Census-designated place · Barnstable County, Massachusetts

Dennis, Massachusetts

Dennis is a census-designated place in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, part of the Barnstable Town, MA metro area. It has 2,424 residents. Dennis, Massachusetts has a quality-of-life score of 98 out of 100 (very high), ranking #309 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Massachusetts it ranks #14 of 225 cities and towns. It ranks best on restaurants and bars (high), students per teacher (low) and arts, entertainment and recreation (high). It ranks worst on home price to income ratio (high), drought exposure (high) and child care cost burden (high).

98Very high

Quality-of-life score: #309 of 15,651 cities and towns
Massachusetts: #14 of 225 in MA
Population: 2,424 (2020-2024)
Land area: 5 mi²
Density: 493.6 /mi²
FIPS code: 2516740

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 75 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety78#3,349/15,637
Economy74#4,115/15,631
Housing49#7,641/14,977
Health86#2,142/15,609
Healthcare94#900/15,650
Environment85#2,367/15,453
Education95#852/15,649
Infrastructure96#637/15,650
Community89#1,701/15,651
Leisure & amenities99#139/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Dennis, Massachusetts ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Barnstable County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Restaurants and bars · high17.7 /10k
98/100Massachusetts 9.1 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsBarnstable County value
Students per teacher · low10.3×
97/100Massachusetts 11.9×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsBarnstable County value
Arts, entertainment and recreation · high11.6 /10k
96/100Massachusetts 5.9 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsBarnstable County value
Hot days · low1 days
96/100Massachusetts 8 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationBarnstable County value
Physical inactivity · low14.7%
96/100Massachusetts 19.8%United States 26.5%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Flu vaccinations · high56.0%
96/100Massachusetts 55.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBarnstable County value

Weaknesses

Home price to income ratio · high8.6×
3/100Massachusetts 5.4×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Drought exposure · high83%
9/100Massachusetts 44%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAABarnstable County value
Child care cost burden · high37.6%
15/100Massachusetts 39.7%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBarnstable County value
Job growth · low-1.7%
16/100Massachusetts -0.9%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataBarnstable County value
Distance to an Amtrak station · high55 mi
24/100Massachusetts 11 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauBarnstable County value
Distance to an emergency room · high8.1 mi
25/100Massachusetts 4.1 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesBarnstable County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
2,307 (2015-2019) → 2,424 (2020-2024)
+5.1%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
46.2% (2015-2019) → 28.4% (2020-2024)
−18 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
5.6× (2015-2019) → 8.6× (2020-2024)
+54%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Average commute timeImproving
32.7 min (2015-2019) → 15.6 min (2020-2024)
−52%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
87.6% (2015-2019) → 97.3% (2020-2024)
+9.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Child poverty rateImproving
15.0% (2015-2019) → 7.6% (2020-2024)
−7.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Dennis, Massachusetts improved on 3 of 8 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 4 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved3

Commute−17.1 min32.7 min → 15.6 min
Broadband+9.6 points87.6% → 97.3%
Household income+21%$90,795 → $109,882

Declined1

Price / income+3.0×5.6× → 8.6×

All 8 measures

Change of every measure of Dennis, Massachusetts between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	32.7 min2015-2019	15.6 min2020-2024	−17.1 min	Improved	100%
Bachelor's degree or higher	51.0%2015-2019	56.5%2020-2024	+5.6 points	Within the margin of error	71%
Broadband subscriptions	87.6%2015-2019	97.3%2020-2024	+9.6 points	Improved	58%
Effective property tax rate	0.50%2015-2019	0.49%2020-2024	−0 points	Within the margin of error	18%
High school diploma or higher	93.2%2015-2019	98.5%2020-2024	+5.3 points	Within the margin of error	83%
Home price to income ratio	5.6×2015-2019	8.6×2020-2024	+3.0×	Declined	1%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4272015-2019	0.4482020-2024	+0.021	Within the margin of error	33%
Median household income	$90,7952015-2019	$109,8822020-2024	+21%	Improved	35%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Dennis, Massachusetts five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Dennis, Massachusetts in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Dennis, Massachusetts itself moved +12.5 points in standing on average over the same 8 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

2,424 residents (±285)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

1,139 households (±143)

Dennis, Massachusetts
Massachusetts share

Under $25k7.1%†81
$25k–50k9.5%†108
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

1,139 households (±143)

Dennis, Massachusetts
Massachusetts share

Own86%977
Rent14%†162

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

824 workers (±148)

Dennis, Massachusetts
Massachusetts share

Drive alone63%523
Carpool2.1%†17
Public transit1.8%†15

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Barnstable Town, MA

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Barnstable County, the county holding most of Dennis's residents.

Barnstable County has 8,957 employer establishments, 383 for every 10,000 residents (1.54× the US rate of 248; 1.48× Massachusetts's), with 76,963 paid employees at an average annual pay of $61,811. The Census Bureau also counts 28,874 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 8,957; 28,874 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 383; US 248 · Massachusetts 260
Paid employees: 76,963
Average annual pay: $61,811; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Barnstable County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Specialty trade contractors	910	39	2.52×More than typical	4,145	$72,291	3,116
Restaurants and other eating places	813	34.8	1.90×More than typical	9,234	$47,055	100
Services to buildings and dwellings	617	26.4	3.92×More than typical	2,797	$63,721	2,134
Construction of buildings	562	24.1	3.18×More than typical	2,413	$78,221	1,249
Ambulatory health care services	486	20.8	1.00×About typical	6,523	$69,830	1,294
Landscaping services	478	20.5	5.84×More than typical	2,236	$65,708	776
Full-service restaurants	446	19.1	2.49×More than typical	5,822	$53,201	43
Lessors of real estate	388	16.6	1.35×More than typical	1,180	$59,390	3,699
Building equipment contractors	356	15.2	2.53×More than typical	2,130	$73,771	529
Building finishing contractors	272	11.6	3.06×More than typical	740	$59,107	1,658
Clothing and accessories stores	219	9.4	2.58×More than typical	1,496	$32,830	231
Limited-service restaurants	215	9.2	1.15×About typical	2,041	$39,789	30

Rank places for an industry Open Barnstable County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 233,592 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $2.2M of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Dennis, Massachusetts: $887 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $2.2M
Per resident: $887; US $1,994
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.0%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration$2.2M100%

Top recipients

OCEAN SURVEYS, INC.$2.2M100%

Spending by fiscal year

28.3FY2019
2.2MFY2026

What was bought

Construction & real property$2.2M100%

Top industries (NAICS)

Architectural, engineering, and related services · 5413$2.2M100%

Largest awards whose ZIP code lies mostly in Dennis, Massachusetts

NOS, OCS, HSD HYDROGRAPHIC SURVEYING SERVICES - CAPE COD, MA (OSI) IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE HYDROGRAPHIC SERVICES IMPROVEMENT ACT; PACKAGE OR-26-00285 APPROVED ON JANUARY 6, 2026$2.6M
OCEAN SURVEYS, INC.· Barnstable County, MA· Construction & real property· Mar 5, 2026 – Jul 31, 2026· 1305M226F0043

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Dennis, Massachusetts, so they do not add up across cities.

Dennis, Massachusetts's figures are part of those of Barnstable County, MA ($136.1M in FY2026), never added to them: 1.6% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Dennis is mostly in Barnstable County.

See federal money in Barnstable County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Dennis, Massachusetts is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

William R. KeatingD-MA-9 · 100% of residentsWith party 98%Missed 4.6%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Barnstable County95100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Barnstable Town, MA97

Other cities and towns in Barnstable County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/2516740

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends