Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Mashpee's standout: it has 120 miles of trail and 31% conserved land. Overall it grades B−, ranked 191st of 282 in Massachusetts. CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 84% of the country. Its weakest subject is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $704K, 7.4 years of the Barnstable Town metro’s $95K median household income. Mashpee’s trail density is 4.5 miles per square mile, above both Massachusetts’ towns (1.8) and U.S. towns (0.4). On history, just 6 of Massachusetts’ 325 towns do worse. The biggest place to walk is Quashnet Woods State Reservation, 640 acres with 9.1 miles of trail.
Where Mashpee beats most towns.
Census counts: 308 in 1790, a low of 242 in 1920, 15,060 in 2020. The archive holds 3 old photos and papers going back to 1684 and 5 maps from 1888 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 Mashpee is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Mashpee. Close and well known come first.
35 mi MuseumUSS Massachusetts
28 mi Ancient siteSS Pendleton
23 mi MuseumPlimoth Patuxet
35 mi MuseumBattleship Cove
26 mi LandmarkNational Monument to the Forefathers
35 mi MuseumUSS Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr.USS Massachusetts: USN, Public domain · SS Pendleton: United States Coast Guard, Richard C. Kelsey, Public domain · Plimoth Patuxet: Tr!sie, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Battleship Cove: Electroengie at English Wikipedia, Public domain · National Monument to the Forefathers: T.S. Custadio aka ToddC4176 at en.wikipedia, Public domain · USS Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr.: "Official U.S. Navy Photograph, Released, U.S. Naval Photographic Center, U.S. N, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Mashpee, 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 Mashpee.
Mashpee is a second-home town, keeps more of its land conserved than most of Massachusetts and is safe by national standards but not by Massachusetts’s.
Its 5,377 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 81% of Massachusetts towns.
121 miles of trail in 33 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Quashnet Woods State Reservation | 9.1 mi | 640 |
| 2. Mashpee River Woodlands | 6.1 mi | 254 |
| 3. South Cape Beach State Park | 5.3 mi | 490 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Mashpee school district. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Mashpee Middle-High School, with 600 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quashnet SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades 3–6 | Grades 3–6 | 399 | B− |
| Mashpee Middle-High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 600 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MA on state tests and graduation
Within Massachusetts it is less healthy than 56% of the 279 graded towns: Massachusetts sets a high bar.
85% of adults had a checkup this year in Mashpee, where Massachusetts’ towns sit at 82% and U.S. towns at 79%. 14% of Mashpee adults binge drink. Mashpee beats the Massachusetts average on 13 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 7.
| Mashpee | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 85% | 82% | 79% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 17% | 16% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 32% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 17% |
| What stands out | Mashpee | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 3.5% | 5.2% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 8.5% | 12.4% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 13.2% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
30% of homes are seasonal or vacation homes, against 3.7% statewide, which helps explain the older median age.
People 65 and older are 33% of residents (18% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 15% of residents (24% statewide). Mashpee’s median age is 55.9 years. Mashpee has grown 2.8% since 2020, to 15,468 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Mashpee | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 33% | 19% | 18% |
| Median age | 55.9 years | 43.4 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 15% | 20% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 44% | 47% | 29% |
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±2.3 points). Across Massachusetts, 51.1% of residents are women.
| Mashpee | MA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 7% | 10.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7.6% | 9.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.1% | 9.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 9.3% | 14% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 8.9% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 9.7% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 18.1% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 19.5% | 10.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 13.7% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 2.3% | 8.6% | 10.4% |
| High school | 23.9% | 22.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 19.5% | 14.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10% | 7.5% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 26.6% | 25.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 17.7% | 21.8% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
At 12.1 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 51% of Massachusetts’s graded towns.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The Edgartown weather station, 16 miles away, records that about 2 days a year reach 90°, fewer than in 97% of U.S. towns.
Mashpee has chilly winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. The July high in Mashpee is 80°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Most working residents leave Mashpee for work: only 19% work in town. Since 2013, Mashpee has added 756 jobs, to 4,672 in 2023. The top destinations are Barnstable Town (18%), Falmouth (13%) and Boston (6%).
| Mashpee | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 19% | 9.8% | 8% |
| Median household income | $95,000 | $120,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 15% | 18% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The typical Mashpee home is worth about $704,000, up 2.2% in a year, 7% above the Massachusetts typical home.
| Mashpee | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,776 a month | $1,682 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 82% | 79% | 73% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 52% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 46 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Mashpee.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
2 within 15 miles of the center of Mashpee
About 5 of every 100 Mashpee residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Massachusetts.
31% of the town is conserved land, across 33 parks and preserves.
2 places in Mashpee on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in Massachusetts, United States
Mashpee ( Wampanoag: Mâseepee) is a town on Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts. It is bordered by Sandwich, Barnstable, and Falmouth, and to the south by Nantucket Sound. Settled in 1660 and incorporated on May 28, 1870, Mashpee had a population of 15,060 at the 2020 census. The town is the historic and contemporary home of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe—federally recognized in 2007—which maintains its headquarters in Mashpee. Mashpee contains South Cape Beach State Park and part of the Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, as well as the Mashpee River Reservation. The town also contains Mashpee Commons, a redevelopment project recognized as an early example of New Urbanis…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
10 towns share a border with Mashpee.
| Town | MA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mashpee | #191 | B− | D | B+ | B− | A− |
| Barnstable Town | #244 | C | D | C+ | C− | A− |
| Falmouth | #193 | B− | C− | B− | B− | A |
| Sandwich | #100 | A− | D | A− | B+ | A |
| Popponesset | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Forestdale | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Seabrook | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| New Seabury | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Popponesset, Forestdale, Seabrook and New Seabury aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Mashpee with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Mashpee grades B− overall, better than 53% of U.S. towns and #191 of 282 in Massachusetts. It grades A− for health, B+ for safety and B− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
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