South DennisMA
A town of 3,135, settled in 1822.
Is South Dennis a good place to live?
36% of residents are 65 or older in South Dennis, above both Massachusetts’ towns (19%) and U.S. towns (18%). Only 7 of the 284 Massachusetts towns we compare have a lower share of children under 18 than South Dennis. South Dennis’ concentration of trails is 3.9 miles per square mile, above both the Massachusetts town median (1.8) and the median of U.S. towns (0.4). The biggest park or preserve is Conservation Land/W Dennis Rd, at 40 acres. We don’t grade South Dennis yet; the figures below are still real.
SS Pendleton and 32 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around South Dennis. Close and well known come first.
13 mi Ancient siteSS Pendleton
29 mi MuseumPlimoth Patuxet
10 mi National SeashoreCape Cod National Seashore3.7M visitors a year
32 mi LandmarkNational Monument to the Forefathers
24 mi LandmarkPilgrim Monument
5 mi MuseumElephant HousePhoto credits
SS Pendleton: United States Coast Guard, Richard C. Kelsey, Public domain · Plimoth Patuxet: Tr!sie, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Cape Cod National Seashore: SeduisantRedux, CC BY 3.0 · National Monument to the Forefathers: T.S. Custadio aka ToddC4176 at en.wikipedia, Public domain · Pilgrim Monument: Peter Whitlock (Transferred by adavyd/Originally uploaded by Willster3), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Elephant House: Nicole Leigh Martel, CC BY-SA 3.0
Moving to South Dennis: who provides what
South Dennis is unincorporated, so Barnstable County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in South Dennis.
Older than Massachusetts overall
College graduates make up 43% of adults 25 and older, against 47% across Massachusetts. South Dennis’ median age is 57.6 years.
| South Dennis | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 57.6 years | 43.4 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 43% | 47% | 29% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4.2 points. Across Massachusetts, 51.1% of residents are women.
| South Dennis | MA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 3.5% | 10.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 6.9% | 9.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 4.3% | 9.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 7.4% | 14% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.9% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 9.9% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 18.3% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 19.2% | 10.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 16.6% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 2.5% | 8.6% | 10.4% |
| High school | 34.2% | 22.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 12% | 14.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8% | 7.5% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 29% | 25.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 14.3% | 21.8% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 3,100, single groups can be off by several points
Nearly a quarter of South Dennis is conserved land
19 miles of trail in 10 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Conservation Land/W Dennis Rd | — | 40 |
| 2. Johnny Kelley Park | — | 22 |
| 3. Cape Cod Rail Trail | — | 12 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
South Dennis has four seasons and pleasant summers
Only 9 of the 284 Massachusetts towns we compare have a lower July high than South Dennis. July afternoons reach 79°, January nights drop to 24° and about 22 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
South Dennis has 1.2 jobs for every working resident, and 1,771 people commute in
Commuting out is the norm in South Dennis: 9% of working residents work locally. Since 2013, South Dennis has added 233 jobs, to 1,918 in 2023. 3% of residents live below the poverty line in the town. The top destinations are Dennis (17%), Barnstable Town (16%) and Yarmouth (9%).
| South Dennis | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 3% | 6% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 25 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $88,000 | $120,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Compared with most of Massachusetts and the rest of the country, more of South Dennis’ adults have high blood pressure
Against the Massachusetts average, South Dennis comes out ahead on 9 CDC measures out of 32, and behind on 8. Among adults in the town, 28% have obesity.
| South Dennis | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 85% | 82% | 79% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 17% | 16% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 32% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 12% | 14% |
| What stands out | South Dennis | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 8.8% | 11.9% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 8.8% | 11.1% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 12.9% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Top of a moderate hazard risk in South Dennis: inland flooding
Expected damage from storms and floods is lower here than in 52% of U.S. communities. FEMA puts 64% of South Dennis’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 23% to hurricanes. Flood insurance has paid out on 2 claims in the town since 1998.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Homes in South Dennis sell for about $721K
On the market in South Dennis: a median 22 days to sell. For households in the town, the share who live in a home they own is 83%. Sellers in South Dennis got 98% of the asking price, typically.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about South Dennis
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of South Dennis
About 2 of every 100 South Dennis residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Massachusetts.
South Dennis’s neighbors
7 towns share a border with South Dennis.
| Town | MA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Dennis | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Dennis | #219 | C+ | C | B− | C | A− |
| East Dennis | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Yarmouth | #241 | C | D | B− | C | A− |
| West Dennis | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| South Yarmouth | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Yarmouth Port | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Dennis Port | — | — | — | — | — | — |
South Dennis, East Dennis, West Dennis, South Yarmouth, Yarmouth Port and Dennis Port aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare South Dennis with a neighbor →
Questions about South Dennis
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is South Dennis, MA a good place to live?
We don’t grade South Dennis yet; the figures below are still real.