, to 5,060 in 2023.
| Kingston | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 35 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 3.1% | 6% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 20% | 18% | 11% |
| Median household income | $120,000 | $120,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The typical Kingston home is worth about $693,000, up 4.1% in a year, 6% above the Massachusetts typical home.
| Kingston | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,159 a month | $1,683 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 81% | 79% | 73% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
2 within 15 miles of the center of Kingston
About 3 of every 100 Kingston residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Massachusetts.
Coastal flooding makes up 9% of the storm damage FEMA expects here.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA · OpenStreetMap
4 places in Kingston on the National Register of Historic Places.
8 notable people were born in Kingston.
Town in Massachusetts, United States
Kingston is a coastal town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 13,708 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)
6 towns share a border with Kingston.
| Town | MA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kingston | #92 | A− | C | B+ | B | A |
| Duxbury | #39 | A+ | D | A | A− | A+ |
| Plymouth | #180 | B | D | B− | B− | A− |
| North Plymouth | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| South Duxbury | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Plympton | #128 | B+ | B− | B+ | B | B+ |
| Pembroke | #70 | A | D | A | B+ | A |
North Plymouth and South Duxbury aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Kingston with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Kingston grades A− overall, better than 82% of U.S. towns and #92 of 282 in Massachusetts. It grades A for health, B+ for safety and B for schools.
That is 6 years of the area's median household income ($115,863 across the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
8 notable people were born here, including Beulah Marie Dix and John Holmes.
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