Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Yes, by almost any measure. Scituate earns an A+, 21st among Massachusetts's 282 graded towns. It reports less crime per resident than 96% of U.S. towns, residents are healthier than 95% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates, and the median household earns $137K. The exception is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $1.0 million, 8.8 years of the Boston metro’s $116K median household income. 67% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Scituate, against 47% in Massachusetts’ towns and 29% across U.S. towns. Scituate is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 91% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include Minot's Ledge Light and Scituate Light.
Where Scituate beats most towns.
Census counts: 2,856 in 1790, 19,063 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1700 and 8 maps from 1885 on.
9 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Massachusetts), ordered by how far Scituate is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for safety (better than 96% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 13%), so the A+ overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Scituate. Close and well known come first.
Big draw21 mi Stadium & arenaFenway Park
Big draw28 mi Stadium & arenaGillette Stadium
Big draw20 mi MuseumIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum
19 mi AttractionFreedom Trail
20 mi MuseumMuseum of Fine Arts Boston477K visitors a year
20 mi GardenBoston CommonFenway 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 · Freedom Trail: Ingfbruno, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Museum of Fine Arts Boston: Martin~jawiki at Japanese Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Boston Common: Phillip Capper from Wellington, New Zealand, CC BY 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Scituate, 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 Scituate.
Scituate reports less crime than Marshfield or any other graded neighbor and has less no health insurance than most of Massachusetts, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Massachusetts.
Its A+ tops all 3 graded towns on its borders; Marshfield (A) comes closest. Violent crime is rare: 10 reported in 2025, 0.5 per 1,000 residents.
Scituate’s property crime rate is 0.8 per 1,000 residents.
| Scituate | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.8 per 1,000 residents | 4.9 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.5 per 1,000 residents | 1.5 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its A for schools comes with a D for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $1.02M.
Its public schools are run by the Scituate school district. Three of its 7 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gates Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 639 | A− |
| Scituate High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 725 | A |
| Wampatuck ElementaryTop results in townGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 424 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MA on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with Massachusetts is no health insurance: 2.6% of those 18–64 have no health insurance, against 5.2% statewide.
30% of Scituate adults sleep under 7 hours. Scituate beats the Massachusetts average on 15 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2. 16% of Scituate adults get no exercise outside work.
| Scituate | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 33% | 36% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 19% | 25% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 8.6% | 11% | 14% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 33% | 33% |
| What stands out | Scituate | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 2.6% | 5.2% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 6.4% | 12.4% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11.3% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 8.8 years of the Boston metro’s $116K median household income, the typical home (about $1.02M) costs more against local pay than in 85% of Massachusetts towns; that ratio is one input to its D for cost of living.
Typical home values rose 7.3% in the year to September 2026. 88% of households own their home in Scituate.
| Scituate | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 88% | 79% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,609 a month | $1,683 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The average commute for its 9,216 working residents takes 38.1 minutes, against 29.1 across Massachusetts. 28% of workers work from home, against 18.6% across Massachusetts.
Most working residents leave Scituate for work: only 13% work in town. The average trip to work in Scituate is 38 minutes. Since 2013, Scituate has added 276 jobs, to 3,462 in 2023.
| Scituate | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 38 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 28% | 18% | 11% |
| Median household income | $137,000 | $120,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 2.9% | 6% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
3,519 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 537 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 68% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 3,519 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Scituate.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Scituate has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 22° and about 51 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
29 miles of trail in 33 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Rivermoor Habitat Park, 561 acres with 1.9 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Booth Hill Conservation Area | 2.1 mi | 91 |
| 2. Wompatuck State Park | 2 mi | 101 |
| 3. Rivermoor Habitat Park | 1.9 mi | 561 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
2 within 15 miles of the center of Scituate
About 4 of every 100 Scituate residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Massachusetts.
Coastal flooding makes up 31% of the storm damage FEMA expects here.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA · OpenStreetMap
9 places in Scituate on the National Register of Historic Places.
19 notable people were born in Scituate.
Town in Massachusetts, United States
Scituate ( ) is a seacoast town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, on the South Shore, midway between Boston and Plymouth. The population was 19,063 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Scituate.
At #21 in MA, it grades higher overall than all 4 graded towns on its borders; Hingham (A) comes closest.
| Town | MA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scituate | #21 | A+ | D | A+ | A | A+ |
| Marshfield | #74 | A | D | A | B+ | A |
| Marshfield Hills | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Cohasset | #54 | A | D | A− | A | A+ |
| North Scituate | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Norwell | #57 | A | D | — | A | A+ |
| Ocean Bluff-Brant Rock | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Hingham | #52 | A | D | B | A | A+ |
Norwell reports no FBI crime data of its own. Marshfield Hills, North Scituate and Ocean Bluff-Brant Rock aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Scituate with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Scituate grades A+ overall, among the top 2% of U.S. towns and #21 of 282 in Massachusetts. It grades A+ for health, A+ for safety and A 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.
19 notable people were born here, including Conor Garland and Ryan Whitney.
