Chatham is a somewhat small coastal town (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Massachusetts. With a population of 6,711 people and two associated neighborhoods, Chatham is the 225th largest community in Massachusetts. Chatham home prices are not only among the most expensive in Massachusetts, but Chatham real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.Chatham is a decidedly white-collar town, with fully 86.06% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Chatham is a town of professionals, managers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Chatham who work in management occupations (14.80%), office and administrative support (13.35%), and sales jobs (9.85%). Of important note, Chatham is also a town of artists. Chatham has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Chatham’s character. Also of interest is that Chatham has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 25.46% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes. Another notable thing is that Chatham is a major vacation destination. Much of the town’s population is seasonal: many people own second homes and only live there part-time, during the vacation season. The effect on the local economy is that many of the businesses are dependent on tourist dollars, and may operate only during the high season. As the vacation season ends, Chatham’s population drops significantly, such that year-round residents will notice that the city is a much quieter place to live. Because of many things, Chatham is a very good place for families to consider. With an enviable combination of good schools, low crime, college-educated neighbors who tend to support education because of their own experiences, and a high rate of home ownership in predominantly single-family properties, Chatham really has some of the features that families look for when choosing a good community to raise children. Is Chatham perfect? Of course not, and if you like frenetic nightlife, it will be far from your cup of tea. But overall this is a solid community, with many things to recommend it as a family-friendly place to live. The town is relatively quiet, having a combination of lower population density and few of those groups of people who have a tendency to be noisy. For example, Chatham has relatively fewer families with younger children, and/or college students. Combined, this makes Chatham a pretty quiet place to live overall. If you like quiet, you will probably enjoy it here. One of the nice things about Chatham is that it is nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Because of this, visitors and locals will often go to these areas to take in the scenery or to enjoy waterfront activities. Do you like to read, write and learn? If you move to Chatham, you'll likely find that many of your neighbors like to as well. Chatham is one of the more educated communities in America, with a full 60.71% of its adults having a college degree or even advanced degree, compared to a national average across all communities of 21.84%. The per capita income in Chatham in 2022 was $89,747, which is wealthy relative to Massachusetts and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $358,988 for a family of four. However, Chatham contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. The people who call Chatham home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Chatham residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Chatham include Irish, English, German, Italian, and Scottish. The most common language spoken in Chatham is English. Other important languages spoken here include French Creole and Spanish.
