Fairhaven, Massachusetts.
Typical home $505,791 (+3.1% in a year), asking rent $2,062 . Providence-Warwick, RI-MA metro.
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$1,488 (+128%) since Jan 2020.
- 1 year
- Up $15,272 +3%
- $490,519$505,791 since Sep 2025
- 5 years
- Up $109,606 +28%
- $396,185$505,791 since Sep 2021
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- Fairhaven$2,655
- Massachusetts$3,439
- United States$1,922
At the last five years' pace, a typical home here doubles in price every 14 years.
Typical home values in Fairhaven, MA rose 3.1% over the past year — faster than the nation's +1.2%.
Living in Fairhaven, Bristol County, Massachusetts
Fairhaven is a town of 15,924 people in Bristol County. Half its households earn more than $95,965 a year and half less, against $85,625 across Bristol County; 8% of its people live below the poverty line. 74% of its homes are lived in by their owners and 26% are rented. Unemployment in Bristol County was 4.9% in August 2026, and the county had 1.2% fewer jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most residents work in schools and health care, then construction.
Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 23 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. Fairhaven is a coastal town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, across the harbor from New Bedford. Residents tend to be older than in many places, and most homes are lived in by their owners. Household incomes are above the county's, and the cost of buying a home is high. Winters are cold and snowy, with January the coldest month, while summers are warm, and rain and melted snow fall steadily through the year.
Work. Many residents work in schools, hospitals and social care, in the building trades, in restaurants, hotels and entertainment, and in shops. Among the largest workplaces in Fairhaven are Southcoast Business Center, Southcoast VNA and Fairhaven Schools. Commutes are moderate in length, and some residents work from home. Bristol County has seen job numbers slip a little and unemployment edge down slightly over the past year.
Things to do. Fort Phoenix, a fort in or beside town, is a natural place for a walk by the water. The New Bedford Whaling Museum and New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, both in or beside town, tell the story of the region's whaling past. For a longer drive, Battleship Cove is a museum of historic ships.
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- 7,134households
- 32%of adults have a degree
- 8%below the poverty line
- 28 mintypical commute
- 11%work from home
What residents work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Bristol County had 225,223 jobs in 2025, 1.2% fewer than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 38° and lows near 22°; warmest in July, with highs near 84° and lows near 67°. About 32 inches of snow and 52 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the New Bedford Coop weather station, 3 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Fairhaven
- Southcoast Business CenterHospitals, general medical and surgical438
- Southcoast VNAHospitals, general medical and surgical337
- Alden Court NursingSkilled nursing facilities258
- Fairhaven SchoolsSchool district241FTE
- WalmartDiscount department stores190
- Stop & ShopGrocery stores137
- Costa Brothers MasonryMasonry contractors80
- FairhavenSenior living42
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 11 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 1,589 people in all. School districts come from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24); FTE marks full-time equivalent staff. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- Inland floodingRelatively high
- Strong windRelatively high
- Ice stormsRelatively high
- HurricanesRelatively moderate
- Heat wavesRelatively moderate
- LightningRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms across Bristol County, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively moderate. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Bristol County and the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA metro.
Fairhaven home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
- Fairhaven$505,791
- Massachusetts$655,219
- United States$366,157
Sellers are cutting prices on about 1 in 3 Fairhaven listings — the market is roughly in balance.
When this market ran hot
Each cell is that month's year-on-year home-value growth. Read left to right, top row is the latest year — the 2021–22 band is the boom.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Share of listings with a price cut
The early-warning dial: sellers cut when buyers stop reaching. Rising cuts cool a market months before prices notice.
- Fairhaven29.28%
- United States26.90%
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Fairhaven36
New listings per month
Sellers arriving at the market.
- Fairhaven15
Zip codes with a Fairhaven address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Fairhaven — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.