Boston

Population & Demographics

Boston, MA

Boston is home to 666,442 people. Explore its demographics, housing, and economy — plus how its 347,517 resident workers commute each day.

MassachusettsCensus ACS 5-Year · LODES 2023
666,442
people
Population

666,442 residents

Median age 33.3 · U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year (2024).

Boston population & demographics

Who lives in Boston — population, age, housing, and income, from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Population
666,442
Median age
33.3yrs
Median household income
$97,344
Median home value
$731,700
Median gross rent
$2,147/mo
Bachelor’s degree or higher
54.9%
Poverty rate
16.6%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 2024 5-Year Estimates. Values shown as “—” are suppressed or unavailable for this place.

Race & ethnicity in Boston

How Boston breaks down by race and ethnicity — each bar is that group’s share of the population, from the U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year (2024).

White44.1%
Black19.3%
Hispanic or Latino19.3%
Asian10.3%
Two or more races5.9%
Some other race1.0%
American Indian / Alaska Native0.1%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander0.0%

Race across Boston

Each dot is a group of people, placed in their 2020 Census block and colored by race or ethnicity — the pattern shows where groups live across Boston.

Boston at a glance
Employed Residents
347,517
Fewer than the city’s total population
Median home–work distance
6.7mi
Straight-line, not road distance
Work Locally
54.7%
Share working within the area
Work from home
21.3%
Residents who work from home (ACS)
Top destination outside city
Cambridge
Excludes local — most work in-city

These figures are for Boston proper — the Census place within its city limits — not the surrounding metro area. Metro-wide totals you’ll see elsewhere are larger because they bundle in neighboring cities and suburbs.

How Boston commutes

Every dot is a worker moving between home and job. Trace where the area pulls people in from — and where its residents head each day.

43
Commute Score

43 / 100

How short the typical commute is here, on an absolute 0–100 scale (higher is shorter). How it’s calculated.

Boston

347,517 commutes, one dot at a time

Boston

Where 347,517 workers commute

Each dot ≈ 75 workers

Where residents work

Top destinations for people who live in Boston, by worker count.

1Boston0.0 mi190,083
2Cambridge3.8 mi24,509
3Newton6.3 mi8,306
4Waltham8.7 mi7,221
5Quincy5.9 mi6,015
6Somerville4.8 mi5,635
7Brookline2.4 mi5,414
8Needham7.9 mi3,537

Who commutes in

Top origin places for workers who travel into Boston.

1Boston0.0 mi190,083
2Quincy5.9 mi20,328
3Cambridge3.8 mi20,085
4Somerville4.8 mi16,040
5Brookline2.4 mi14,544
6Newton6.3 mi14,322
7Malden7.5 mi11,476
8Revere7.8 mi11,097

Top industries

The sectors that employ Boston’s workforce. Each bar is scaled to that sector’s share of all local jobs — the top sectors shown don’t add up to 100%.

Bar length = each sector’s share of all local jobs (0–100%)
HCHealth Care and Social Assistance20.4%
PTProfessional, Scientific, and Technical Services15.2%
EDEducational Services10.9%
FIFinance and Insurance10.2%
AFAccommodation and Food Services8.3%
PAPublic Administration5.4%
ADAdministrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services4.9%
RTRetail Trade4.3%
INInformation3.9%
Connectivity

Internet options for Boston

The biggest home-internet providers in the area — tap any to compare local plans.

4 providers · 1 with fiber
Speed availabilityshare of homes a plan reaches
1 Gbps~all homes
2 Gbps100%
5 Gbps
8 Gbps
See all internet providers in Boston

FindBetterInternet is a CensusFlow partner site — we link out so you can compare local plans, and CensusFlow’s Census data stays independent. Provider data is from the FCC National Broadband Map (satellite + fixed wireless excluded).