Welcome to Orleans ...
Orleans is located on Cape Cod Bay.
Orleans is located in Barnstable County<1>.
Orleans was settled in 1693 and was incorporated in 1797.
From the Census Estimates for 2019, Orleans has a population of 5,789 people<2> (see below for details).
Orleans is 50 feet [15 m] above sea level.<3>.
Time Zone: Orleans lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time
Area Codes for Orleans: 508 & 774<4>
The ZIP code for Orleans: 02653<5>
Population Details ...
Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Orleans had an population of 5,789 people. This is a decrease of 1.71% since the 2010 Census (or a decrease of 8.71% since the 2000 Census).
At the time of the 2010 Census, Orleans had a population of 5,890 people. This makes Orleans the county's 12th most populous community.
The population of Orleans represents 0.09% of the population of Massachusetts (which has 6,547,629 people), making it the state's 234th most populous community.
With a 2010 count of 5,890 people, the population of Orleans decreased 7.11% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 6,341 people).
More information can be found on the Census Page for Orleans.
Communities Also Named Orleans ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 19 communities that are also named Orleans - they are located in California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa (2), Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Ontario, Oregon, South Dakota and Vermont.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Orleans.
Websites for Orleans ...
Official Website: www.town.orleans.ma.us/
Communities near Orleans ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Orleans.
- Barnstable
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Barnstable is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barnstable
- Population from the 2010 Census: 45,193 people
- Barnstable has also been known as:
- Barnstable Village
- Yarmouth
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Yarmouth is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yarmouth
- Population from the 2020 Census: 23,166 people
- Dennis
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Dennis is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dennis
- Population from the 2020 Census: 13,890 people
- Harwich
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Harwich is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harwich
- Population from the 2020 Census: 12,144 people
- Chatham
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Chatham is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chatham
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,994 people
- Wellfleet
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Wellfleet is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellfleet
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,728 people
- Truro
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Truro is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Truro
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,007 people
- Eastham
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Eastham is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastham
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,902 people
- Brewster
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Brewster is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brewster
- Population from the 2020 Census: 9,772 people
- North Eastham
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- North Eastham is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Eastham
To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.
We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Orleans. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Orleans.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Orleans. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Orleans.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Orleans. See our Newspapers Page for Orleans.
Adding Orleans to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Orleans in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.
From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found (so far) for Orleans was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>
From that list, the Orleans post office opened in 1800.
For more details, see References and Mentions for Orleans.
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of Massachusetts' counties, including Barnstable, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Orleans. |
| <3> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Orleans - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <4> | When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 508 code has been Overlayed with the 774 area code. New phone numbers in the Orleans area will be assigned with one of these codes: 508 or 774. As a result, placing a call in the Orleans area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number). |
| <5> | ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a community (such as Orleans). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Orleans or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS). |
| <6> | A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:
https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |