Boston is a city located in Suffolk County Massachusetts. Boston has a 2023 population of 617,459. It is also the county seat of Suffolk County.Boston is currently declining at a rate of -2.89% annually and its population has decreased by -8.43% since the most recent census, which recorded a population of 674,272 in 2020.
The average household income in Boston is $120,939 with a poverty rate of 17.61%. The median rental costs in recent years comes to - per month, and the median house value is -. The median age in Boston is 32.6 years, 32.2 years for males, and 32.9 years for females.
Boston is the capital and largest city in Massachusetts in the United States. It's also the largest city in New England and represents the 23rd largest city in the US. Boston was founded in 1630, making it one of the oldest cities in the country, and it was the scene of many important events in the American Revolution. Today, the city is an international center for medicine and higher learning.
This city of 90 square miles is home to one of the most densely populated regions in the United States. The city had a population of 618,000 people in 2010, which has increased to approximately {pop}.
The city of Boston is home to an estimated 667,137 people in 2016, although the Greater Boston area is home to an estimated 4.7 million, making it the 10th largest metropolitan area in the United States. As a commuting region, Greater Boston has an even larger population of 8.1 million, which makes it the 6th largest Combined Statistical Area in the country.
Boston has a density of 13,841 people per square mile (5,344/square kilometer), and Greater Boston is the 4th most densely populated region in the United States, after New York Metro Area, Greater Los Angeles, and South Florida Metro Area. Somerville, a city just north of Boston and included in its metropolitan area, has the highest population density of 18,431.6 people per square mile.
Interestingly, Boston's actual population fluctuates rapidly between day and night, as well as during special events. It's estimated that 1.2 million people are in the city during work hours, and 2 million during special events in the city, as hundreds of thousands of residents in the suburbs commute to the city for education, health care, and work.
Whites represented a 94.7% majority of the city's population in 1950, but the percentage of non-Hispanic whites in the region declined for much of the next 50 years. By 2000, non-Hispanic whites accounted for just 49.5% of the population, which made Boston a majority-minority city for the first time in its history. Over the last decade, the city has experienced a great deal of gentrification, and the percentage of non-Hispanic whites was starting to grow. By 2010, this trend reversed once more, partially due to the housing crash, and the minority population rebounded in Boston.
The single largest ethnic group in Boston is Irish, which accounts for 15.8% of the population, followed by Italians with 8.3% of the population. Those of West Indian ancestry account for 6% of Boston's population, and some areas have seen a great deal of immigration from Vietnam recently, while other areas are seeing an increase in the number of Dominican Americans. South Asians account for a substantial amount of Boston's immigration, and the city has the 10th largest Indian population in the United States.
There are also about 25,000 Jews in Boston, or 227,000 in its metropolitan area, while nearby communities like Newton are nearly one-third Jewish.
Boston is experiencing colossal growth lately thanks to an immigration boom, and the Boston area gained close to 55,000 residents in the two years following the 2010 Census, according to 2013 estimates from the Census Bureau. This is also the first time Boston's population has passed 600,000 since the 1970s.
While the state's population growth of 1.5% is just behind the nation's rate of 1.7%, Massachusetts as a whole is still doing better than most of the country, and it's now the fastest growing state in the Northeast.
It seems most of the growth in the state is comprised of immigrants, who have been critical to the state's growth over the past ten years. Without immigration, the state's population would have declined.
In 1990, Boston's population was 20% foreign-born, but this number has grown to 27% and shows signs of increasing. Recent immigrants to the area come mostly from Latin America and Asia, and many are coming for science and technology jobs.
Thanks to this immigration boom, Boston's population is also growing younger, as nearly one-third of its residents are 20-34, which is younger than most other major cities in the country.
Boston is growing at its fastest rate in decades, which is transforming the city with more than 5,000 homes in development. While immigrants and young families are moving to Boston, so too are major companies, which are attracted by talented workers in the region.
To keep up with this rapid growth, Boston is now attempting to rapidly expand housing with plans for 30,000 new housing units by 2020. The city's population growth rate of 3.1% is expected to continue through at least 2020, reaching around 780,000 to 790,000 by the next Census in 2020.
According to the most recent ACS, the racial composition of Boston was:
3.08
Average Family Size
2.3
Average Household Size
34.8%
Rate of Home Ownership
Married
Male
Female
NonFamily
owner
renter
Only English
Spanish
Other Indo-European Languages
Asian and Pacific Island Languages
Other Languages
63.42% of Boston residents speak only English, while 36.58% speak other languages. The non-English language spoken by the largest group is Spanish, which is spoken by 16.4% of the population.
17.61%
Overall Poverty Rate
16.16%
Male Poverty Rate
18.96%
Female Poverty Rate
The race most likely to be in poverty in Boston is Islander, with 39.4% below the poverty level.
The race least likely to be in poverty in Boston is White, with 10.33% below the poverty level.
The poverty rate among those that worked full-time for the past 12 months was 1.74%. Among those working part-time, it was 22.37%, and for those that did not work, the poverty rate was 38.81%.
Married
Widowed
Divorced
Separated
NeverMarried
30.9%
Overall Marriage Rate
33.5%
Male Marriage Rate
28.5%
Female Marriage Rate
male
female
The age group where males are most likely to be married is Over 65, while the female age group most likely to be married is 55-64.
Married
Widowed
Divorced
Separated
NeverMarried
Less Than 9th Grade
High School Graduate
Some College
Bachelors or Greater
11.93%
Veteran Poverty Rate
30.83%
Veteran Disability Rate
LaborForceParticipation
69.7%
Labor Force Participation
64.8%
Employment Rate
6.9%
Unemployment Rate
LaborForceParticipation
LaborForceParticipation
Europe
Asia
Africa
Oceania
Latin America
North America
Non citizens include legal permanent residents (green card holders), international students, temporary workers, humanitarian migrants, and illegal immigrants.
Europe
Asia
Africa
Oceania
Latin America
North America
46.13%
Born in Boston
76.76%
Native Born
30.02%
Foreign Born
14.67%
Non Citizen
15.35%
Naturalized
76.76% of Boston residents were born in the United States, with 46.13% having been born in Massachusetts. 14.67% of residents are not US citizens. Of those not born in the United States, the largest percentage are from Latin America.