Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Plympton is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades B+ overall, ranked 128th of 282 in Massachusetts, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is safety: it reports less crime per resident than 71% of U.S. towns. It also does better than most on health: residents are healthier than 67% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. A typical home there costs about $680K, 5.9 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 1 place on the National Register. Plympton’s trail density is 2.7 miles per square mile, where Massachusetts’ towns sit at 1.8 and U.S. towns at 0.4. Only 7 of Massachusetts’ 325 towns score lower on walkability. Plympton Village Historic District is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where Plympton beats most towns.
Plympton Village Historic District
Census counts: 956 in 1790, a low of 469 in 1920, 2,930 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1913 and 7 maps from 1885 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Massachusetts), ordered by how far Plympton is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Plympton. Close and well known come first.
Big draw25 mi Stadium & arenaGillette Stadium
Big draw31 mi Stadium & arenaFenway Park
Big draw30 mi MuseumIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum
26 mi MuseumUSS Massachusetts
38 mi Ancient siteHMS Endeavour
9 mi MuseumPlimoth PatuxetGillette 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 · HMS Endeavour: Samuel Atkins (c.1760-1810), Public domain · Plimoth Patuxet: Tr!sie, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Plympton, 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 Plympton.
Plympton is safe by national standards but not by Massachusetts’s and is healthy by national standards but behind most towns in Massachusetts.
In the comparison, Plympton comes against 19% in Massachusetts’ towns and 4.3% across U.S. towns. 40 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Land Behind Dennett School, at 73 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Land Behind Dennett School | 0.1 mi | 73 |
| 2. Wildlands Trust off of West Street | — | 15 |
| 3. Town Forest | — | 15 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Plympton school district. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dennett ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–6 | Grades K–6 | 249 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MA on state tests and graduation
Most working residents leave Plympton for work: only 5% work in town. Plympton’s average trip to work is 33 minutes. The top destinations are Plymouth (11%), Boston (11%) and Kingston (5%).
| Plympton | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 33 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $127,000 | $120,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 10% | 6% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 5.3% | 9.9% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 77% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 4 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Plympton.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
At 11.2 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 52% of Massachusetts’s graded towns.
The property crime rate in Plympton is 2.4 per 1,000 residents.
| Plympton | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.4 per 1,000 residents | 4.9 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.7 per 1,000 residents | 1.4 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Within Massachusetts it is less healthy than 82% of the 279 graded towns: Massachusetts sets a high bar. Against the 4,879 U.S. towns with household incomes like Plympton’s, it is less healthy than 75%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
Plympton beats the Massachusetts average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 5. 18% of adults report frequent mental distress in Plympton.
| Plympton | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 16% | 17% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 28% | 35% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 24% | 23% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 12% | 14% |
| What stands out | Plympton | MA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 7.7% | 5.9% |
| More adults with heart disease | 7% | 5.8% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.2% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Adults 18 to 34 are 15% of residents (24% statewide); people 65 and older are 23% of residents (18% statewide). 38% of Plympton adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more.
| Plympton | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 46.4 years | 43.4 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 23% | 19% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 38% | 47% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 22% | 20% | 22% |
52% women, 48% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.4 points. Across Massachusetts, 51.1% of residents are women.
| Plympton | MA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.9% | 10.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.7% | 9.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 4.4% | 9.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11% | 14% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 10.7% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 14.4% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.2% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 15.7% | 10.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 7.3% | 8.6% | 10.4% |
| High school | 28.7% | 22.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 17.1% | 14.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.5% | 7.5% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 26.9% | 25.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 11.5% | 21.8% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 3,000, single groups can be off by several points
Plympton has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 21° and about 38 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
No town among the 278 in Massachusetts we compare has a lower median rent than Plympton. The typical Plympton home is worth about $681,000, up 3.5% in a year, close to the Massachusetts typical home.
| Plympton | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $555 a month | $1,683 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 93% | 79% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
2 within 15 miles of the center of Plympton
About 3 of every 100 Plympton residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Massachusetts.
Where Plympton’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
6 notable people were born in Plympton.
Town in Massachusetts, United States
Plympton is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 2,930 at the 2020 census. The United States senator William Bradford was born here.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Plympton.
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Plympton grades B+ overall, better than 69% of U.S. towns and #128 of 282 in Massachusetts. It grades B+ for health, B+ for safety and B for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a D.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
6 notable people were born here, including Deborah Sampson and William Bradford.
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