Key Takeaways
•The short answer: For 2026 buyers comparing Scituate, Hingham, and Cohasset, the "cheapest" town depends on more than the list price. Taxes, coastal insurance, and upkeep can quietly re-rank which town actually fits your budget.
•The price gap is real: Scituate's single-family median sold price runs well under the Hingham and Cohasset list prices, which sit above $2M. But a bigger sticker price does not automatically mean a bigger tax bill — the rate matters as much as the price.
•The warning sign: Owning a home is getting more expensive across the country, so it pays to model every cost before you buy.
•The bottom line: Don't shop by sticker price. Run the full yearly cost — mortgage, taxes, and insurance — for each specific address before you make an offer.
# Scituate vs. Hingham vs. Cohasset: What Will Ownership Really Cost in 2026?
Is your mortgage payment only half the story?
It's June 2026. You're scrolling listings in Scituate, Hingham, and Cohasset, and the instinct is straightforward: find the lowest price, pick the town you love, and move forward.
That instinct can be expensive.
Your mortgage payment is only the beginning. For South Shore buyers, three costs sit on top of the loan before you've unpacked a single box:
•Property taxes
•Home insurance
•Maintenance and upkeep
On a coastal home priced between $1 million and $1.3 million, those extras can shift the answer fast. National figures on rising ownership costs are useful as backdrop, but they can't tell a Scituate or Hingham buyer what the local tax bill and coastal insurance premium will be at a specific address.
Don't fall in love with the list price. Study the total cost.
That's especially true when you're choosing between these three towns. Use the per-address checklist later in this guide to get the local numbers that actually matter.
Why do Scituate, Hingham, and Cohasset show up in the same search but not the same budget?
These three towns chase the same buyer profile — coastal setting, strong schools, South Shore lifestyle, Boston access, a long-term family home. But the ownership cost can look very different from one town to the next.
They also serve different price pools. Scituate's single-family median sold price sits well below the $2M-plus list prices in Hingham and Cohasset. A buyer shopping at $1M is rarely the same buyer shopping at $2M. So why compare them at all? Because buyers searching the South Shore coast routinely look across all three — and within a given price band, the cost ranking is far from obvious once you move past the list price.
Four costs drive that ranking:
•Property tax — the town's tax rate multiplied by the home's assessed value
•Coastal insurance — wind and flood exposure can meaningfully raise your premium
•Maintenance — salt air, storms, and older coastal homes carry real upkeep costs
•Commute tradeoffs — ferry, rail, and drive times can affect your broader monthly budget
Here's the Massachusetts detail most buyers miss: a lower tax rate does not always mean a lower tax bill. The rate is applied to the home's assessed value, and those values vary enormously across towns.
Sticker rates tell one story. Home values write the check.
Statewide, the average single-family tax bill for fiscal year 2026 is $8,113, according to Massachusetts Department of Local Services data.
South Shore Homeownership Cost Levers
Compares property tax, coastal insurance, and all-in ownership budget inputs buyers should verify for South Shore homes in fiscal year 2026.
| Category | What to Use | Source You Can Confirm |
|---|---|---|
| Annual property tax | Certified FY2026 rate × assessed value ÷ 1,000 | Local town assessor |
| Regional tax benchmark | $8,113 statewide average single-family bill | MA Dept. of Local Services |
| Coastal insurance | Get a real quote per address | Insurance carrier |
| All-in budget backstop | $28,500/year national average | National homeownership analysis |
Massachusetts residential rates also span a wide range — from a low of $2.18 per $1,000 of value to a high of $20.50, with a statewide average of $12.18.
Massachusetts 2026 Residential Property Tax Rate Range
Statewide residential property tax rates per $1,000 of assessed value for Massachusetts municipalities in 2026.
That spread is exactly why ranking towns by tax rate alone doesn't work. A cheaper home in a higher-rate town can sometimes cost more to carry than a pricier home in a lower-rate town. Most buyers miss this entirely.
Here's a worked example. A $1,000,000 home in a town with a $12.00 rate versus a $1,200,000 home in a town with a $9.00 rate:
•$1,000,000 × $12.00 ÷ 1,000 = $12,000 per year
•$1,200,000 × $9.00 ÷ 1,000 = $10,800 per year
The pricier home carries the lower tax bill. Price alone doesn't decide carrying cost — which is precisely why you have to run the math for each specific address.
The formula is simple:
Tax rate × assessed value ÷ 1,000 = annual property tax
To see it with a published figure: a $1.05M home in Newton at the town's $9.69 rate produces roughly $10,174.50 per year, per the Boston Home Team's FY2026 guide. Newton isn't a South Shore comparable — it's used here only to illustrate the math. Run that same formula for any Scituate, Hingham, or Cohasset address you're considering, and confirm the certified FY2026 rate and assessed value with the local assessor.
Is Scituate the best value entry point?
For many buyers, Scituate is the most accessible of the three towns on price.
The single-family median sold price is $986,500 — well above the condo median of $783,300, which means single-family buyers and condo buyers are working with very different budgets.
Scituate Median Sold Price by Property Type
Median sold price comparison for Scituate single-family homes and condos over the last 180 days.
Source:Repliers / MLSPIN
The overall market — single-family homes and condos combined — carries a median sold price of $980,750, and homes are moving quickly. The median days on market is just 15 — the typical time from listing to accepted offer.
Scituate Market Pulse: Overall Mixed Market, Last 180 Days
Headline Scituate market metrics from the mixed-property segment over the last 180 days, using primary MLSPIN data via Repliers.
Overall Mixed Market
Median Sold Price980,750
Median DOM15
Months of Inventory5.8
Source:Repliers / MLSPIN
The same snapshot shows roughly 5.8 months of inventory, meaning it would take about 5.8 months to sell every listed home at the current sales pace.
So yes, Scituate can be the value entry point. But the full cost still needs stress-testing.
What works in Scituate:
•The lower entry price can mean a lower base tax bill
•More accessible pricing may help your down payment stretch further
•Fast turnover gives buyers a steady flow of options
What can squeeze the budget:
•Scituate carries meaningful coastal exposure
•Flood and wind insurance can be a major swing factor
•Salt air and storm exposure raise upkeep on shore-facing homes
Carrying costs stack up. Mortgage, taxes, insurance, and renovation costs can all hit at once.
Scituate's lower sticker price is a genuine advantage — but it also comes with the highest coastal exposure of the three towns. Flood premiums and salt-air upkeep can erode a real portion of that price advantage. The value-entry-point edge holds up best for a home with limited flood exposure and sound, storm-ready condition. For a shore-facing or older property, insurance and upkeep can narrow the gap considerably. That's also why a Scituate fixer-upper demands extra caution: the town's value positioning assumes you're not simultaneously absorbing surprise coastal-repair costs.
For your wallet: Scituate can help you buy into the South Shore at a lower price point. Confirm the insurance quote before you fall in love with the house.
Are Hingham and Cohasset worth the higher sticker price?
Hingham and Cohasset almost always cost more up front. The question isn't whether you can find a lower entry price — you can't, not at the same scale as Scituate. The question is whether the lifestyle, location, and condition justify the higher yearly cost.
And remember the principle from above: a higher sticker price does not automatically mean higher carrying costs. A pricier home in a lower-rate town can sometimes carry more cheaply than a cheaper home in a higher-rate town. Run the tax formula for the specific address before you assume the costlier-looking town is costlier to own.
Is Hingham the right fit if you want commute access and turnkey homes?
Hingham draws buyers who want strong commuter options. Ferry and rail access can make daily life considerably easier if Boston is part of your routine, and the market reflects strong demand — homes sell in a median of about 18 days, per the Realtor Hotness Index.
The price point is a significant step up from Scituate. The median listing price sits around $2,090,000, per Realtor.com. That higher home value will generally push the yearly tax bill up, but how much depends on Hingham's certified rate — not the price alone.
For your wallet: Get Hingham's certified FY2026 rate and the home's assessed value, then run the formula before assuming what the tax bill looks like.
Is Cohasset the better choice if you want more negotiating room?
Cohasset can give buyers more negotiating power. The market is slower — about 7.4 months of supply, per local June 2026 market data from Realtor.com — meaning it would take roughly 7.4 months to sell all listed homes at the current sales pace. More time to negotiate is a real advantage.
The median list price is near $2M, per Realtor.com, with price per square foot around $676.
But slower market conditions don't automatically make ownership cheaper. The high price per square foot can lift both taxes and insurance, and coastal exposure keeps carrying costs elevated. Treat Cohasset's slower market as a negotiating tool, not a discount. The bargaining room helps on the purchase price. It does nothing for the ongoing tax and insurance bills, which still need to be modeled line by line.
For your wallet: Cohasset may offer more room to negotiate. The yearly cost can still be substantial once taxes and insurance are added.
One pattern worth noting from 2026 buyers:
Buyers want certainty. Turnkey homes consistently draw stronger interest, while fixer-uppers face more resistance.
That makes sense. When taxes, insurance, and mortgage payments are already high, most buyers have little appetite for surprise renovation costs on top.
What does a $1M or $1.3M South Shore home really cost to own?
The list price is not enough. You need to run the full cost for the specific address — and insurance is often the number that reshapes the comparison most dramatically.
For context, Massachusetts averages $669 for flood coverage. That's lower than Rhode Island, Maine, and Connecticut, but higher than New Hampshire.
2026 Flood Insurance Premiums: Massachusetts vs Nearby States
Average 2026 flood insurance premiums for Massachusetts and selected nearby Northeast states.
That $669 figure is a statewide average. A waterfront or flood-zone home can run several times that number. An inland home with no flood exposure may fall well below it. Consider two homes with similar mortgages and tax bills — one in a high flood-risk zone carrying a premium of several thousand dollars per year, the other inland near the statewide average. That gap alone can make the lower-list-price home the costlier one to own. You won't know which way it tips until you get the actual quote for each address.
Before you make an offer, work through this checklist:
•Confirm the certified FY2026 tax rate with the local assessor
•Check the home's assessed value
•Apply the tax formula: rate × assessed value ÷ 1,000
•Get a real home insurance quote
•If applicable, get a flood insurance quote for that specific address
•Add realistic maintenance for the home's age, condition, and coastal exposure
Only then do you know what the home truly costs.
South Shore Homeownership Cost Levers
Compares property tax, coastal insurance, and all-in ownership budget inputs buyers should verify for South Shore homes in fiscal year 2026.
| Category | What to Use | Source You Can Confirm |
|---|---|---|
| Annual property tax | Certified FY2026 rate × assessed value ÷ 1,000 | Local town assessor |
| Regional tax benchmark | $8,113 statewide average single-family bill | MA Dept. of Local Services |
| Coastal insurance | Get a real quote per address | Insurance carrier |
| All-in budget backstop | $28,500/year national average | National homeownership analysis |
Which town is the best financial fit in 2026?
There's no single "cheapest" town for every buyer — but that's not the same as saying the answer is a shrug. Once you run the full cost for a specific address, the ranking usually becomes clear.
Here's one concrete scenario. A buyer with a budget near $1M to $1.3M will likely find Scituate the cheapest to own — but only if the home sits outside a high flood-risk zone and is in sound, storm-ready condition. Add a high flood premium or significant coastal-repair needs, and that edge shrinks fast. A comparable, well-located home in a lower-rate stretch of Hingham could then carry just as cheaply, despite the higher price tier. That re-ranking doesn't happen by guesswork. It happens when you plug each town's certified rate and each home's insurance quote into the same formula.
Is Scituate best if sticker price matters most?
Often, yes. Scituate leads on entry price, with a single-family median sold price of $986,500.
Scituate Median Sold Price by Property Type
Median sold price comparison for Scituate single-family homes and condos over the last 180 days.
Source:Repliers / MLSPIN
That can make the mortgage and base tax burden more manageable. But insurance needs careful attention — particularly for shore-facing homes.
Best fit: Buyers who want coastal South Shore living at a lower entry point and are willing to price out insurance early in the process.
Is Hingham best if commute and condition matter most?
Hingham makes sense if you value commuter access and a more turnkey home. The higher price point typically means a larger tax bill, but confirm the certified rate before assuming how large.
Best fit: Buyers who can handle the higher carrying cost and want convenience, location, and strong resale demand.
Is Cohasset best if you want bargaining room and time?
Cohasset may give you more breathing room. The 7.4 months of supply can create real negotiating leverage — that's the time it would take to sell all listed homes at the current sales pace. High price per square foot and coastal exposure still factor into the carrying cost, though.
Best fit: Buyers who want a premium coastal town and are prepared to model the full yearly cost before sitting down to negotiate.
What should South Shore buyers do before making an offer this summer?
A fair objection: warnings about rising taxes and future budget pressures are speculative. A buyer today can't act on a forecast. That objection is largely right — and it points to the single most important rule. Anchor on the actual, certified current-year bill for the specific address you're buying. Statewide trends are useful context. They are not a substitute for the real cost at closing.
So before you commit this summer, do two things.
Confirm the certified FY2026 tax rate with the local assessor. Rates and exemptions can shift each fiscal year. Then get insurance quotes for the specific property — not town averages, not statewide figures.
And if you're considering a fixer-upper, be careful.
A fixer saves you money only when the discount is larger than the renovation, delay, and financing costs combined.
The right choice isn't always the lowest list price. It's the home whose true monthly cost fits your family's budget for years — not just at closing.
If you want to compare a specific Scituate, Hingham, or Cohasset listing, send the address and asking price. We can help you run the full ownership-cost picture before you make an offer.
