county

Barnstable County, MA

Demographic and economic profile of Barnstable County, MA, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Barnstable County, MA — Cape Cod's sole county — is a seasonal, recreation-oriented economy with a 232,570 population that has grown 7.7% over five years, driven largely by in-migration rather than employment base expansion, reflected in a labor force participation rate of just 59.3%. The workforce skews older (median age 55.4) and is well-educated, with 47.4% holding a bachelor's degree or higher, though median worker earnings of $49,548 trail the county's median household income of $95,241, suggesting a mix of retiree wealth and lower-wage service employment. Housing costs are high relative to wages — median home values of $575,900 and rents of $1,596/month — while a low poverty rate of 7.4% and 81.1% homeownership rate point to an established, asset-holding residential base.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

232,570

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Household Income

$95,241

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

55.4 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+7.7% since 2018

Barnstable County added population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone198,817 (85.8%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race10,081 (4.4%)
  • Black or African American Alone6,467 (2.8%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races6,325 (2.7%)
  • Some Other Race Alone5,531 (2.4%)
  • Asian Alone3,422 (1.5%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Other Indo-European10,751
  2. 2.Spanish4,596
  3. 3.Russian, Polish, or other Slavic1,979
  4. 4.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)1,974
  5. 5.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)1,195

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

14.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

53.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

32.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

9.9%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

14,125

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$61,651

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$60,325

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

4.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

7.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance27,373
  2. 2.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services16,792
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)13,194
  4. 4.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services11,656
  5. 5.Construction (Group)10,624

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations51,210
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations21,102
  3. 3.Service Occupations20,429
  4. 4.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations11,027
  5. 5.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations8,274

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Construction (LQ 1.40×)10,948
  2. 2.Arts, Entertainment, Recreation, & Accommodation (LQ 1.18×)11,758
  3. 3.Professional, Scientific, & Management (LQ 1.15×)16,129
  4. 4.Retail Trade (LQ 1.08×)13,272
  5. 5.Public Administration (LQ 1.06×)5,697

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$575,900

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$1,596/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

81.1%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $500,000 to $749,99929,262 (34.1%)
  • $750,000 to $999,99914,107 (16.5%)
  • $400,000 to $499,99913,784 (16.1%)
  • $1,000,000 to $1,499,9997,931 (9.2%)
  • $300,000 to $399,9997,099 (8.3%)
  • $1,500,000 to $1,999,9993,462 (4.0%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

47.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

96.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

59.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$49,548

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

24.8 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

4.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone79,236 (72.1%)
  • Worked At Home17,586 (16.0%)
  • Carpooled7,659 (7.0%)
  • Walked2,095 (1.9%)
  • Public Transit1,308 (1.2%)
  • Other1,074 (1.0%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.