Cost of Living & Housing in Orleans
Orleans's cost of living pairs real, substantial Cape Cod housing costs with a genuinely favorable effective property tax rate below both the national and Massachusetts medians.
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Learn moreReal, substantial housing costs, disclosed across sources
Orleans's housing figures run consistently high but vary by source: Zillow's average home value ran $1,071,808 as of April 30, 2026; the Cape Cod Commission's 2024 figure put the median sale price at $970,000; Realtor.com's March 2026 figure cited a $1,124,900 median listing price for Orleans's zip code. All three sit well above Massachusetts's and the national median (base record).
A moderate rate within Cape Cod's wide regional range
Orleans's official FY2026 tax rate ran $6.11 per $1,000 of assessed value, fairly moderate within Cape Cod's real, disclosed regional range of $3.47 to over $10.19 per $1,000 across the region's 15 towns. Ownwell's separate 2026 effective-rate figure (0.62% of market value) runs below both the national median (1.02%) and the Massachusetts median (1.15%) (base record).
Cape Cod's distinct, vacation-home-driven housing dynamic
Orleans shares Cape Cod & the Islands' real, distinct housing dynamic disclosed at the state level -- driven substantially by vacation-home and short-term-rental concentration rather than the same underlying-supply mechanics behind Greater Boston's shortage (see massachusetts.js).
A less extreme seasonal swing than Provincetown's
Orleans's year-round population has held roughly stable near 6,000, with a real seasonal population reaching approximately 22,000 -- a genuine, disclosed seasonal swing, though meaningfully less dramatic than Provincetown's roughly 16x summer surge (base record).
Key takeaways
- Orleans's housing costs run $970,000-$1,124,900 depending on source and date, well above Massachusetts and national medians.
- Orleans's effective property tax rate (0.62%) runs below both the national (1.02%) and Massachusetts (1.15%) medians.
- Orleans's $6.11-per-$1,000 mill rate sits fairly moderately within Cape Cod's own wide $3.47-$10.19 regional range.
- Orleans's seasonal population swing (roughly 6,000 to 22,000) is real but meaningfully less extreme than Provincetown's.
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