Who we are -- by the numbers anyway
Stats don’t say it all by a longshot, but they're revealing
In prizefighting they call it “the tale of the tape,” you lay out stats that reveal physical details of both boxers – weight, height, reach, record.
All are important, but none define intangibles that matter even more – heart, smarts, stubbornness, competitive fire.
In the public world, when we compile stats we don’t use such a cool phrase. We say “demographics.”
The numbers capture our collective profile, but don’t define intangibles that matter more – quality of life, state of mind, personal relationships, family histories.
Still, damn interesting.
So with big help from Cape Cod Healthcare’s “Community Health Needs Assessment, 2023-2025,” which has many more interesting stats included, here’s a selective Cape Cod tale of the tape.
The numbers are grist, gleaned from the United States census and other sources. Many make me muse, so I’ve added notes along the way.
GENERALLY SPEAKING
Cape Cod year-round population, 2020: 228,996
Growth since 2010: 6.1%
Largest town population:
Barnstable, approx. 49,000
Smallest town population:
Truro, approx. 2500
Percent of total population living in three towns -- Barnstable, Falmouth and Yarmouth:
Nearly 50%
Homes that are owner occupied:
Cape Cod: 79.6% (rented, 20.4%)
Massachusetts as a whole: 62.5% (rented, 37.5%)
Big picture note: The Cape’s population growth occurred entirely in the second half of the decade, since 2016. This was too early to be a COVID impact, though there is no doubt we will see that trend accelerate into the early 2020s, as COVID encouraged some people to retire early and allowed others to work remotely.
YES, WE’RE OLD
Median age, Cape Cod: 53.7 years
Median age, Massachusetts: 39.6 years
Cape Cod population 45 and older: 60.1%
Massachusetts 45+: 43.4%
Cape Cod population 65 and older: 30.4%
Massachusetts 65+: 16.5%
Cape Cod population 75 and older: 13.2%
Massachusetts 75+: 7.0%
Oldest Cape towns:
Eastham: 43% 65+
Orleans: 45.5% 65+
Chatham: 46.7% 65+
Demographic note: It’s good that 65 is the new 50. Even so, with more than 13 percent of us having lived 75 years or more, we not only constitute the oldest communities in Massachusetts, we rank nationwide.
WORKING
People employed in education, service, health care or social assistance:
Cape Cod: 25.2%
Massachusetts: 28.2%
People employed in arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation, and food:
Cape Cod: 11.2%
Massachusetts: 8.2%
People employed in construction:
Cape Cod: 10.2%
Massachusetts: 5.8%
Employment note: The Cape being strong in arts and rec, accommodations and food, is no surprise. But the big number of construction jobs per capita compared to the rest of the state is eye-opening.
Annual unemployment, 2020:
Cape Cod: 10.8%
Massachusetts: 9.4%
Annual unemployment, 2021:
Cape Cod: 6.7%
Massachusetts: 5.7%
Unemployment by town:
COVID note: Unemployment stats offer another indicator of COVID’s economic impact in 2020, with a rebound in 2021. The Outer Cape remains the most seasonal, especially Provincetown, which for more than a generation has reported highest year-round unemployment percentages.
Residents below the federal poverty line:
Cape Cod: 6.4%
Massachusetts: 10.4%
Residents defined as “food insecure”:
Cape Cod: 7.1%
Massachusetts: 8.2%
Cape Cod “food insecure” under 18 years old: 9.6%
Massachusetts “food insecure” under 18: 8.9%
Inequality note: Cape Cod has fewer people below the poverty line than Massachusetts as a whole (likely due to our older population). That gap lessens when looking at food insecurity, then not only vanishes but reverses when looking at people under 18 years old — a most disturbing statistic.
LANGUAGE TIDBIT
Foreign-born residents:
Cape Cod: 8.4%
Massachusetts: 16.9%
Residents who speak a language other than English at home:
Cape Cod: 9.4%
Massachusetts: 23.9%
Language note: “A maioria de vocês não entende o que acabei de escrever” – Most of you don’t know what I just wrote (Brazilian Portuguese). “E sa toujou vre” – And that’s still true (Haitian Creole).
HEALTH CARE SNAPSHOTS
People using emergency rooms at Cape Cod and Falmouth Hospitals:
Approximately 120,000 people a year (combined).
Note from Cape Cod Healthcare’s Senior Development Officer Chris Lawson: This is a larger annual figure than any single emergency room north of Manhattan, and if summer volume turned into a year-round experience, we’d be off the charts.
Opioid-related overdose deaths per 100,000, 2020:
Cape Cod: 35.6%
Massachusetts: 30.6%
Of those deaths on Cape Cod, percentage of total that occurred in 4 towns (Barnstable, Falmouth, Dennis, Yarmouth):
63%
Context note: This does not suggest drug clustering, though it might appear so, because those 4 towns also account for roughly that percent of total population. This epidemic is everywhere.
Diagnosed female breast cancer per 100,000, 2014-2018:
Cape Cod: 156.1
Massachusetts: 137.4
Diagnosed male prostate cancer, 2014-2018:
Cape Cod: 118.9
Massachusetts: 107.9
Military note: For years there have been arguments that the Cape’s higher breast and prostate cancer rates are due to the Massachusetts Military Reservation’s pollution. With base activity much diminished, and massive water cleanup efforts ongoing, that cause-and-effect argument becomes harder to make as elevated rates continue. An obvious factor keeps suggesting itself: Our population’s age.
Tick-borne disease emergency room visits per 10,000 population, 2021:
Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket: 110.07
Cape Cod: 13.15
State ranking for frequency: One and two
Tick note: This should not be considered a true total of people infected by Lyme or other tick-borne illnesses; people get treatment in doctors’ offices or clinics. But as an apples-to-apples state-wide comparison it has merit, and the numbers from the islands are astounding.
COVID’S PROFILE:
Reported COVID cases, 2020-2022:
Cape Cod: 37,910
As percent of population: 16.6%
Town with most cases:
Barnstable, 4869
Town with least cases:
Wellfleet, 119
Towns with highest vaccination rates (over 95%):
Wellfleet, Truro, Provincetown, Orleans, Eastham
Political note: Again, we know that reported COVID cases is only a subset of people infected (many people who test positive at home don’t report to health authorities), so 16.6% is a very low figure; anecdotal wisdom says the true infection rate could be 50% or more. Meanwhile, it can’t be coincidence that towns reporting the highest vaccination rates, the Outer Cape, also show the highest Democratic voter turnouts in every election.
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Very interesting - thank you!
Fabulous article, Seth! Manny thanks!