The Brief – LocalDataStory

Barnstable County, MA

Data preview — facts only, interpretation to follow.

Top-line medians

This county vs a typical U.S. county and a typical county in MA.
	This county	Typical U.S.	Typical in-state	Source · year
Median household income	$95,241	$80,734	$103,960	ACS 5-yr · 2024
Median home value	$629,000	$332,700	$562,100	ACS 5-yr · 2024
Median age	55.4	38.9	40.0	ACS 5-yr · 2024

The oldest county in MA (1st of 14).

Housing stock & how it is used

Owner-occupied, rental, and vacant/seasonal units.
	Units	Share of stock	Source · year
Total housing units	166,215	100.0%	ACS 5-yr · 2024
Owner-occupied	85,753	51.6%	ACS 5-yr · 2024
Renter-occupied	20,024	12.0%	ACS 5-yr · 2024
Seasonal / recreational / occasional	55,061	33.1%	ACS 5-yr · 2024
Other vacant	5,377	3.2%	ACS 5-yr · 2024

Strongly owner-occupied — about 81% of occupied homes are owned.

Owner-occupancy (81%) runs above the typical U.S. county (65%), and higher owner-occupancy than most counties in MA (2nd of 14).

Seasonal share 33.1% vs 2.7% typical, higher than 97% of counties. Place type: Destination — seasonal housing alongside a visitor-services economy.

What this place does for a living

By employment

Largest private sectors by employment, plus government as a single employer. Pay ratio compares a sector's share of wages to its share of jobs (both shown above) — above 1.00× means a bigger share of wages than of jobs, below 1.00× a smaller share. State/National ratio are the same comparison for the county's state and the nation.
Sector	Employment	Share of jobs	Share of wages	Pay ratio	State ratio	National ratio	Source · year
Accommodation & Food Services	15,763	16.3%	10.0%	0.61×	0.37×	0.38×	QCEW · 2025
Health Care & Social Assistance	15,574	16.1%	18.3%	1.14×	0.76×	0.84×	QCEW · 2025
Retail Trade	14,431	15.0%	10.2%	0.68×	0.47×	0.56×	QCEW · 2025
Construction	7,141	7.4%	9.3%	1.26×	—	1.08×	QCEW · 2025
Professional, Scientific & Technical Services	4,620	4.8%	6.8%	1.42×	1.93×	1.72×	QCEW · 2025
Administrative & Waste Services	4,286	4.4%	4.3%	0.98×	0.71×	0.76×	QCEW · 2025
Other Services	3,565	3.7%	2.9%	0.78×	0.56×	0.70×	QCEW · 2025
Arts, Entertainment & Recreation	3,273	3.4%	2.4%	0.71×	0.56×	0.65×	QCEW · 2025
Transportation & Warehousing	2,223	2.3%	2.1%	0.91×	—	0.86×	QCEW · 2025
Government (all levels)	14,695	15.2%	18.4%	—	—	—	QCEW · 2025
Other private sectors (largest: Finance & Insurance (2.2%), Wholesale Trade (1.9%))	10,920	11.3%	15.3%	1.35×	—	—	QCEW · 2025

By pay ratio

Ranked by pay ratio, which compares a sector's share of wages to its share of jobs (both shown above) — above 1.00× means a bigger share of wages than of jobs, below 1.00× a smaller share. State/National ratio are the same comparison for the county's state and the nation. Sectors under 1% of county employment are folded into Other, to avoid spotlighting a handful of high earners as a sector-wide pattern.
Sector	Pay ratio	State ratio	National ratio	Share of jobs	Share of wages	Employment	Source · year
Finance & Insurance	2.09×	2.17×	1.93×	2.2%	4.6%	2,118	QCEW · 2025
Professional, Scientific & Technical Services	1.42×	1.93×	1.72×	4.8%	6.8%	4,620	QCEW · 2025
Construction	1.26×	—	1.08×	7.4%	9.3%	7,141	QCEW · 2025
Wholesale Trade	1.26×	1.34×	1.33×	1.9%	2.4%	1,788	QCEW · 2025
Health Care & Social Assistance	1.14×	0.76×	0.84×	16.1%	18.3%	15,574	QCEW · 2025
Administrative & Waste Services	0.98×	0.71×	0.76×	4.4%	4.3%	4,286	QCEW · 2025
Real Estate & Rental & Leasing	0.92×	1.15×	1.07×	1.3%	1.2%	1,228	QCEW · 2025
Transportation & Warehousing	0.91×	—	0.86×	2.3%	2.1%	2,223	QCEW · 2025
Other Services	0.78×	0.56×	0.70×	3.7%	2.9%	3,565	QCEW · 2025
Other private sectors (largest: Accommodation & Food Services (16.3%), Retail Trade (15.0%))	0.73×	—	—	40.7%	29.7%	39,253	QCEW · 2025

By concentration versus the nation

Where this county is most concentrated versus the nation (private location quotient > 1).
Sector	Concentration vs U.S.	Pay level vs U.S.	Source · year
Arts, Entertainment & Recreation	1.98×	1.08×	QCEW · 2025
Accommodation & Food Services	1.80×	1.57×	QCEW · 2025
Retail Trade	1.51×	1.24×	QCEW · 2025
Utilities	1.47×	1.10×	QCEW · 2025
Construction	1.40×	1.17×	QCEW · 2025

5 additional sectors withheld by BLS disclosure rules (unmeasurable, not zero) — folded into Other above rather than omitted.

Pay ratio, State ratio, and National ratio are shaded by comparing each sector's own three figures against each other, left to right — darker means higher relative to that same sector's other two figures, not a judgment of good or bad, and not a comparison to other sectors.

This county's total covered employment is 2.7% of its state's and 0.062% of the nation's total covered employment.

Who lives here

Sex
	People	Share	Source · year
Male	111,539	48.1%	ACS 5-yr · 2024
Female	120,129	51.9%	ACS 5-yr · 2024

Race & ethnicity (ethnicity overlaps race and is not additive).
	People	Share	Source · year
White alone	198,817	85.8%	ACS 5-yr · 2024
Black or African American alone	6,467	2.8%	ACS 5-yr · 2024
American Indian & Alaska Native alone	1,025	0.4%	ACS 5-yr · 2024
Asian alone	3,422	1.5%	ACS 5-yr · 2024
Native Hawaiian & Other Pacific Islander alone	0	0.0%	ACS 5-yr · 2024
Some other race alone	5,531	2.4%	ACS 5-yr · 2024
Two or more races	16,406	7.1%	ACS 5-yr · 2024
Hispanic or Latino (of any race)	8,561	3.7%	ACS 5-yr · 2024

Descriptive census profile — shown for context, not used to infer anything about the county's economy or outcomes.