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Boston[a] is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It has an area of 48.4 sq mi (125 km2)[9] and a population of 675,647 as of the 2020 census, making it the third-largest city in the Northeastern United States after New York City and Philadelphia.[4] The larger Greater Boston metropolitan statistical area has a population of 4.9 million as of 2023, making it the largest in the New England division and the eleventh-largest in the country.[10][11][12]

Boston was founded on the Shawmut Peninsula in 1630 by Puritan settlers. The city was named after Boston, Lincolnshire, England.[13][14] During the American Revolution, Boston was home to several events that proved central to the revolution and subsequent Revolutionary War, including the Boston Massacre (1770), the Boston Tea Party (1773), Paul Revere's Midnight Ride (1775), the Battle of Bunker Hill (1775), and the Siege of Boston (1775–1776). Following American independence from Great Britain, the city continued to play an important role as a port, manufacturing hub, and center for education and culture.[15][16] The city also expanded significantly beyond the original peninsula by filling in land and annexing neighboring towns. Boston's many firsts include the United States' first public park (Boston Common, 1634),[17] the first public school (Boston Latin School, 1635),[18] and the first subway system (Tremont Street subway, 1897).[19]

Boston has emerged as a global leader in higher education and research[20] and the largest biotechnology hub in the world.[21] The city is also a national leader in scientific research, law, medicine, engineering, and business. With nearly 5,000 startup companies, the city is considered a global pioneer in innovation and entrepreneurship,[22][23][24] and more recently in artificial intelligence.[25] Boston's economy also includes finance,[26] professional and business services, information technology, and government activities.[27] Boston households provide the highest average rate of philanthropy in the nation,[28] and the city's businesses and institutions rank among the top in the nation for environmental sustainability and new investment.[29]

Etymology

Isaac Johnson, in one of his last official acts as the leader of the Charlestown community before he died on September 30, 1630, named the then-new settlement across the river "Boston". The settlement's name came from Johnson's hometown of Boston, Lincolnshire, from which he, his wife (namesake of the Arbella) and John Cotton (grandfather of Cotton Mather) had emigrated to New England. The name of the English town ultimately derives from its patron saint, St. Botolph, in whose church John Cotton served as the rector until his emigration with Johnson. In early sources, Lincolnshire's Boston was known as "St. Botolph's town", later contracted to "Boston". Before this renaming, the settlement on the peninsula had been known as "Shawmut" by William Blaxton and "Tremontaine"[30] by the Puritan settlers he had invited.[31][32][33][34][35]

History

Main article: History of Boston

For a chronological guide, see Timeline of Boston.

Indigenous era

Prior to European colonization, the region surrounding present-day Boston was inhabited by the Massachusett people who had small, seasonal communities.[36][37] When a group of settlers led by John Winthrop arrived in 1630, the Shawmut Peninsula was nearly empty of the Native people, as many had died of European diseases brought by early settlers and traders.[38][39] Archaeological excavations unearthed one of the oldest fishweirs in New England on Boylston Street, which Native people constructed as early as 7,000 years before European arrival in the Western Hemisphere.[37][36][40]

European settlement

The first European to live in what would become Boston was a Cambridge-educated Anglican cleric named William Blaxton. He was the person most directly responsible for the foundation of Boston by Puritan colonists in 1630. This occurred after Blaxton invited one of their leaders, Isaac Johnson, to cross Back Bay from the failing colony of Charlestown and share the peninsula. The Puritans made the crossing in September 1630.[41][42][43]

Puritan influence on Boston began even before the settlement was founded with the 1629 Cambridge Agreement. This document created the Massachusetts Bay Colony and was signed by its first governor John Winthrop. Puritan ethics and their focus on education also influenced the early history of the city. America's first public school, Boston Latin School, was founded in Boston in 1635.[18][44]

Boston was the largest town in the Thirteen Colonies until Philadelphia outgrew it in the mid-18th century.[45] Boston's oceanfront location made it a lively port, and the then-town primarily engaged in shipping and fishing during its colonial days. Boston was a primary stop on a Caribbean trade route and imported large amounts of molasses, which led to the creation of Boston baked beans.[46]

Boston's economy stagnated in the decades prior to the Revolution. By the mid-18th century, New York City and Philadelphia had surpassed Boston in wealth. During this period, Boston encountered financial difficulties even as other cities in New England grew rapidly.[47][48]

Revolution and the siege of Boston

Main articles: Boston campaign and Siege of Boston

In 1773, a group of angered Bostonian citizens threw a shipment of tea by the East India Company into Boston Harbor in protest of the Tea Act, an event known as the Boston Tea Party that escalated the American Revolution.

Map of Boston in 1775

Map showing a British tactical evaluation of Boston in 1775

The weather continuing boisterous the next day and night, giving the enemy time to improve their works, to bring up their cannon, and to put themselves in such a state of defence, that I could promise myself little success in attacking them under all the disadvantages I had to encounter.

William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe, in a letter to William Legge, 2nd Earl of Dartmouth, about the British army's decision to leave Boston, dated March 21, 1776.[49]

Many crucial events of the American Revolution[50] occurred in or near Boston. The then-town's mob presence, along with the colonists' growing lack of faith in either Britain or its Parliament, fostered a revolutionary spirit there.[47] When the British parliament passed the Stamp Act in 1765, a Boston mob ravaged the homes of Andrew Oliver, the official tasked with enforcing the Act, and Thomas Hutchinson, then the Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts.[47][51] The British sent two regiments to Boston in 1768 in an attempt to quell the angry colonists. This did not sit well with the colonists, however. In 1770, during the Boston Massacre, British troops shot into a crowd that had started to violently harass them. The colonists compelled the British to withdraw their troops. The event was widely publicized and fueled a revolutionary movement in America.[48]

In 1773, Parliament passed the Tea Act. Many of the colonists saw the act as an attempt to force them to accept the taxes established by the Townshend Acts. The act prompted the Boston Tea Party, where a group of angered Bostonians threw an entire shipment of tea sent by the East India Company into Boston Harbor. The Boston Tea Party was a key event leading up to the revolution, as the British government responded furiously with the Coercive Acts, demanding compensation for the destroyed tea from the Bostonians.[47] This angered the colonists further and led to the American Revolutionary War. The war began in the area surrounding Boston with the Battles of Lexington and Concord.[47][52]

Boston itself was besieged for almost a year during the siege of Boston, which began on April 19, 1775. The New England militia impeded the movement of the British Army. Sir William Howe, then the commander-in-chief of the British forces in North America, led the British army in the siege. On June 17, the British captured Charlestown (now part of Boston) during the Battle of Bunker Hill. The British army outnumbered the militia stationed there, but it was a pyrrhic victory for the British because their army suffered irreplaceable casualties. It was also a testament to the skill and training of the militia, as their stubborn defense made it difficult for the British to capture Charlestown without suffering further irreplaceable casualties.[53][54]

Several weeks later, George Washington took over the militia after the Continental Congress established the Continental Army to unify the revolutionary effort. Both sides faced difficulties and supply shortages in the siege, and the fighting was limited to small-scale raids and skirmishes. The narrow Boston Neck, which at that time was only about a hundred feet wide, impeded Washington's ability to invade Boston, and a long stalemate ensued. A young officer, Rufus Putnam, came up with a plan to make portable fortifications out of wood that could be erected on the frozen ground under cover of darkness. Putnam supervised this effort, which successfully installed both the fortifications and dozens of cannons on Dorchester Heights that Henry Knox had laboriously brought through the snow from Fort Ticonderoga. The astonished British awoke the next morning to see a large array of cannons bearing down on them. General Howe is believed to have said that the Americans had done more in one night than his army could have done in six months. The British Army attempted a cannon barrage for two hours, but their shot could not reach the colonists' cannons at such a height. The British gave up, boarded their ships, and sailed away. This has become known as "Evacuation Day", which Boston still celebrates each year on March 17. After this, Washington was so impressed that he made Rufus Putnam his chief engineer.[52][53][55]

Post-revolution and the War of 1812

State Street in 1801

After the Revolution, Boston's long seafaring tradition helped make it one of the nation's busiest ports for both domestic and international trade. Boston's harbor activity was significantly curtailed by the Embargo Act of 1807 (adopted during the Napoleonic Wars) and the War of 1812. Foreign trade returned after these hostilities, but Boston's merchants had found alternatives for their capital investments in the meantime. Manufacturing became an important component of the city's economy, and the city's industrial manufacturing overtook international trade in economic importance by the mid-19th century. The small rivers bordering the city and connecting it to the surrounding region facilitated shipment of goods and led to a proliferation of mills and factories. Later, a dense network of railroads furthered the region's industry and commerce.[56]

During this period, Boston flourished culturally as well. It was admired for its rarefied literary life and generous artistic patronage.[57][58] Members of old Boston families—eventually dubbed the Boston Brahmins—came to be regarded as the nation's social and cultural elites.[59] They are often associated with the American upper class, Harvard University,[60] and the Episcopal Church.[61][62]

Boston was a prominent port of the Atlantic slave trade in the New England Colonies, but was soon overtaken by Salem, Massachusetts and Newport, Rhode Island.[63] Boston eventually became a center of the American abolitionist movement.[64] The city reacted largely negatively to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850,[65] contributing to President Franklin Pierce's attempt to make an example of Boston after Anthony Burns's attempt to escape to freedom.[66][67]

In 1822,[15] the citizens of Boston voted to change the official name from the "Town of Boston" to the "City of Boston", and on March 19, 1822, the people of Boston accepted the charter incorporating the city.[68] At the time Boston was chartered as a city, the population was about 46,226, while the area of the city was only 4.8 sq mi (12 km2).[68]

19th century

Boston, as the Eagle and the Wild Goose See It, an 1860 photograph by James Wallace Black, was the first recorded aerial photograph.

In the 1820s, Boston's population grew rapidly, and the city's ethnic composition changed dramatically with the first wave of European immigrants. Irish immigrants dominated the first wave of newcomers during this period, especially following the Great Famine; by 1850, about 35,000 Irish lived in Boston.[69] In the latter half of the 19th century, the city saw increasing numbers of Irish, Germans, Lebanese, Syrians,[70] French Canadians, and Russian and Polish Jews settling there. By the end of the 19th century, Boston's core neighborhoods had become enclaves of ethnically distinct immigrants with their residence yielding lasting cultural change. Italians became the largest inhabitants of the North End,[71] Irish dominated South Boston and Charlestown, and Russian Jews lived in the West End. Irish and Italian immigrants brought with them Roman Catholicism. Currently, Catholics make up Boston's largest religious community,[72] and the Irish have played a major role in Boston politics since the early 20th century; prominent figures include the Kennedys, Tip O'Neill, and John F. Fitzgerald.[73]

Between 1631 and 1890, the city tripled its area through land reclamation by filling in marshes, mud flats, and gaps between wharves along the waterfront. Reclamation projects in the middle of the century created significant parts of the South End, the West End, the Financial District, and Chinatown.[74]

After the Great Boston fire of 1872, workers used building rubble as landfill along the downtown waterfront. During the mid-to-late 19th century, workers filled almost 600 acres (240 ha) of brackish Charles River marshlands west of Boston Common with gravel brought by rail from the hills of Needham Heights. The city annexed the adjacent towns of South Boston (1804), East Boston (1836), Roxbury (1868), Dorchester (including present-day Mattapan and a portion of South Boston) (1870), Brighton (including present-day Allston) (1874), West Roxbury (including present-day Jamaica Plain and Roslindale) (1874), Charlestown (1874), and Hyde Park (1912).[75][76] Other proposals were unsuccessful for the annexation of Brookline, Cambridge,[77] and Chelsea.[78][79]

20th century

Colored print image of a city square in the 1900s

Haymarket Square in 1909

Many architecturally significant buildings were built during these early years of the 20th century: Horticultural Hall,[80] the Tennis and Racquet Club,[81] Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum,[82][83] Fenway Studios,[84] Jordan Hall,[85] and the Boston Opera House.  The Longfellow Bridge,[86] built in 1906, was mentioned by Robert McCloskey in Make Way for Ducklings, describing its "salt and pepper shakers" feature.[87] Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, opened in 1912,[88] with the Boston Garden opening in 1928.[89] Logan International Airport opened on September 8, 1923.[90]

Boston went into decline by the early to mid-20th century, as factories became old and obsolete and businesses moved out of the region for cheaper labor elsewhere.[91] Boston responded by initiating various urban renewal projects, under the direction of the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) established in 1957. In 1958, BRA initiated a project to improve the historic West End neighborhood. Extensive demolition was met with strong public opposition, and thousands of families were displaced.[92]

The BRA continued implementing eminent domain projects, including the clearance of the vibrant Scollay Square area for construction of the modernist style Government Center. In 1965, the Columbia Point Health Center opened in the Dorchester neighborhood, the first Community Health Center in the United States. It mostly served the massive Columbia Point public housing complex adjoining it, which was built in 1953. The health center is still in operation and was rededicated in 1990 as the Geiger-Gibson Community Health Center.[93] The Columbia Point complex itself was redeveloped and revitalized from 1984 to 1990 into a mixed-income residential development called Harbor Point Apartments.[94]

By the 1970s, the city's economy had begun to recover after 30 years of economic downturn. A large number of high-rises were constructed in the Financial District and in Boston's Back Bay during this period.[95] This boom continued into the mid-1980s and resumed after a few pauses. Hospitals such as Massachusetts General Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Brigham and Women's Hospital lead the nation in medical innovation and patient care. Schools such as the Boston Architectural College, Boston College, Boston University, the Harvard Medical School, Tufts University School of Medicine, Northeastern University, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Wentworth Institute of Technology, Berklee College of Music, the Boston Conservatory, and many others attract students to the area. Nevertheless, the city experienced conflict starting in 1974 over desegregation busing, which resulted in unrest and violence around public schools throughout the mid-1970s.[96] Boston has also experienced gentrification in the latter half of the 20th century,[97] with housing prices increasing sharply since the 1990s when the city's rent control regime was struck down by statewide ballot proposition.[98]

21st century

The Charles River in front of Boston's Back Bay neighborhood, in 2013

Boston is an intellectual, technological, and political center. However, it has lost some important regional institutions,[99] including the loss to mergers and acquisitions of local financial institutions such as FleetBoston Financial, which was acquired by Charlotte-based Bank of America in 2004.[100] Boston-based department stores Jordan Marsh and Filene's have both merged into the New York City–based Macy's.[101] The 1993 acquisition of The Boston Globe by The New York Times[102] was reversed in 2013 when it was resold to Boston businessman John W. Henry. In 2016, it was announced General Electric would be moving its corporate headquarters from Connecticut to the Seaport District in Boston, joining many other companies in this rapidly developing neighborhood.[103] The city also saw the completion of the Central Artery/Tunnel Project, known as the Big Dig, in 2007 after many delays and cost overruns.[104]

On April 15, 2013, two Chechen Islamist brothers detonated a pair of bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring roughly 264.[105] The subsequent search for the bombers led to a lock-down of Boston and surrounding municipalities. The region showed solidarity during this time as symbolized by the slogan Boston Strong.[106]

In 2016, Boston briefly shouldered a bid as the U.S. applicant for the 2024 Summer Olympics. The bid was supported by the mayor and a coalition of business leaders and local philanthropists, but was eventually dropped due to public opposition.[107] The USOC then selected Los Angeles to be the American candidate with Los Angeles ultimately securing the right to host the 2028 Summer Olympics.[108] Nevertheless, Boston is one of eleven U.S. cities which will host matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with games taking place at Gillette Stadium.[109]

Geography

Boston and its neighbors with Boston Harbor as seen from Sentinel-2

An 1877 panoramic map of Boston

The geographical center of Boston is in Roxbury. Due north of the center we find the South End. This is not to be confused with South Boston which lies directly east from the South End. North of South Boston is East Boston and southwest of East Boston is the North End

Unknown, A local colloquialism[110]

Boston has an area of 89.63 sq mi (232.1 km2). Of this area, 48.4 sq mi (125.4 km2), or 54%, of it is land and 41.2 sq mi (106.7 km2), or 46%, of it is water. The city's elevation, as measured at Logan International Airport, is 19 ft (5.8 m) above sea level.[111] The highest point in Boston is Bellevue Hill at 330 ft (100 m) above sea level, and the lowest point is at sea level.[112] The city is adjacent to Boston Harbor, an arm of Massachusetts Bay, and by extension, the Atlantic Ocean.

Boston is surrounded by the Greater Boston metropolitan region. It is bordered to the east by the town of Winthrop and the Boston Harbor Islands, to the northeast by the cities of Revere, Chelsea and Everett, to the north by the cities of Somerville and Cambridge, to the northwest by Watertown, to the west by the city of Newton and town of Brookline, to the southwest by the town of Dedham and small portions of Needham and Canton, and to the southeast by the town of Milton, and the city of Quincy.

The Charles River separates Boston's Allston-Brighton, Fenway-Kenmore and Back Bay neighborhoods from Watertown and Cambridge, and most of Boston from its own Charlestown neighborhood. The Neponset River forms the boundary between Boston's southern neighborhoods and Quincy and Milton. The Mystic River separates Charlestown from Chelsea and Everett, and Chelsea Creek and Boston Harbor separate East Boston from Downtown, the North End, and the Seaport.[113]

Neighborhoods

Main article: Neighborhoods in Boston

John Hancock Tower at 200 Clarendon Street is the tallest building in Boston, with a roof height of 790 ft (240 m).

Boston is sometimes called a "city of neighborhoods" because of the profusion of diverse subsections.[114][115] The city government's Office of Neighborhood Services has officially designated 23 neighborhoods:[116]

Allston

Back Bay

Bay Village

Beacon Hill

Brighton

Charlestown

Chinatown

Dorchester

Downtown or Financial District

East Boston (Eastie by locals)

Fenway or Fenway-Kenmore

Hyde Park

Jamaica Plain

Mattapan

Mission Hill

North End

Roslindale

Roxbury

Seaport District or Seaport

South Boston (Southie by locals)

the South End

the West End

West Roxbury

More than two-thirds of inner Boston's modern land area did not exist when the city was founded. Instead, it was created via the gradual filling in of the surrounding tidal areas over the centuries.[74] This was accomplished using earth from the leveling or lowering of Boston's three original hills (the "Trimountain", after which Tremont Street is named), as well as with gravel brought by train from Needham to fill the Back Bay.[16]

Christian Science Center, Copley Square, Newbury Street, and New England's two tallest buildings: the John Hancock Tower and the Prudential Center.[117][118] Near the John Hancock Tower is the old John Hancock Building with its prominent illuminated beacon, the color of which forecasts the weather.[119]

Downtown and its immediate surroundings (including the Financial District, Government Center, and South Boston) consist largely of low-rise masonry buildings – often federal style and Greek revival – interspersed with modern high-rises.[120] Back Bay includes many prominent landmarks, such as the Boston Public Library,[121] Trinity Church, single-family homes and wooden/brick multi-family row houses. The South End Historic District is the largest surviving contiguous Victorian-era neighborhood in the US.[122]

The geography of downtown and South Boston was particularly affected by the Central Artery/Tunnel Project (which ran from 1991 to 2007, and was known unofficially as the "Big Dig"). That project removed the elevated Central Artery and incorporated new green spaces and open areas.[123]

Environment

Population density and elevation above sea level in Greater Boston as of 2010

Boston is located within the Boston Basin ecoregion, which is characterized by low and rolling hills with a number of ponds, lakes, and reservoirs. Forests are mainly transition hardwoods such as oak-hickory mixed with white pine.[124] As a coastal city built largely on fill, sea-level rise is of major concern to the city government. A climate action plan from 2019 anticipates 2 ft (1 m) to more than 7 ft (2 m) of sea-level rise in Boston by the end of the 21st century.[125] Many older buildings in certain areas of Boston are supported by wooden piles driven into the area's fill; these piles remain sound if submerged in water, but are subject to dry rot if exposed to air for long periods.[126] Groundwater levels have been dropping in many areas of the city, due in part to an increase in the amount of rainwater discharged directly into sewers rather than absorbed by the ground. The Boston Groundwater Trust coordinates monitoring groundwater levels throughout the city via a network of public and private monitoring wells.[127]

The city developed a climate action plan covering carbon reduction in buildings, transportation, and energy use. The first such plan was commissioned in 2007, with updates released in 2011, 2014, and 2019.[128] This plan includes the Building Energy Reporting and Disclosure Ordinance, which requires the city's larger buildings to disclose their yearly energy and water use statistics and to partake in an energy assessment every five years.[129] A separate initiative, Resilient Boston Harbor, lays out neighborhood-specific recommendations for coastal resilience.[130] In 2013, Mayor Thomas Menino introduced the Renew Boston Whole Building Incentive which reduces the cost of living in buildings that are deemed energy efficient.[131]

Climate

Boston's skyline in the background with fall foliage in the foreground

Graph of cumulative winter snowfall at Logan International Airport from 1938 to 2015, highlighting the four winters with the most snowfall

Under the Köppen climate classification, Boston has either a hot-summer humid continental climate (Köppen Dfa) under the 0 °C (32.0 °F) isotherm or a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) under the −3 °C (26.6 °F) isotherm.[132] Summers are warm to hot and humid, while winters are cold and stormy, with occasional periods of heavy snow. Spring and fall are usually cool and mild, with varying conditions dependent on wind direction and the position of the jet stream. Prevailing wind patterns that blow offshore minimize the influence of the Atlantic Ocean. However, in winter, areas near the immediate coast often see more rain than snow, as warm air is sometimes drawn off the Atlantic.[133] The city lies at the border between USDA plant hardiness zones 6b (away from the coastline) and 7a (close to the coastline).[134]

The hottest month is July, with a mean temperature of 74.1 °F (23.4 °C). The coldest month is January, with a mean temperature of 29.9 °F (−1.2 °C). Periods exceeding 90 °F (32 °C) in summer and below freezing in winter are not uncommon but tend to be fairly short, with about 13 and 25 days per year seeing each, respectively.[135]

Sub- 0 °F (−18 °C) readings usually occur every 3 to 5 years.[136] The most recent sub- 0 °F (−18 °C) reading occurred on February 4, 2023, when the temperature dipped down to −10 °F (−23 °C); this was the lowest temperature reading in the city since 1957.[135] In addition, several decades may pass between 100 °F (38 °C) readings; the last such reading occurred on July 24, 2022.[135] The city's average window for freezing temperatures is November 9 through April 5.[135][b] Official temperature records have ranged from −18 °F (−28 °C) on February 9, 1934, up to 104 °F (40 °C) on July 4, 1911. The record cold daily maximum is 2 °F (−17 °C) on December 30, 1917, while the record warm daily minimum is 83 °F (28 °C) on both August 2, 1975 and July 21, 2019.[137][135]

Boston averages 43.6 in (1,110 mm) of precipitation a year, with 49.2 in (125 cm) of snowfall per season.[135] Most snowfall occurs from mid-November through early April, and snow is rare in May and October.[138][139] There is also high year-to-year variability in snowfall; for instance, the winter of 2011–12 saw only 9.3 in (23.6 cm) of accumulating snow, but the previous winter, the corresponding figure was 81.0 in (2.06 m).[135][c] The city's coastal location on the North Atlantic makes the city very prone to nor'easters, which can produce large amounts of snow and rain.[133]

Fog is fairly common, particularly in spring and early summer. Due to its coastal location, the city often receives sea breezes, especially in the late spring, when water temperatures are still quite cold and temperatures at the coast can be more than 20 °F (11 °C) colder than a few miles inland, sometimes dropping by that amount near midday.[140][141] Thunderstorms typically occur from May to September; occasionally, they can become severe, with large hail, damaging winds, and heavy downpours.[133] Although downtown Boston has never been struck by a violent tornado, the city itself has experienced many tornado warnings. Damaging storms are more common to areas north, west, and northwest of the city.[142]

vte

Climate data for Boston, Massachusetts (Logan Airport), 1991−2020 normals,[d] extremes 1872−present[e]

Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year

Record high °F (°C) 74

(23) 73

(23) 89

(32) 94

(34) 97

(36) 100

(38) 104

(40) 102

(39) 102

(39) 90

(32) 83

(28) 76

(24) 104

(40)

Mean maximum °F (°C) 58.3

(14.6) 57.9

(14.4) 67.0

(19.4) 79.9

(26.6) 88.1

(31.2) 92.2

(33.4) 95.0

(35.0) 93.7

(34.3) 88.9

(31.6) 79.6

(26.4) 70.2

(21.2) 61.2

(16.2) 96.4

(35.8)

Mean daily maximum °F (°C) 36.8

(2.7) 39.0

(3.9) 45.5

(7.5) 56.4

(13.6) 66.5

(19.2) 76.2

(24.6) 82.1

(27.8) 80.4

(26.9) 73.1

(22.8) 62.1

(16.7) 51.6

(10.9) 42.2

(5.7) 59.3

(15.2)

Daily mean °F (°C) 29.9

(−1.2) 31.8

(−0.1) 38.3

(3.5) 48.6

(9.2) 58.4

(14.7) 68.0

(20.0) 74.1

(23.4) 72.7

(22.6) 65.6

(18.7) 54.8

(12.7) 44.7

(7.1) 35.7

(2.1) 51.9

(11.1)

Mean daily minimum °F (°C) 23.1

(−4.9) 24.6

(−4.1) 31.1

(−0.5) 40.8

(4.9) 50.3

(10.2) 59.7

(15.4) 66.0

(18.9) 65.1

(18.4) 58.2

(14.6) 47.5

(8.6) 37.9

(3.3) 29.2

(−1.6) 44.5

(6.9)

Mean minimum °F (°C) 4.8

(−15.1) 8.3

(−13.2) 15.6

(−9.1) 31.0

(−0.6) 41.2

(5.1) 49.7

(9.8) 58.6

(14.8) 57.7

(14.3) 46.7

(8.2) 35.1

(1.7) 24.4

(−4.2) 13.1

(−10.5) 2.6

(−16.3)

Record low °F (°C) −13

(−25) −18

(−28) −8

(−22) 11

(−12) 31

(−1) 41

(5) 50

(10) 46

(8) 34

(1) 25

(−4) −2

(−19) −17

(−27) −18

(−28)

Average precipitation inches (mm) 3.39

(86) 3.21

(82) 4.17

(106) 3.63

(92) 3.25

(83) 3.89

(99) 3.27

(83) 3.23

(82) 3.56

(90) 4.03

(102) 3.66

(93) 4.30

(109) 43.59

(1,107)

Average snowfall inches (cm) 14.3

(36) 14.4

(37) 9.0

(23) 1.6

(4.1) 0.0

(0.0) 0.0

(0.0) 0.0

(0.0) 0.0

(0.0) 0.0

(0.0) 0.2

(0.51) 0.7

(1.8) 9.0

(23) 49.2

(125)

Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) 11.8 10.6 11.6 11.6 11.8 10.9 9.4 9.0 9.0 10.5 10.3 11.9 128.4

Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) 6.6 6.2 4.4 0.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.6 4.2 23.0

Average relative humidity (%) 62.3 62.0 63.1 63.0 66.7 68.5 68.4 70.8 71.8 68.5 67.5 65.4 66.5

Average dew point °F (°C) 16.5

(−8.6) 17.6

(−8.0) 25.2

(−3.8) 33.6

(0.9) 45.0

(7.2) 55.2

(12.9) 61.0

(16.1) 60.4

(15.8) 53.8

(12.1) 42.8

(6.0) 33.4

(0.8) 22.1

(−5.5) 38.9

(3.8)

Mean monthly sunshine hours 163.4 168.4 213.7 227.2 267.3 286.5 300.9 277.3 237.1 206.3 143.2 142.3 2,633.6

Percent possible sunshine 56 57 58 57 59 63 65 64 63 60 49 50 59

Average ultraviolet index 1 2 4 5 7 8 8 8 6 4 2 1 5

Source 1: NOAA (relative humidity, dew point and sun 1961−1990)[144][135][145]

Source 2: Weather Atlas (UV)[146]

Climate data for Boston, Massachusetts

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

See or edit raw graph data.

Demographics

See also: History of the Irish in Boston, History of Italian Americans in Boston, History of African Americans in Boston, Chinese Americans in Boston, Dominican-Americans in Boston, Vietnamese in Boston, and LGBT culture in Boston

Historical population

Year Pop. ±%

1680 4,500 —    

1690 7,000 +55.6%

1700 6,700 −4.3%

1710 9,000 +34.3%

1722 10,567 +17.4%

1742 16,382 +55.0%

1765 15,520 −5.3%

1790 18,320 +18.0%

1800 24,937 +36.1%

1810 33,787 +35.5%

1820 43,298 +28.1%

1830 61,392 +41.8%

1840 93,383 +52.1%

1850 136,881 +46.6%

1860 177,840 +29.9%

1870 250,526 +40.9%

1880 362,839 +44.8%

1890 448,477 +23.6%

1900 560,892 +25.1%

1910 670,585 +19.6%

1920 748,060 +11.6%

1930 781,188 +4.4%

1940 770,816 −1.3%

1950 801,444 +4.0%

1960 697,197 −13.0%

1970 641,071 −8.1%

1980 562,994 −12.2%

1990 574,283 +2.0%

2000 589,141 +2.6%

2010 617,594 +4.8%

2020 675,647 +9.4%

2023* 653,833 −3.2%

*=population estimate.

Source: United States census records and Population Estimates Program data.[147][148][149][150][151][152][153][154][155][156][157][158][159]

2010–2020[4]

Source: U.S. Decennial Census[160]

Historical racial/ethnic composition

Race/ethnicity 2020[161] 2010[162] 1990[163] 1970[163] 1940[163]

Non-Hispanic White 44.7% 47.0% 59.0% 79.5%[f] 96.6%

Black 22.0% 24.4% 23.8% 16.3% 3.1%

Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 19.5% 17.5% 10.8% 2.8%[f] 0.1%

Asian 9.7% 8.9% 5.3% 1.3% 0.2%

Two or more races 3.2% 3.9% – – –

Native American 0.2% 0.4% 0.3% 0.2% –

In 2020, Boston was estimated to have 691,531 residents living in 266,724 households[4]—a 12% population increase over 2010. The city is the third-most densely populated large U.S. city of over half a million residents, and the most densely populated state capital. Some 1.2 million persons may be within Boston's boundaries during work hours, and as many as 2 million during special events. This fluctuation of people is caused by hundreds of thousands of suburban residents who travel to the city for work, education, health care, and special events.[164]

In the city, 21.9% of the population was aged 19 and under, 14.3% was from 20 to 24, 33.2% from 25 to 44, 20.4% from 45 to 64, and 10.1% was 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30.8 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.9 males.[165] There were 252,699 households, of which 20.4% had children under the age of 18 living in them, 25.5% were married couples living together, 16.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 54.0% were non-families. 37.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 3.08.[165]

The median household income in Boston was $51,739, while the median income for a family was $61,035. Full-time year-round male workers had a median income of $52,544 versus $46,540 for full-time year-round female workers. The per capita income for the city was $33,158. 21.4% of the population and 16.0% of families were below the poverty line. Of the total population, 28.8% of those under the age of 18 and 20.4% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.[166] Boston has a significant racial wealth gap with White Bostonians having a median net worth of $247,500 compared to an $8 median net worth for non-immigrant Black residents and $0 for Dominican immigrant residents.[167]

From the 1950s to the end of the 20th century, the proportion of non-Hispanic Whites in the city declined. In 2000, non-Hispanic Whites made up 49.5% of the city's population, making the city majority minority for the first time. However, in the 21st century, the city has experienced significant gentrification, during which affluent Whites have moved into formerly non-White areas. In 2006, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated non-Hispanic Whites again formed a slight majority but as of 2010, in part due to the housing crash, as well as increased efforts to make more affordable housing more available, the non-White population has rebounded. This may also have to do with increased Latin American and Asian populations and more clarity surrounding U.S. Census statistics, which indicate a non-Hispanic White population of 47% (some reports give slightly lower figures).[168][169][170]

Ethnicity

U.S. Navy sailors march in Boston's annual Saint Patrick's Day parade. Irish Americans constitute the largest ethnicity in Boston.

Armenian American family in Boston, 1908

African-Americans comprise 22% of the city's population. People of Irish descent form the second-largest single ethnic group in the city, making up 15.8% of the population, followed by Italians, accounting for 8.3% of the population. People of West Indian and Caribbean ancestry are another sizable group, collectively at over 15%.[171]

In Greater Boston, these numbers grew significantly, with 150,000 Dominicans according to 2018 estimates, 134,000 Puerto Ricans, 57,500 Salvadorans, 39,000 Guatemalans, 36,000 Mexicans, and over 35,000 Colombians.[172] East Boston has a diverse Hispanic/Latino population of Salvadorans, Colombians, Guatemalans, Mexicans, Dominicans and Puerto Ricans. Hispanic populations in southwest Boston neighborhoods are mainly made up of Dominicans and Puerto Ricans, usually sharing neighborhoods in this section with African Americans and Blacks with origins from the Caribbean and Africa especially Cape Verdeans and Haitians. Neighborhoods such as Jamaica Plain and Roslindale have experienced a growing number of Dominican Americans.[173]

There is a large and historical Armenian community in Boston,[174] and the city is home to the Armenian Heritage Park.[175] Additionally, over 27,000 Chinese Americans made their home in Boston city proper in 2013.[176] Overall, according to the 2012–2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, the largest ancestry groups in Boston are:[177][178]

Ancestry Percentage of

Boston

population Percentage of

Massachusetts

population Percentage of

United States

population City-to-state

difference City-to-USA

difference

Black 22% 8.2% 14–15% 13.8% 7%

Irish 14.06% 21.16% 10.39% −7.10% 3.67%

Italian 8.13% 13.19% 5.39% −5.05% 2.74%

other West Indian 6.92% 1.96% 0.90% 4.97% 6.02%

Dominican 5.45% 2.60% 0.68% 2.65% 4.57%

Puerto Rican 5.27% 4.52% 1.66% 0.75% 3.61%

Chinese 4.57% 2.28% 1.24% 2.29% 3.33%

German 4.57% 6.00% 14.40% −1.43% −9.83%

English 4.54% 9.77% 7.67% −5.23% −3.13%

American 4.13% 4.26% 6.89% −0.13% −2.76%

Sub-Saharan African 4.09% 2.00% 1.01% 2.09% 3.08%

Haitian 3.58% 1.15% 0.31% 2.43% 3.27%

Polish 2.48% 4.67% 2.93% −2.19% −0.45%

Cape Verdean 2.21% 0.97% 0.03% 1.24% 2.18%

French 1.93% 6.82% 2.56% −4.89% −0.63%

Vietnamese 1.76% 0.69% 0.54% 1.07% 1.22%

Jamaican 1.70% 0.44% 0.34% 1.26% 1.36%

Russian 1.62% 1.65% 0.88% −0.03% 0.74%

Asian Indian 1.31% 1.39% 1.09% −0.08% 0.22%

Scottish 1.30% 2.28% 1.71% −0.98% −0.41%

French Canadian 1.19% 3.91% 0.65% −2.71% 0.54%

Mexican 1.12% 0.67% 11.96% 0.45% −10.84%

Arab 1.10% 1.10% 0.59% 0.00% 0.50%

Income

See also: List of Massachusetts locations by per capita income

Data is from the 2008–2012 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.[179][180][181]

Rank ZIP Code (ZCTA) Per capita

income Median

household

income Median

family

income Population Number of

households

1 02110 (Financial District) $152,007 $123,795 $196,518 1,486 981

2 02199 (Prudential Center) $151,060 $107,159 $146,786 1,290 823

3 02210 (Fort Point) $93,078 $111,061 $223,411 1,905 1,088

4 02109 (North End) $88,921 $128,022 $162,045 4,277 2,190

5 02116 (Back Bay/Bay Village) $81,458 $87,630 $134,875 21,318 10,938

6 02108 (Beacon Hill/Financial District) $78,569 $95,753 $153,618 4,155 2,337

7 02114 (Beacon Hill/West End) $65,865 $79,734 $169,107 11,933 6,752

8 02111 (Chinatown/Financial District/Leather District) $56,716 $44,758 $88,333 7,616 3,390

9 02129 (Charlestown) $56,267 $89,105 $98,445 17,052 8,083

10 02467 (Chestnut Hill) $53,382 $113,952 $148,396 22,796 6,351

11 02113 (North End) $52,905 $64,413 $112,589 7,276 4,329

12 02132 (West Roxbury) $44,306 $82,421 $110,219 27,163 11,013

13 02118 (South End) $43,887 $50,000 $49,090 26,779 12,512

14 02130 (Jamaica Plain) $42,916 $74,198 $95,426 36,866 15,306

15 02127 (South Boston) $42,854 $67,012 $68,110 32,547 14,994

Massachusetts $35,485 $66,658 $84,380 6,560,595 2,525,694

Boston $33,589 $53,136 $63,230 619,662 248,704

Suffolk County $32,429 $52,700 $61,796 724,502 287,442

16 02135 (Brighton) $31,773 $50,291 $62,602 38,839 18,336

17 02131 (Roslindale) $29,486 $61,099 $70,598 30,370 11,282

United States $28,051 $53,046 $64,585 309,138,711 115,226,802

18 02136 (Hyde Park) $28,009 $57,080 $74,734 29,219 10,650

19 02134 (Allston) $25,319 $37,638 $49,355 20,478 8,916

20 02128 (East Boston) $23,450 $49,549 $49,470 41,680 14,965

21 02122 (Dorchester-Fields Corner) $23,432 $51,798 $50,246 25,437 8,216

22 02124 (Dorchester-Codman Square-Ashmont) $23,115 $48,329 $55,031 49,867 17,275

23 02125 (Dorchester-Uphams Corner-Savin Hill) $22,158 $42,298 $44,397 31,996 11,481

24 02163 (Allston-Harvard Business School) $21,915 $43,889 $91,190 1,842 562

25 02115 (Back Bay, Longwood, Museum of Fine Arts/Symphony Hall area) $21,654 $23,677 $50,303 29,178 9,958

26 02126 (Mattapan) $20,649 $43,532 $52,774 27,335 9,510

27 02215 (Fenway-Kenmore) $19,082 $30,823 $72,583 23,719 7,995

28 02119 (Roxbury) $18,998 $27,051 $35,311 24,237 9,769

29 02121 (Dorchester-Mount Bowdoin) $18,226 $30,419 $35,439 26,801 9,739

30 02120 (Mission Hill) $17,390 $32,367 $29,583 13,217 4,509

Religion

Old South Church at Copley Square at sunset. This United Church of Christ congregation was first organized in 1669.

According to a 2014 study by the Pew Research Center, 57% of the population of the city identified themselves as Christians, with 25% attending a variety of Protestant churches and 29% professing Roman Catholic beliefs; 33% claim no religious affiliation, while the remaining 10% are composed of adherents of Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and other faiths.[182][183]

As of 2010, the Catholic Church had the highest number of adherents as a single denomination in the Greater Boston area, with more than two million members and 339 churches, followed by the Episcopal Church with 58,000 adherents in 160 churches. The United Church of Christ had 55,000 members and 213 churches.[184]

The Boston metro area contained a Jewish population of approximately 248,000 as of 2015.[185] More than half the Jewish households in the Greater Boston area reside in the city itself, Brookline, Newton, Cambridge, Somerville, or adjacent towns.[185] A small minority practices Confucianism, and some practice Boston Confucianism, an American evolution of Confucianism adapted for Boston intellectuals.[186]

Economy

See also: Major companies in Greater Boston

Top publicly traded Boston companies for 2018

(ranked by revenues)

with City and U.S. ranks[187]

Bos. Corporation US Revenue

(in millions)

1 General Electric 18 $122,274

2 Liberty Mutual 68 $42,687

3 State Street 259 $11,774

4 American Tower 419 $6,663.9

Top city employers[188]

Rank Company/Organization

1 Brigham and Women's Hospital

2 Dana Farber Cancer Institute

3 Massachusetts General Hospital

4 Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

5 Boston Children's Hospital

6 Boston Medical Center

7 Boston University School of Medicine

8 Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority

9 TIAA

10 Tufts Children's Hospital

A global city, Boston is placed among the top 30 most economically powerful cities in the world.[189] Encompassing $363 billion, the Greater Boston metropolitan area has the sixth-largest economy in the country and 12th-largest in the world.[190]

Boston's colleges and universities exert a significant impact on the regional economy. Boston attracts more than 350,000 college students from around the world, who contribute more than US$4.8 billion annually to the city's economy.[191][192] The area's schools are major employers and attract industries to the city and surrounding region. The city is home to a number of technology companies and is a hub for biotechnology, with the Milken Institute rating Boston as the top life sciences cluster in the country.[193] Boston receives the highest absolute amount of annual funding from the National Institutes of Health of all cities in the United States.[194]

The city is considered highly innovative for a variety of reasons, including the presence of academia, access to venture capital, and the presence of many high-tech companies.[23][195] The Route 128 corridor and Greater Boston continue to be a major center for venture capital investment,[196] and high technology remains an important sector.[197]

Tourism also composes a large part of Boston's economy, with 21.2 million domestic and international visitors spending $8.3 billion in 2011.[198] Excluding visitors from Canada and Mexico, over 1.4 million international tourists visited Boston in 2014, with those from China and the United Kingdom leading the list.[199] Boston's status as a state capital as well as the regional home of federal agencies has rendered law and government to be another major component of the city's economy.[200] The city is a major seaport along the East Coast of the United States and the oldest continuously operated industrial and fishing port in the Western Hemisphere.[201]

In the 2018 Global Financial Centres Index, Boston was ranked as having the thirteenth most competitive financial services center in the world and the second most competitive in the United States.[202] Boston-based Fidelity Investments helped popularize the mutual fund in the 1980s and has made Boston one of the top financial centers in the United States.[203] The city is home to the headquarters of Santander Bank, and Boston is a center for venture capital firms. State Street Corporation, which specializes in asset management and custody services, is based in the city. Boston is a printing and publishing center[204]—Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is headquartered within the city, along with Bedford-St. Martin's Press and Beacon Press. Pearson PLC publishing units also employ several hundred people in Boston. The city is home to two convention centers—the Hynes Convention Center in the Back Bay and the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center on the South Boston waterfront.[205] Boston is home to the headquarters of several major athletic and footwear companies including Converse, New Balance, and Reebok. Rockport, Puma and Wolverine World Wide, Inc. headquarters or regional offices[206] are just outside the city.[207]

Education

Primary and secondary

Boston Latin School was established in 1635 and is the oldest public high school in the U.S.

The Boston Public Schools enroll 57,000 students attending 145 schools, including Boston Latin Academy, John D. O'Bryant School of Math & Science, and the renowned Boston Latin School. The Boston Latin School was established in 1635 and is the oldest public high school in the US. Boston also operates the United States' second-oldest public high school and its oldest public elementary school.[18] The system's students are 40% Hispanic or Latino, 35% Black or African American, 13% White, and 9% Asian.[208] There are private, parochial, and charter schools as well, and approximately 3,300 minority students attend participating suburban schools through the Metropolitan Educational Opportunity Council.[209] In September 2019, the city formally inaugurated Boston Saves, a program that provides every child enrolled in the city's kindergarten system a savings account containing $50 to be used toward college or career training.[210]

Colleges and universities

For a more comprehensive list, see List of colleges and universities in metropolitan Boston.

Map of Boston-area universities

Harvard Business School, one of the nation's top business schools[211]

Several of the most renowned and highly ranked universities in the world are near Boston.[212] Three universities with a major presence in the city, Harvard, MIT, and Tufts, are just outside of Boston in the cities of Cambridge and Somerville, known as the Brainpower Triangle.[213] For those visiting Tufts University, there are many activities and things to do nearby.[214] Harvard is the nation's oldest institute of higher education and is centered across the Charles River in Cambridge, though the majority of its land holdings and a substantial amount of its educational activities are in Boston. Its business school and athletics facilities are in Boston's Allston neighborhood, and its medical, dental, and public health schools are located in the Longwood area.[215] The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) originated in Boston and was long known as "Boston Tech"; it moved across the river to Cambridge in 1916.[216] Tufts University's main campus is north of the city in Somerville and Medford, though it locates its medical and dental schools in Boston's Chinatown at Tufts Medical Center.[217]

Greater Boston has more than 50 colleges and universities, with 250,000 students enrolled in Boston and Cambridge alone.[218] The city's largest private universities include Boston University (also the city's fourth-largest employer),[219] with its main campus along Commonwealth Avenue and a medical campus in the South End, Northeastern University in the Fenway area,[220] Suffolk University near Beacon Hill, which includes law school and business school,[221] and Boston College, which straddles the Boston (Brighton)–Newton border.[222] Boston's only public university is the University of Massachusetts Boston on Columbia Point in Dorchester. Roxbury Community College and Bunker Hill Community College are the city's two public community colleges. Altogether, Boston's colleges and universities employ more than 42,600 people, accounting for nearly seven percent of the city's workforce.[223]

Five members of the Association of American Universities are in Greater Boston (more than any other metropolitan area): Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tufts University, Boston University, and Brandeis University.[224] Furthermore, Greater Boston contains seven Highest Research Activity (R1) Universities as per the Carnegie Classification. This includes, in addition to the aforementioned five, Boston College, and Northeastern University. This is, by a large margin, the highest concentration of such institutions in a single metropolitan area. Hospitals, universities, and research institutions in Greater Boston received more than $1.77 billion in National Institutes of Health grants in 2013, more money than any other American metropolitan area.[225] This high density of research institutes also contributes to Boston's high density of early career researchers, which, due to high housing costs in the region, have been shown to face housing stress.[226][227]

Smaller private colleges include Babson College, Bentley University, Boston Architectural College, Emmanuel College, Fisher College, MGH Institute of Health Professions, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Simmons University, Wellesley College, Wheelock College, Wentworth Institute of Technology, New England School of Law (originally established as America's first all female law school),[228] and Emerson College.[229] The region is also home to several conservatories and art schools, including the New England Conservatory (the oldest independent conservatory in the United States),[230] the Boston Conservatory, and Berklee College of Music, which has made Boston an important city for jazz music.[231] Many trade schools also exist in the city such as the Boston Career Institute, the North Bennet Street School, and Greater Boston Joint Apprentice Training Center.[232]

Government

Further information: Mayor of Boston, Boston City Council, List of members of Boston City Council, and Boston Finance Commission

Boston City Hall is a Brutalist-style landmark in the city.

Boston has a strong mayor–council government system in which the mayor (elected every fourth year) has extensive executive power. Michelle Wu became mayor in November 2021, succeeding Kim Janey who became the Acting Mayor in March 2021 following Marty Walsh's confirmation to the position of Secretary of Labor in the Biden/Harris Administration. Walsh's predecessor Thomas Menino's twenty-year tenure was the longest in the city's history.[233] The Boston City Council is elected every two years; there are nine district seats, and four citywide "at-large" seats.[234] The School Committee, which oversees the Boston Public Schools, is appointed by the mayor.[235] The city uses an algorithm called CityScore to measure the effectiveness of various city services. This score is available on a public online dashboard and allows city managers in police, fire, schools, emergency management services, and 3-1-1 to take action and make adjustments in areas of concern.[236]

Chamber of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in the Massachusetts State House

In addition to city government, numerous commissions and state authorities, including the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, the Boston Public Health Commission, the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA), and the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport), play a role in the life of Bostonians. As the capital of Massachusetts, Boston plays a major role in state politics.[g]

The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston at 600 Atlantic Avenue

The city has several federal facilities, including the John F. Kennedy Federal Office Building, the Thomas P. O'Neill Jr. Federal Building, the John W. McCormack Post Office and Courthouse, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.[239] The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts are housed in The John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse.[240][241]

Federally, Boston is split between two congressional districts. Three-fourths of the city is in the 7th district and is represented by Ayanna Pressley while the remaining southern fourth is in the 8th district and is represented by Stephen Lynch,[242] both of whom are Democrats; a Republican has not represented a significant portion of Boston in over a century. The state's senior member of the United States Senate is Democrat Elizabeth Warren, first elected in 2012.[243] The state's junior member of the United States Senate is Democrat Ed Markey, who was elected in 2013 to succeed John Kerry after Kerry's appointment and confirmation as the United States Secretary of State.[244]

Voter registration and party enrollment as of October 26, 2024 – Boston[245]

Party Number of voters Percentage

Democratic 174,046 39.69%

Republican 18,673 4.26%

Unenrolled 241,970 55.18%

Political Designations 1,140 0.26%

Total 438,498 100%

Public safety

Further information: Boston Police Department, Boston Fire Department, and Boston Emergency Medical Services

White Boston Police car with blue and gray stripes down the middle

A Boston Police cruiser on Beacon Street

Boston included $414 million in spending on the Boston Police Department in the fiscal 2021 budget. This is the second largest allocation of funding by the city after the allocation to Boston Public Schools.[246]

Like many major American cities, Boston has experienced a great reduction in violent crime since the early 1990s. Boston's low crime rate since the 1990s has been credited to the Boston Police Department's collaboration with neighborhood groups and church parishes to prevent youths from joining gangs, as well as involvement from the United States Attorney and District Attorney's offices. This helped lead in part to what has been touted as the "Boston Miracle". Murders in the city dropped from 152 in 1990 (for a murder rate of 26.5 per 100,000 people) to just 31—not one of them a juvenile—in 1999 (for a murder rate of 5.26 per 100,000).[247]

According to the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program in 2022, Boston had 3,955 reported violent crimes (which include homicide, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault) and 11,514 reported property crimes (which include arson, burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft). With a violent crime rate of 608.7 per 100,000 people, the city's violent crime rate is higher than Massachusetts' rate of 322 per 100,000 people and the national rate of 380.7 per 100,000 people. While Boston's property crime rate, at 1772.0 per 100,000 people, is higher than Massachusetts' property crime rate of 1070.1 per 100,000 people, it is lower than the national property crime rate of 1954.4 per 100,000 people.[248][h]

Arts and culture

Main article: Culture in Boston

Further information: List of annual events in Boston, List of arts organizations in Boston, and Sites of interest in Boston

The Old State House, a museum on the Freedom Trail near the site of the Boston Massacre

In the 19th century, the Old Corner Bookstore became a gathering place for writers, including Emerson, Thoreau, and Margaret Fuller. James Russell Lowell printed the first editions of The Atlantic Monthly at the store.

Symphony Hall at 301 Massachusetts Avenue, home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra

Museum of Fine Arts at 465 Huntington Avenue

Boston shares many cultural roots with greater New England, including a dialect of the non-rhotic Eastern New England accent known as the Boston accent[250] and a regional cuisine with a large emphasis on seafood, salt, and dairy products.[251] Boston also has its own collection of neologisms known as Boston slang and sardonic humor.[252]

In the early 1800s, William Tudor wrote that Boston was "'perhaps the most perfect and certainly the best-regulated democracy that ever existed. There is something so impossible in the immortal fame of Athens, that the very name makes everything modern shrink from comparison; but since the days of that glorious city I know of none that has approached so near in some points, distant as it may still be from that illustrious model.'[253] From this, Boston has been called the "Athens of America" (also a nickname of Philadelphia)[254] for its literary culture, earning a reputation as "the intellectual capital of the United States".[255]

In the nineteenth century, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Margaret Fuller, James Russell Lowell, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote in Boston. Some consider the Old Corner Bookstore to be the "cradle of American literature", the place where these writers met and where The Atlantic Monthly was first published.[256] In 1852, the Boston Public Library was founded as the first free library in the United States.[255] Boston's literary culture continues today thanks to the city's many universities and the Boston Book Festival.[257][258]

Music is afforded a high degree of civic support in Boston. The Boston Symphony Orchestra is one of the "Big Five", a group of the greatest American orchestras, and the classical music magazine Gramophone called it one of the "world's best" orchestras.[259] Symphony Hall (west of Back Bay) is home to the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the related Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, which is the largest youth orchestra in the nation,[260] and to the Boston Pops Orchestra. The British newspaper The Guardian called Boston Symphony Hall "one of the top venues for classical music in the world", adding "Symphony Hall in Boston was where science became an essential part of concert hall design".[261] Other concerts are held at the New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall. The Boston Ballet performs at the Boston Opera House. Other performing-arts organizations in the city include the Boston Lyric Opera Company, Opera Boston, Boston Baroque (the first permanent Baroque orchestra in the US),[262] and the Handel and Haydn Society (one of the oldest choral companies in the United States).[263] The city is a center for contemporary classical music with a number of performing groups, several of which are associated with the city's conservatories and universities. These include the Boston Modern Orchestra Project and Boston Musica Viva.[262] Several theaters are in or near the Theater District south of Boston Common, including the Cutler Majestic Theatre, Citi Performing Arts Center, the Colonial Theater, and the Orpheum Theatre.[264]

There are several major annual events, such as First Night which occurs on New Year's Eve, the Boston Early Music Festival, the annual Boston Arts Festival at Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park, the annual Boston gay pride parade and festival held in June, and Italian summer feasts in the North End honoring Catholic saints.[265] The city is the site of several events during the Fourth of July period. They include the week-long Harborfest festivities[266] and a Boston Pops concert accompanied by fireworks on the banks of the Charles River.[267]

Several historic sites relating to the American Revolution period are preserved as part of the Boston National Historical Park because of the city's prominent role. Many are found along the Freedom Trail,[268] which is marked by a red line of bricks embedded in the ground.[269]

The city is also home to several art museums and galleries, including the Museum of Fine Arts and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.[270] The Institute of Contemporary Art is housed in a contemporary building designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro in the Seaport District.[271] Boston's South End Art and Design District (SoWa) and Newbury St. are both art gallery destinations.[272][273] Columbia Point is the location of the University of Massachusetts Boston, the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, and the Massachusetts Archives and Commonwealth Museum. The Boston Athenæum (one of the oldest independent libraries in the United States),[274] Boston Children's Museum, Bull & Finch Pub (whose building is known from the television show Cheers),[275] Museum of Science, and the New England Aquarium are within the city.[276]

Boston has been a noted religious center from its earliest days. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston serves nearly 300 parishes and is based in the Cathedral of the Holy Cross (1875) in the South End, while the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts serves just under 200 congregations, with the Cathedral Church of St. Paul (1819) as its episcopal seat. Unitarian Universalism has its headquarters in the Fort Point neighborhood. The Christian Scientists are headquartered in Back Bay at the Mother Church (1894). The oldest church in Boston is First Church in Boston, founded in 1630.[277] King's Chapel was the city's first Anglican church, founded in 1686 and converted to Unitarianism in 1785. Other churches include Old South Church (1669), Christ Church (better known as Old North Church, 1723), the oldest church building in the city, Trinity Church (1733), Park Street Church (1809), and Basilica and Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help on Mission Hill (1878).[278]

Sports

Main article: Sports in Boston

Fenway Park, the home stadium of the Boston Red Sox. Opened in 1912, Fenway Park is the oldest professional baseball stadium still in use.

Boston has teams in the four major North American men's professional sports leagues plus Major League Soccer. As of 2024, the city has won 40 championships in these leagues. During a 23-year stretch from 2001 to 2024, the city's professional sports teams have won thirteen championships: Patriots (2001, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2016 and 2018), Red Sox (2004, 2007, 2013, and 2018), Celtics (2008, 2024), and Bruins (2011).[279]

The Boston Red Sox, a founding member of the American League of Major League Baseball in 1901, play their home games at Fenway Park, near Kenmore Square, in the city's Fenway section. Built in 1912, it is the oldest sports arena or stadium in active use in the United States among the four major professional American sports leagues, Major League Baseball, the National Football League, National Basketball Association, and the National Hockey League.[280] Boston was the site of the first game of the first modern World Series, in 1903. The series was played between the AL Champion Boston Americans and the NL champion Pittsburgh Pirates.[281][282] Persistent reports that the team was known in 1903 as the "Boston Pilgrims" appear to be unfounded.[283] Boston's first professional baseball team was the Red Stockings, one of the charter members of the National Association in 1871, and of the National League in 1876. The team played under that name until 1883, under the name Beaneaters until 1911, and under the name Braves from 1912 until they moved to Milwaukee after the 1952 season. Since 1966 they have played in Atlanta as the Atlanta Braves.[284]

Professional basketball game between the Celtics and Timberwolves in a crowded arena

The Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association play at TD Garden.

The TD Garden, formerly called the FleetCenter and built to replace the since-demolished Boston Garden, is above North Station and is the home of two major league teams: the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League and the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association. The Bruins were the first American member of the National Hockey League and an Original Six franchise.[285] The Boston Celtics were founding members of the Basketball Association of America, one of the two leagues that merged to form the NBA.[286] The Celtics have won eighteen championships, the most of any NBA team.[287]

While they have played in suburban Foxborough since 1971, the New England Patriots of the National Football League were founded in 1960 as the Boston Patriots, changing their name after relocating. The team won the Super Bowl after the 2001, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2016 and 2018 seasons.[288] They share Gillette Stadium with the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer.[289]

Harvard Stadium, the first collegiate athletic stadium built in the U.S.

The area's many colleges and universities are active in college athletics. Four NCAA Division I members play in the area—Boston College, Boston University, Harvard University, and Northeastern University. Of the four, only Boston College participates in college football at the highest level, the Football Bowl Subdivision. Harvard participates in the second-highest level, the Football Championship Subdivision. These four universities participate in the Beanpot, an annual men's and women's ice hockey tournament. The men's Beanpot is hosted at the TD Garden,[290] while the women's Beanpot is held at each member school's home arena on a rotating basis.[291]

Boston has Esports teams as well, such as the Overwatch League (OWL)'s Boston Uprising. Established in 2017,[292] they were the first team to complete a perfect stage with 0 losses.[293] The Boston Breach is another esports team in the Call of Duty League (CDL).[294]

One of the best-known sporting events in the city is the Boston Marathon, the 26.2 mi (42.2 km) race which is the world's oldest annual marathon,[295] run on Patriots' Day in April. The Red Sox traditionally play a home game starting around 11 a.m. on the same day, with the early start time allowing fans to watch runners finish the race nearby after the conclusion of the ballgame.[296] Another major annual event is the Head of the Charles Regatta, held in October.[297]

Major sports teams

Team League Sport Venue Capacity Founded Championships

Boston Red Sox MLB Baseball Fenway Park 37,755 1903 1903, 1912, 1915, 1916, 1918, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2018

Boston Bruins NHL Ice hockey TD Garden 17,850 1924 1928–29, 1938–39, 1940–41, 1969–70, 1971–72, 2010–11

Boston Celtics NBA Basketball TD Garden 19,156 1946 1956–57, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1973–74, 1975–76, 1980–81, 1983–84, 1985–86, 2007–08, 2023–24

New England Patriots NFL American football Gillette Stadium 65,878 1960 2001, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2016, 2018

New England Revolution MLS Soccer Gillette Stadium 20,000 1996 None

Parks and recreation

Aerial view of Boston Common in Downtown Boston

Boston Common, near the Financial District and Beacon Hill, is the oldest public park in the United States.[298] Along with the adjacent Boston Public Garden, it is part of the Emerald Necklace, a string of parks designed by Frederick Law Olmsted to run through the city. The Emerald Necklace includes the Back Bay Fens, Arnold Arboretum, Jamaica Pond, Boston's largest body of freshwater, and Franklin Park, the city's largest park and home of the Franklin Park Zoo.[299] Another major park is the Esplanade, along the banks of the Charles River. The Hatch Shell, an outdoor concert venue, is adjacent to the Charles River Esplanade. Other parks are scattered throughout the city, with major parks and beaches near Castle Island and the south end, in Charlestown and along the Dorchester, South Boston, and East Boston shorelines.[300]

Boston's park system is well-reputed nationally. In its 2013 ParkScore ranking, The Trust for Public Land reported Boston was tied with Sacramento and San Francisco for having the third-best park system among the 50 most populous U.S. cities. ParkScore ranks city park systems by a formula that analyzes the city's median park size, park acres as percent of city area, the percent of residents within a half-mile of a park, spending of park services per resident, and the number of playgrounds per 10,000 residents.[301]

Media

Main article: Media in Boston

See also: Boston in fiction § Film, and Boston in fiction § Video games

Newspapers

For a more comprehensive list, see Media in Boston § Newspapers.

The Boston Globe is the oldest and largest daily newspaper in the city[302] and is generally acknowledged as its paper of record.[303] The city is also served by other publications such as the Boston Herald, Boston magazine, DigBoston, and the Boston edition of Metro. The Christian Science Monitor, headquartered in Boston, was formerly a worldwide daily newspaper but ended publication of daily print editions in 2009, switching to continuous online and weekly magazine format publications.[304] The Boston Globe also releases a teen publication to the city's public high schools, called Teens in Print or T.i.P., which is written by the city's teens and delivered quarterly within the school year.[305] The Improper Bostonian, a glossy lifestyle magazine, was published from 1991 through April 2019.

The city's growing Latino population has given rise to a number of local and regional Spanish-language newspapers. These include El Planeta (owned by the former publisher of the Boston Phoenix), El Mundo, and La Semana. Siglo21, with its main offices in nearby Lawrence, is also widely distributed.[306]

Various LGBT publications serve the city's large LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) population such as The Rainbow Times, the only minority and lesbian-owned LGBT news magazine. Founded in 2006, The Rainbow Times is now based out of Boston, but serves all of New England.[307]

Radio and television

For a more comprehensive list, see Media in Boston § Radio, Boston in fiction § Television, and Media in Boston § TV stations.

Boston is the largest broadcasting market in New England, with the radio market being the ninth largest in the United States.[308] Several major AM stations include talk radio WRKO, sports/talk station WEEI, and news radio WBZ (AM). WBZ is a 50,000 watt "clear channel" station whose nighttime broadcasts are heard hundreds of miles from Boston.[309] A variety of commercial FM radio formats serve the area, as do NPR stations WBUR and WGBH. College and university radio stations include WERS (Emerson), WHRB (Harvard), WUMB (UMass Boston), WMBR (MIT), WZBC (Boston College), WMFO (Tufts University), WBRS (Brandeis University), WRBB (Northeastern University) and WMLN-FM (Curry College).[310]

The Boston television DMA, which also includes Manchester, New Hampshire, is the eighth largest in the United States.[311] The city is served by stations representing every major American network, including WBZ-TV 4 and its sister station WSBK-TV 38 (the former a CBS O&O, the latter an independent station), WCVB-TV 5 and its sister station WMUR-TV 9 (both ABC), WHDH 7 and its sister station WLVI 56 (the former an independent station, the latter a CW affiliate), WBTS-CD 15 (an NBC O&O), and WFXT 25 (Fox). The city is also home to PBS member station WGBH-TV 2, a major producer of PBS programs,[312] which also operates WGBX 44. Spanish-language television networks, including UniMás (WUTF-TV 27), Telemundo (WNEU 60, a sister station to WBTS-CD), and Univisión (WUNI 66), have a presence in the region, with WNEU serving as network owned-and-operated station. Most of the area's television stations have their transmitters in nearby Needham and Newton along the Route 128 corridor.[313] Seven Boston television stations are carried by satellite television and cable television providers in Canada.[314]

Infrastructure

Main article: Infrastructure in Boston

Healthcare

Further information: List of hospitals in Massachusetts § Boston, and Boston Public Health Commission

Harvard Medical School, one of the world's most prestigious medical schools

Many of Boston's medical facilities are associated with universities. The Longwood Medical and Academic Area, adjacent to the Fenway, district, is home to a large number of medical and research facilities, including Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston Children's Hospital, Dana–Farber Cancer Institute, and Joslin Diabetes Center.[315] Prominent medical facilities, including Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital are in the Beacon Hill area. Many of the facilities in Longwood and near Massachusetts General Hospital are affiliated with Harvard Medical School.[316]

Tufts Medical Center (formerly Tufts-New England Medical Center), in the southern portion of the Chinatown neighborhood, is affiliated with Tufts University School of Medicine. Boston Medical Center, in the South End neighborhood, is the region's largest safety-net hospital and trauma center. Formed by the merger of Boston City Hospital, the first municipal hospital in the United States, and Boston University Hospital, Boston Medical Center now serves as the primary teaching facility for the Boston University School of Medicine.[317][318] St. Elizabeth's Medical Center is in Brighton Center of the city's Brighton neighborhood. New England Baptist Hospital is in Mission Hill. The city has Veterans Affairs medical centers in the Jamaica Plain and West Roxbury neighborhoods.[319]

Transportation

Main article: Transportation in Boston

A silver and red rapid transit train departing an above-ground station

An MBTA Red Line train departing Boston for Cambridge. Over 1.3 million Bostonians utilize the city's buses and trains daily as of 2013.[320]

Logan International Airport, in East Boston and operated by the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport), is Boston's principal airport.[321] Nearby general aviation airports are Beverly Regional Airport and Lawrence Municipal Airport to the north, Hanscom Field to the west, and Norwood Memorial Airport to the south.[322] Massport also operates several major facilities within the Port of Boston, including a cruise ship terminal and facilities to handle bulk and container cargo in South Boston, and other facilities in Charlestown and East Boston.[323]

Downtown Boston's streets grew organically, so they do not form a planned grid,[324] unlike those in later-developed Back Bay, East Boston, the South End, and South Boston. Boston is the eastern terminus of I-90, which in Massachusetts runs along the Massachusetts Turnpike. The Central Artery follows I-93 as the primary north–south artery that carries most of the through traffic in downtown Boston. Other major highways include US 1, which carries traffic to the North Shore and areas south of Boston, US 3, which connects to the northwestern suburbs, Massachusetts Route 3, which connects to the South Shore and Cape Cod, and Massachusetts Route 2 which connects to the western suburbs. Surrounding the city is Massachusetts Route 128, a partial beltway which has been largely subsumed by other routes (mostly I-95 and I-93).[325]

With nearly a third of Bostonians using public transit for their commute to work, Boston has the fourth-highest rate of public transit usage in the country.[326] The city of Boston has a higher than average percentage of households without a car. In 2016, 33.8 percent of Boston households lacked a car, compared with the national average of 8.7 percent. The city averaged 0.94 cars per household in 2016, compared to a national average of 1.8.[327] Boston's public transportation agency, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), operates the oldest underground rapid transit system in the Americas and is the fourth-busiest rapid transit system in the country,[19] with 65.5 mi (105 km) of track on four lines.[328] The MBTA also operates busy bus and commuter rail networks as well as water shuttles.[328]

South Station, the busiest rail hub in New England, is a terminus of Amtrak and numerous MBTA rail lines.

Amtrak intercity rail to Boston is provided through four stations: South Station, North Station, Back Bay, and Route 128. South Station is a major intermodal transportation hub and is the terminus of Amtrak's Northeast Regional, Acela Express, and Lake Shore Limited routes, in addition to multiple MBTA services. Back Bay is also served by MBTA and those three Amtrak routes, while Route 128, in the southwestern suburbs of Boston, is only served by the Acela Express and Northeast Regional.[329] Meanwhile, Amtrak's Downeaster to Brunswick, Maine terminates in North Station, and is the only Amtrak route to do so.[330]

Nicknamed "The Walking City", Boston hosts more pedestrian commuters than do other comparably populated cities. Owing to factors such as necessity, the compactness of the city and large student population, 13 percent of the population commutes by foot, making it the highest percentage of pedestrian commuters in the country out of the major American cities.[331] As of 2024, Walk Score ranks Boston as the third most walkable U.S. city, with a Walk Score of 83, a Transit Score of 72, and a Bike Score of 69.[332]

Bluebikes in Boston

Between 1999 and 2006, Bicycling magazine named Boston three times as one of the worst cities in the U.S. for cycling;[333] regardless, it has one of the highest rates of bicycle commuting.[334] In 2008, as a consequence of improvements made to bicycling conditions within the city, the same magazine put Boston on its "Five for the Future" list as a "Future Best City" for biking,[335][336] and Boston's bicycle commuting percentage increased from 1% in 2000 to 2.1% in 2009.[337] The bikeshare program Bluebikes, originally called Hubway, launched in late July 2011.[338] The system has 480 stations with a total of 4,500 bikes.[339] PBSC Urban Solutions provides bicycles and technology for this bike-sharing system.[340]

International relations

The City of Boston has eleven official sister cities:[341]

 Kyoto, Japan (1959)

 Strasbourg, France (1960)

 Barcelona, Spain (1980)

 Hangzhou, China (1982)

 Padua, Italy (1983)

 City of Melbourne, Australia (1985)

 Beira, Mozambique (1990)

 Taipei, Taiwan (1996)

 Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana (2001)

 Belfast, Northern Ireland (2014)

 Praia, Cape Verde (2015)

Boston has formal partnership relationships through a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) with five additional cities or regions:

 Guangzhou, China (2014)[342]

 Lyon, France (2016)[343]

 Copenhagen, Denmark (2017)[344]

 Mexico City, Mexico (2017)[345]

 North West of Ireland, Ireland (2017)[346]

See also

Outline of Boston

Boston City League (high-school athletic conference)

Boston Citgo Sign

Boston nicknames

Boston–Halifax relations

List of diplomatic missions in Boston

List of people from Boston

National Register of Historic Places listings in Boston

USS Boston, seven ships

Notes

Massachusetts (/ˌmæsəˈtʃuːsɪts/ ⓘ, /-zɪts/ MASS-ə-CHOO-sits, -⁠zits; Massachusett: Muhsachuweesut [məhswatʃəwiːsət]), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,[b] is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode Island to its south, New Hampshire and Vermont to its north, and New York to its west. Massachusetts is the sixth-smallest state by land area. With over seven million residents as of 2020,[note 1] it is the most populous state in New England, the 16th-most-populous in the country, and the third-most densely populated, after New Jersey and Rhode Island.

Massachusetts was a site of early English colonization. The Plymouth Colony was founded in 1620 by the Pilgrims of the Mayflower. In 1630, the Massachusetts Bay Colony, taking its name from the Indigenous Massachusett people, also established settlements in Boston and Salem. In 1692, the town of Salem and surrounding areas experienced one of America's most infamous cases of mass hysteria, the Salem witch trials.[49] In the late 18th century, Boston became known as the "Cradle of Liberty"[50] for the agitation there that later led to the American Revolution. In 1786, Shays' Rebellion, a populist revolt led by disaffected American Revolutionary War veterans, influenced the United States Constitutional Convention.[51] Originally dependent on agriculture, fishing, and trade,[52] Massachusetts was transformed into a manufacturing center during the Industrial Revolution.[53] Before the American Civil War, the state was a center for the abolitionist, temperance,[54] and transcendentalist[55] movements.[56] During the 20th century, the state's economy shifted from manufacturing to services;[57] and in the 21st century, Massachusetts has become the global leader in biotechnology,[58] and also excels in artificial intelligence,[59] engineering, higher education, finance, and maritime trade.[60]

The state's capital and most populous city, as well as its cultural and financial center, is Boston. Other major cities are Worcester, Springfield and Cambridge. Massachusetts is also home to the urban core of Greater Boston, the largest metropolitan area in New England and a region profoundly influential upon American history, academia, and the research economy.[61] Massachusetts has a reputation for social and political progressivism;[62] becoming the only U.S. state with a right to shelter law, and the first U.S. state, and one of the earliest jurisdictions in the world to legally recognize same-sex marriage.[63] Harvard University in Cambridge is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States,[64] with the largest financial endowment of any university in the world.[65] Both Harvard and MIT, also in Cambridge, are perennially ranked as either the most or among the most highly regarded academic institutions in the world.[66] Massachusetts's public-school students place among the top tier in the world in academic performance.[67]

Massachusetts is the most educated[68] and one of the most highly developed and wealthiest U.S. states, ranking first in the percentage of population 25 and over with either a bachelor's degree or advanced degree, first on both the American Human Development Index and the standard Human Development Index, first in per capita income, and as of 2023, first in median income.[68] Consequently, Massachusetts typically ranks as the top U.S. state,[69] as well as the most expensive state, for residents to live in.[70]

Etymology

The Massachusetts Bay Colony was named after the Indigenous population, the Massachusett or Muhsachuweesut, whose name likely derived from a Wôpanâak word muswachasut, segmented as mus(ây) "big" + wach "mountain" + -s "diminutive" + -ut "locative".[71] This word has been translated as "near the great hill",[72] "by the blue hills", "at the little big hill", or "at the range of hills", in reference to the Blue Hills—namely, the Great Blue Hill, located on the boundary of Milton and Canton.[73][74] Massachusett has also been represented as Moswetuset. This comes from the name of the Moswetuset Hummock (meaning "hill shaped like an arrowhead") in Quincy, where Plymouth Colony commander Myles Standish (a hired English military officer) and Squanto (a member of the Patuxet band of the Wamponoag people, who have since died off due to contagious diseases brought by colonists) met Chief Chickatawbut in 1621.[75][76]

Although the designation "Commonwealth" forms part of the state's official name, it has no practical implications in modern times,[77] and Massachusetts has the same position and powers within the United States as other states.[78] John Adams may have chosen the word in 1779 for the second draft of what became the 1780 Massachusetts Constitution; unlike the word "state", the word "commonwealth" had the connotation of a republic at the time. This was in contrast to the monarchy the former colonies were fighting against during the American Revolutionary War. The name "State of Massachusetts Bay" appeared in the first draft, which was ultimately rejected. It was also chosen to include the "Cape Islands" in reference to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket—from 1780 to 1844, they were seen as additional and separate entities confined within the Commonwealth.[79]

History

Main articles: History of Massachusetts and Native American tribes in Massachusetts

Pre-colonization

Massachusetts was originally inhabited by tribes of the Algonquian language family, including Wampanoag, Narragansett, Nipmuc, Pocomtuc, Mahican, and Massachusett.[80][81] While cultivation of crops like squash and corn were an important part of their diet, the people of these tribes hunted, fished, and searched the forest for most of their food.[80] Villagers lived in lodges called wigwams as well as longhouses.[81] Tribes were led by male or female elders known as sachems.[82]

Colonial period

Main articles: Mayflower Compact, Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts Bay Colony, New England Confederation, Dominion of New England, and Province of Massachusetts Bay

The Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor by William Halsall (1882). The Pilgrims founded Plymouth in 1620.

In the early 1600s, European colonists caused virgin soil epidemics such as smallpox, measles, influenza, and perhaps leptospirosis in what is now known as the northeastern region of the United States.[83][84] Between 1617 and 1619, a disease that was most likely smallpox killed approximately 90% of the Massachusetts Bay Native Americans.[85]

The first English colonists in Massachusetts Bay Colony landed with Richard Vines and spent the winter in Biddeford Pool near Cape Porpoise (after 1820 the State of Maine) in 1616. The Puritans, arrived at Plymouth in 1620. This was the second permanent English colony in the part of North America that later became the United States, after the Jamestown Colony. The "First Thanksgiving" was celebrated by the Puritans after their first harvest in the "New World" and lasted for three days. They were soon followed by other Puritans, who colonized the Massachusetts Bay Colony—now known as Boston—in 1630.[86]

The Puritans believed the Church of England needed to be further reformed along Protestant Calvinist lines, and experienced harassment due to the religious policies of King Charles I and high-ranking churchmen such as William Laud, who would become Charles's Archbishop of Canterbury, whom they feared were re-introducing "Romish" elements to the national church.[87] They decided to colonize to Massachusetts, intending to establish what they considered an "ideal" religious society.[88] The Massachusetts Bay Colony was colonized under a royal charter, unlike the Plymouth colony, in 1629.[89] Both religious dissent and expansionism resulted in several new colonies being founded, shortly after Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay, elsewhere in New England. The Massachusetts Bay banished dissenters such as Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams due to religious and political conflict. In 1636, Williams colonized what is now known as Rhode Island, and Hutchinson joined him there several years later. Religious intolerance continued, and among those who objected to this later that century were the English Quaker preachers Alice and Thomas Curwen, who were publicly flogged and imprisoned in Boston in 1676.[90][91]

By 1641, Massachusetts had expanded inland significantly. The Commonwealth acquired the Connecticut River Valley settlement of Springfield, which had recently disputed with—and defected from—its original administrators, the Connecticut Colony.[92] This established Massachusetts's southern border in the west.[93] However, this became disputed territory until 1803–04 due to surveying problems, leading to the modern Southwick Jog.[94]

The Mamusse Wunneetupanatamwe Up-Biblum God (cover page shown), also called the Eliot Indian Bible, was the first Bible printed in British North America.

In 1652 the Massachusetts General Court authorized Boston silversmith John Hull to produce local coinage in shilling, sixpence and threepence denominations to address a coin shortage in the colony.[95] Before that point, the colony's economy had been entirely dependent on barter and foreign currency, including English, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese and counterfeit coins.[96] In 1661, shortly after the restoration of the British monarchy, the British government considered the Boston mint to be treasonous.[97] However, the colony ignored the English demands to cease operations until at least 1682, when Hull's contract as mintmaster expired, and the colony did not move to renew his contract or appoint a new mintmaster.[98] The coinage was a contributing factor to the revocation of the Massachusetts Bay Colony charter in 1684.[99]

In 1691, the colonies of Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth were united (along with present-day Maine, which had previously been divided between Massachusetts and New York) into the Province of Massachusetts Bay.[100] Shortly after, the new province's first governor, William Phips, arrived. The Salem witch trials also took place, where a number of men and women were hanged for alleged witchcraft.[101]

The most destructive earthquake known to date in New England occurred on November 18, 1755, causing considerable damage across Massachusetts.[102][103]

The Revolutionary War

Main articles: American Revolutionary War, Boston campaign, Lee Resolution, United States Declaration of Independence, Northern theater of the American Revolutionary War after Saratoga, Articles of Confederation § Ratification, and Treaty of Paris (1783)

A 1910 painting of the Battle of Lexington

Massachusetts was a center of the movement for independence from Great Britain. Colonists in Massachusetts had long had uneasy relations with the British monarchy, including open rebellion under the Dominion of New England in the 1680s.[100] Protests against British attempts to tax the colonies after the French and Indian War ended in 1763 led to the Boston Massacre in 1770, and the 1773 Boston Tea Party escalated tensions.[104] In 1774, the Intolerable Acts targeted Massachusetts with punishments for the Boston Tea Party and further decreased local autonomy, increasing local dissent.[105] Anti-Parliamentary activity by men such as Samuel Adams and John Hancock, followed by reprisals by the British government, were a primary reason for the unity of the Thirteen Colonies and the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1775.[106]

John Adams, 2nd President of the United States (1797–1801)

The Battles of Lexington and Concord, fought in Massachusetts in 1775, initiated the American Revolutionary War.[107] George Washington, later the first president of the future country, took over what would become the Continental Army after the battle. His first victory was the siege of Boston in the winter of 1775–76, after which the British were forced to evacuate the city.[108] The event is still celebrated in Suffolk County only every March 17 as Evacuation Day.[109]

On the coast, Salem became a center for privateering. Although the documentation is incomplete, about 1,700 letters of marque, issued on a per-voyage basis, were granted during the American Revolution. Nearly 800 vessels were commissioned as privateers, which were credited with capturing or destroying about 600 British ships.[110]

A 1779 five-shilling note issued by Massachusetts with the inscription: "FIVE SHILLINGS. shall be paid to the Bearer of this Bill, by the 1st Day of Decmr. 1782 agreeable to an Act of the Genl, Court of said STATE."; Within print of sun: "RISING".

A 1779 five-shilling note issued by Massachusetts.

Federal period

Main articles: Constitutional Convention (United States), Admission to the Union, and List of U.S. states by date of admission to the Union

Bostonian John Adams, known as the "Atlas of Independence",[111] was highly involved in both separation from Britain and the Constitution of Massachusetts, which effectively (the Elizabeth Freeman and Quock Walker cases as interpreted by William Cushing) made Massachusetts the first state to abolish slavery. David McCullough points out that an equally important feature was its placing for the first time the courts as a co-equal branch separate from the executive.[112] (The Constitution of Vermont, adopted in 1777, represented the first partial ban on slavery among the states. Vermont became a state in 1791 but did not fully ban slavery until 1858 with the Vermont Personal Liberty Law. The Pennsylvania Gradual Abolition Act of 1780[113] made Pennsylvania the first state to abolish slavery by statute - the second English colony to do so; the first having been the Colony of Georgia in 1735.) Later, Adams was active in early American foreign affairs and succeeded Washington as the second president of the United States. His son, John Quincy Adams, also from Massachusetts,[114] would go on to become the nation's sixth president.

From 1786 to 1787, an armed uprising led by Revolutionary War veteran Daniel Shays, now known as Shays' Rebellion, wrought havoc throughout Massachusetts and ultimately attempted to seize the federal Springfield Armory.[51] The rebellion was one of the major factors in the decision to draft a stronger national constitution to replace the Articles of Confederation.[51] On February 6, 1788, Massachusetts became the sixth state to ratify the United States Constitution.[115]

19th century

Main articles: Missouri Compromise and Massachusetts in the American Civil War

In 1820, Maine separated from Massachusetts and entered the Union as the 23rd state due to the ratification of the Missouri Compromise.[116]

Textile mills, such as the one depicted here in Lowell, made Massachusetts a leader in the Industrial Revolution.

During the 19th century, Massachusetts became a national leader in the American Industrial Revolution, with factories around cities such as Lowell and Boston producing textiles and shoes, and factories around Springfield producing tools, paper, and textiles.[117][118] The state's economy transformed from one based primarily on agriculture to an industrial one, initially making use of water-power and later the steam engine to power factories. Canals and railroads were being used in the state for transporting raw materials and finished goods.[119] At first, the new industries drew labor from Yankees on nearby subsistence farms, though they later relied upon immigrant labor from Europe and Canada.[120][121]

Although Massachusetts was the first slave-holding colony with slavery dating back to the early 1600s, the state became a center of progressivist and abolitionist (anti-slavery) activity in the years leading up to the American Civil War. Horace Mann made the state's school system a national model.[122] Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, both philosophers and writers from the state, also made major contributions to American philosophy.[123] Furthermore, members of the transcendentalist movement within the state emphasized the importance of the natural world and emotion to humanity.[123]

Although significant opposition to abolitionism existed early on in Massachusetts, resulting in anti-abolitionist riots between 1835 and 1837,[124] abolitionist views there gradually increased throughout the next few decades.[125][126] Abolitionists John Brown and Sojourner Truth lived in Springfield and Northampton, respectively, while Frederick Douglass lived in Boston and Susan B. Anthony in Adams. The works of such abolitionists contributed to Massachusetts's actions during the Civil War. Massachusetts was the first state to recruit, train, and arm a Black regiment with White officers, the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment.[127] In 1852, Massachusetts became the first state to pass compulsory education laws.[128]

20th century

Although the U.S. stock market had sustained steep losses the last week in October 1929, Tuesday, October 29 is remembered as the beginning of the Great Depression. The Boston Stock Exchange, drawn into the whirlpool of panic selling that beset the New York Stock Exchange, lost over 25 percent of its value in two days of frenzied trading. The BSE, nearly 100 years old at the time, had helped raise the capital that had funded many of the Commonwealth's factories, railroads, and businesses. "[129] Governor of Massachusetts Frank G. Allen appointed John C. Hull the first Securities Director of Massachusetts.[130][131][132] Hull would assume office in January 1930, and his term would end in 1936.[133]

With the departure of several manufacturing companies, the state's industrial economy began to decline during the early 20th century. By the 1920s, competition from the American South and Midwest, followed by the Great Depression, led to the collapse of the three main industries in Massachusetts: textiles, shoemaking, and precision mechanics.[134] This decline would continue into the latter half of the 20th century. Between 1950 and 1979, the number of Massachusetts residents involved in textile manufacturing declined from 264,000 to 63,000.[135] The 1969 closure of the Springfield Armory, in particular, spurred an exodus of high-paying jobs from Western Massachusetts, which suffered greatly as it de-industrialized during the century's last 40 years.[136]

Massachusetts manufactured 3.4 percent of total United States military armaments produced during World War II, ranking tenth among the 48 states.[137] After the world war, the economy of eastern Massachusetts transformed from one based on heavy industry into a service-based economy.[138] Government contracts, private investment, and research facilities led to a new and improved industrial climate, with reduced unemployment and increased per capita income. Suburbanization flourished, and by the 1970s, the Route 128/Interstate 95 corridor was dotted with high-tech companies who recruited graduates of the area's many elite institutions of higher education.[139]

In 1987, the state received federal funding for the Central Artery/Tunnel Project. Commonly known as "the Big Dig", it was, at the time, the biggest federal highway project ever approved.[140] The project included making the Central Artery, part of Interstate 93, into a tunnel under downtown Boston, in addition to the re-routing of several other major highways.[141][failed verification] The project was often controversial, with numerous claims of graft and mismanagement, and with its initial price tag of $2.5 billion increasing to a final tally of over $15 billion. Nonetheless, the Big Dig changed the face of Downtown Boston[140] and connected areas that were once divided by elevated highway. Much of the raised old Central Artery was replaced with the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway. The project also improved traffic conditions along several routes.[140][141]

Notable 20th century politicians

John F. Kennedy, Massachusetts native and 35th President of the United States (1961–1963)

The Kennedy family was prominent in 20th-century Massachusetts politics. The children of businessman and ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. included John F. Kennedy, who was a senator and U.S. president before his assassination in 1963; Ted Kennedy, a senator from 1962 until his death in 2009;[142] and Eunice Kennedy Shriver, a co-founder of the Special Olympics.[143] In 1966, Massachusetts became the first state to directly elect an African American to the U.S. senate with Edward Brooke.[144] George H. W. Bush, 41st President of the United States (1989–1993) was born in Milton in 1924.[145]

Other notable Massachusetts politicians on the national level included Joseph W. Martin Jr., Speaker of the House (from 1947 to 1949 and then again from 1953 to 1955) and leader of House Republicans from 1939 until 1959 (where he was the only Republican to serve as Speaker between 1931 and 1995),[146] John W. McCormack, Speaker of the House in the 1960s, and Tip O'Neill, whose service as Speaker of the House from 1977 to 1987 was the longest continuous tenure in United States history.[147]

21st century

On May 17, 2004, Massachusetts became the first state in the U.S. to legalize same-sex marriage. This followed the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's decision in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health in November 2003, which determined that the exclusion of same-sex couples from the right to a civil marriage was unconstitutional.[63]

In 2004, Massachusetts senator John Kerry, who won the Democratic nomination for President of the United States, lost to incumbent George W. Bush. Eight years later, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney (the Republican nominee) lost to incumbent Barack Obama in 2012. Another eight years later, Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren became a frontrunner in the Democratic primaries for the 2020 presidential election. However, she later suspended her campaign and endorsed presumptive nominee Joe Biden.[148]

Boston Marathon bombing

Two pressure cooker bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013, at around 2:49 pm local time (EDT). The explosions killed three people and injured an estimated 264 others.[149] The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) later identified the suspects as brothers Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev. The ensuing manhunt ended on April 19 when thousands of law enforcement officers searched a 20-block area of nearby Watertown. Dzhokhar later said he was motivated by extremist Islamic beliefs and learned to build explosive devices from Inspire, the online magazine of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.[150]

On November 8, 2016, Massachusetts voted in favor of the Massachusetts Marijuana Legalization Initiative, also known as Question 4.[151]

Geography

Main articles: Geography of Massachusetts and Geology of New England

A portion of the north-central Pioneer Valley in South Deerfield

Massachusetts is the seventh-smallest state in the United States.[152] It is located in the New England region of the Northeastern United States.[153] It has an area of 10,555 square miles (27,340 km2),[154] 25.7% of which is water.[155] Several large bays distinctly shape its coast, giving it the nickname "the Bay State".[156] Boston is its largest city.[157]

Despite its small size, Massachusetts features numerous topographically distinctive regions. The large coastal plain of the Atlantic Ocean in the eastern section of the state contains Greater Boston, along with most of the state's population,[61] as well as the distinctive Cape Cod peninsula. To the west lies the hilly, rural region of Central Massachusetts, and beyond that, the Connecticut River Valley. Along the western border of Western Massachusetts lies the highest elevated part of the state, the Berkshires, forming a portion of the northern terminus of the Appalachian Mountains.[citation needed]

The U.S. National Park Service administers a number of natural and historical sites in Massachusetts.[158] Along with twelve national historic sites, areas, and corridors, the National Park Service also manages the Cape Cod National Seashore and the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area.[158] In addition, the Department of Conservation and Recreation maintains a number of parks, trails, and beaches throughout Massachusetts.[159]

Ecology

The primary biome of inland Massachusetts is temperate deciduous forest.[160] Although much of Massachusetts had been cleared for agriculture, leaving only traces of old-growth forest in isolated pockets, secondary growth has regenerated in many rural areas as farms have been abandoned.[161] Forests cover around 62% of Massachusetts.[162] The areas most affected by human development include the Greater Boston area in the east and the Springfield metropolitan area in the west, although the latter includes agricultural areas throughout the Connecticut River Valley.[163] There are 219 endangered species in Massachusetts.[164]

A number of species are doing well in the increasingly urbanized Massachusetts. Peregrine falcons utilize office towers in larger cities as nesting areas,[165] and the population of coyotes, whose diet may include garbage and roadkill, has been increasing in recent decades.[166] White-tailed deer, raccoons, wild turkeys, and eastern gray squirrels are also found throughout Massachusetts. In more rural areas in the western part of Massachusetts, larger mammals such as moose and black bears have returned, largely due to reforestation following the regional decline in agriculture.[167]

Massachusetts is located along the Atlantic Flyway, a major route for migratory waterfowl along the eastern coast.[168] Lakes in central Massachusetts provide habitat for many species of fish and waterfowl, but some species such as the common loon are becoming rare.[169] A significant population of long-tailed ducks winter off Nantucket. Small offshore islands and beaches are home to roseate terns and are important breeding areas for the locally threatened piping plover.[170] Protected areas such as the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge provide critical breeding habitat for shorebirds and a variety of marine wildlife including a large population of grey seals. Since 2009, there has been a significant increase in the number of Great white sharks spotted and tagged in the coastal waters off of Cape Cod.[171][172][173]

Freshwater fish species in Massachusetts include bass, carp, catfish, and trout, while saltwater species such as Atlantic cod, haddock, and American lobster populate offshore waters.[174] Other marine species include Harbor seals, the endangered North Atlantic right whales, as well as humpback whales, fin whales, minke whales, and Atlantic white-sided dolphins.[175]

The European corn borer, a significant agricultural pest, was first found in North America near Boston, Massachusetts in 1917.[176]

Climate

Main article: Climate of Massachusetts

Most of Massachusetts has a humid continental climate, with cold winters and warm summers. Far southeast coastal areas are the broad transition zone to Humid Subtropical climates. The warm to hot summers render the oceanic climate rare in this transition, only applying to exposed coastal areas such as on the peninsula of Barnstable County. The climate of Boston is quite representative for the commonwealth, characterized by summer highs of around 81 °F (27 °C) and winter highs of 35 °F (2 °C), and is quite wet. Frosts are frequent all winter, even in coastal areas due to prevailing inland winds. Boston has a relatively sunny climate for a coastal city at its latitude, averaging over 2,600 hours of sunshine a year.

Koppen climate types of Massachusetts

Average daily maximum and minimum temperatures for selected cities in Massachusetts[177]

Location July (°F) July (°C) January (°F) January (°C)

Boston 81/65 27/18 36/22 2/−5

Worcester 79/61 26/16 31/17 0/−8

Springfield 84/62 27/17 34/17 1/−8

New Bedford 80/65 26/18 37/23 3/−4

Quincy 80/61 26/16 33/18 1/−7

Plymouth 80/61 27/16 38/20 3/−6

Environmental issues

Climate change

Main article: Climate change in Massachusetts

Climate change in Massachusetts will affect both urban and rural environments, including forestry, fisheries, agriculture, and coastal development.[178][179][180] The Northeast is projected to warm faster than global average temperatures; by 2035, according to the U. S. Global Change Research Program, the Northeast is "projected to be more than 3.6°F (2°C) warmer on average than during the preindustrial era".[180] As of August 2016, the EPA reports that Massachusetts has warmed by over two degrees Fahrenheit, or 1.1 degrees Celsius.[181]

Shifting temperatures also result in the shifting of rainfall patterns and the intensification of precipitation events. To that end, average precipitation in the Northeast United States has risen by ten percent from 1895 to 2011, and the number of heavy precipitation events has increased by seventy percent during that time.[181] These increased precipitation patterns are focused in the winter and spring. Increasing temperatures coupled with increasing precipitation will result in earlier snow melts and subsequent drier soil in the summer months.[182]

The shifting climate in Massachusetts will result in a significant change to the state's built environment and ecosystems. In Boston alone, costs of climate change-related storms will result in $5 to $100 billion in damage.[181]

Warmer temperatures will also disrupt bird migration and flora blooming. With these changes, deer populations are expected to increase, resulting in a decrease in underbrush which smaller fauna use as camouflage. Additionally, rising temperatures will increase the number of reported Lyme disease cases in the state. Ticks can transmit the disease once temperatures reach 45 degrees, so shorter winters will increase the window of transmission. These warmer temperatures will also increase the prevalence of Asian tiger mosquitoes, which often carry the West Nile virus.[181]

To fight this change, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs has outlined a path to decarbonize the state's economy. On April 22, 2020, Kathleen A. Theoharides, the state's Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs, released a Determination of Statewide Emissions limits for 2050. In her letter, Theoharides stresses that as of 2020, the Commonwealth has experienced property damage attributable to climate change of more than $60 billion. To ensure that the Commonwealth experiences warming no more than 1.5 °C of pre-industrialization levels, the state will work towards two goals by 2050: to achieve net-zero emissions, and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 85 percent overall.[183]

Power initiatives

Main articles: Solar power in Massachusetts and Wind power in Massachusetts

See also: Plug-in electric vehicles in Massachusetts

The State of Massachusetts has developed a plethora of incentives to encourage the implementation of renewable energy and efficient appliances and home facilities. The Mass Save program, formed in conjunction with the State by several companies that provide power and gas in Massachusetts, provides homeowners and renters with monetary incentives to retrofit their homes with efficient HVAC equipment and other household appliances. Appliances such as water heaters, air conditioners, washers and driers, and heat pumps are eligible for rebates in order to incentivize change.[184]

The concept of Mass Save was created in 2008 by the passing of the Green Communities Act of 2008, during Deval Patrick's tenure as governor. The main goal of the Green Communities Act was to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels in the State and to encourage new, more efficient technologies. Among others, one result of this act was a requirement for Program Administrators of utilities to invest in saving energy, as opposed to purchasing and generating additional energy where economically feasible. In Massachusetts, eleven Program Administrators, including Eversource, National Grid, Western Massachusetts Electric, Cape Light Compact, Until, and Berkshire Gas, jointly own the rights to this program, in conjunction with the MA Department of Energy Resources (DOER) and the Energy Efficiency Advisory Council (EEAC).[185]

The State Revenue Service provides incentives for the installation of solar panels. In addition to the Federal Residential Renewable energy credit, Massachusetts residents may be eligible for a tax credit of up to 15 percent of the project.[186] Once installed, arrays are eligible for net metering.[187] Certain municipalities will offer up to $1.20 per watt, up to 50 percent of the system's cost on PV arrays 25 kW or less.[188] The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources also offered low-interest, fixed-rate financing with loan support for low-income residents until December 31, 2020.[189]

As a part of the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources' effort to incentivize the usage of renewable energy, the Massachusetts Offers Rebates for Electric Vehicles (MOR-EV) initiative was created. With this incentive, residents may qualify for a state-provided incentive of up to $2,500 for the purchase or lease of an electric vehicle, or $1,500 for the purchase or lease of a plug-in hybrid vehicle.[190] This rebate is available in addition to the tax credits offered by the United States Department of Energy for the purchase of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.[191]

For income-eligible residents, Mass Save has partnered with Massachusetts Community Action Program Agencies and Low-Income Energy Affordability Network (LEAN) to offer residents assistance with upgrades to their homes that will result in more efficient energy usage. Residents may qualify for a replacement of their heating system, insulation installation, appliances, and thermostats if they meet the income qualifications provided on Mass Save's website. For residents of 5+ family residential buildings, there are additional income-restricted benefits available through LEAN. If at least 50 percent of the residents of the building qualify as low income, energy efficiency improvements like those available through Mass Save are available. Residential structures operated by non-profit organizations, for profit operations, or housing authorities may take advantage of these programs.[192]

In late 2020, the administration of Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker released a decarbonization roadmap to aim for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The plan calls for major investments in offshore wind and solar energy. It would also require all new cars sold in the state to be zero-emissions (electric or hydrogen powered) by 2035.[193][194]

Demographics

Main articles: Demographics of Massachusetts and List of people from Massachusetts

Massachusetts population density map. The centers of high-density settlement, from east to west, are Boston, Worcester, Springfield, and Pittsfield, respectively.

Historical population

Census Pop. Note %±

1790 378,787 —

1800 422,845 11.6%

1810 472,040 11.6%

1820 523,287 10.9%

1830 610,408 16.6%

1840 737,699 20.9%

1850 994,514 34.8%

1860 1,231,066 23.8%

1870 1,457,351 18.4%

1880 1,783,085 22.4%

1890 2,238,947 25.6%

1900 2,805,346 25.3%

1910 3,366,416 20.0%

1920 3,852,356 14.4%

1930 4,249,614 10.3%

1940 4,316,721 1.6%

1950 4,690,514 8.7%

1960 5,148,578 9.8%

1970 5,689,170 10.5%

1980 5,737,037 0.8%

1990 6,016,425 4.9%

2000 6,349,097 5.5%

2010 6,547,629 3.1%

2020 7,029,917 7.4%

2023 (est.) 7,001,399 −0.4%

[195][196]

At the 2020 U.S. census, Massachusetts had a population of over 7 million, a 7.4% increase since the 2010 United States Census.[197][198] As of 2015, Massachusetts was estimated to be the third-most densely populated U.S. state, with 871.0 people per square mile,[199] behind New Jersey and Rhode Island. In 2014, Massachusetts had 1,011,811 foreign-born residents or 15% of the population.[199] As of July 2023, the population is estimated to be 7,001,399.[5]

Most Massachusetts residents live within the Boston metropolitan area, also known as Greater Boston, which includes Boston and its proximate surroundings but also extending to Greater Lowell and to Worcester. The Springfield metropolitan area, also known as Greater Springfield, is also a major center of population. Demographically, the center of population of Massachusetts is located in the town of Natick.[200][201]

Like the rest of the Northeastern United States, the population of Massachusetts has continued to grow in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Massachusetts is the fastest-growing state in New England and the 25th fastest-growing state in the United States.[202] Population growth has been driven primarily by the relatively high quality of life and a large higher education system.[202]

Foreign immigration is also a factor in the state's population growth, causing the state's population to continue to grow as of the 2010 census (particularly in Massachusetts gateway cities where costs of living are lower).[203][204] Forty percent of foreign immigrants were from Central or South America, according to a 2005 Census Bureau study, with many of the remainder from Asia. Many residents who have settled in Greater Springfield claim Puerto Rican descent.[203] Many areas of Massachusetts showed relatively stable population trends between 2000 and 2010.[204] Exurban Boston and coastal areas grew the most rapidly, while Berkshire County in far Western Massachusetts and Barnstable County on Cape Cod were the only counties to lose population as of the 2010 census.[204] In 2018, The top countries of origin for Massachusetts' immigrants were China, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, India and Haiti.[205]

By sex, 48.4% were male, and 51.6% were female in 2014. In terms of age, 79.2% were over 18 and 14.8% were over 65.[199]

According to HUD's 2022 Annual Homeless Assessment Report, there were an estimated 15,507 homeless people in Massachusetts.[206][207]

Race and ancestry

Saint Patrick's Day parade in Scituate, the municipality with the highest percentage identifying Irish ancestry in the United States, at 47.5% in 2010.[208] Irish Americans constitute the largest ethnicity in Massachusetts.

Ethnic origins in Massachusetts

Ethnic composition as of the 2020 census 

Race and Ethnicity[209] Alone Total

White (non-Hispanic) 67.6%

 

71.4%

 

Hispanic or Latino[c] — 12.6%

 

African American (non-Hispanic) 6.5%

 

8.2%

 

Asian 7.2%

 

8.2%

 

Native American 0.1%

 

0.9%

 

Pacific Islander 0.02%

 

0.1%

 

Other 1.3%

 

3.6%

 

The state's most populous ethnic group, non-Hispanic white, has declined from 95.4% in 1970 to 67.6% in 2020.[199][210] As of 2011, non-Hispanic whites were involved in 63.6% of all the births,[211] while 36.4% of the population of Massachusetts younger than age 1 was minorities (at least one parent who was not non-Hispanic white).[212] One major reason for this is that non-Hispanic whites in Massachusetts recorded a total fertility rate of 1.36 in 2017, the second-lowest in the country after neighboring Rhode Island.[213]

As late as 1795, the population of Massachusetts was nearly 95% of English ancestry.[214] During the early and mid-19th century, immigrant groups began arriving in Massachusetts in large numbers; first from Ireland in the 1840s;[215] today the Irish and part-Irish are the largest ancestry group in the state at nearly 25% of the total population. Others arrived later from Quebec as well as places in Europe such as Italy, Portugal, and Poland.[216] In the early 20th century, an increasing number of African Americans migrated to Massachusetts, although in somewhat fewer numbers than many other Northern states.[217] Later in the 20th century, immigration from Latin America increased considerably. More than 156,000 Chinese Americans made their home in Massachusetts in 2014,[218] and Boston hosts a growing Chinatown accommodating heavily traveled Chinese-owned bus lines to and from Chinatown, Manhattan in New York City. Massachusetts also has large Dominican, Puerto Rican, Haitian, Cape Verdean and Brazilian populations.[219] Boston's South End and Jamaica Plain are both gay villages, as is nearby Provincetown, Massachusetts on Cape Cod.[220]

Boston's Chinatown, with its paifang gate, is home to many Chinese and also Vietnamese restaurants.

Boston gay pride march, held annually in June. In 2004 Massachusetts became the first U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage.

The largest ancestry group in Massachusetts are the Irish (22.5% of the population), who live in significant numbers throughout the state but form more than 40% of the population along the South Shore in Norfolk and Plymouth counties (in both counties overall, Irish-Americans comprise more than 30% of the population). Italians form the second-largest ethnic group in the state (13.5%), but form a plurality in some suburbs north of Boston and in a few towns in the Berkshires. English Americans, the third-largest (11.4%) group, form a plurality in some western towns. French and French Canadians also form a significant part (10.7%),[221] with sizable populations in Bristol, Hampden, and Worcester Counties, along with Middlesex county especially concentrated in the areas surrounding Lowell and Lawrence.[222][223] Lowell is home to the second-largest Cambodian community of the nation.[224] Massachusetts is home to a small community of Greek Americans as well, which according to the American Community Survey there are 83,701 of them scattered along the state (1.2% of the total state population).[225] There are also several populations of Native Americans in Massachusetts. The Wampanoag tribe maintains reservations at Aquinnah on Martha's Vineyard and at Mashpee on Cape Cod—with an ongoing native language revival project underway since 1993, while the Nipmuc maintain two state-recognized reservations in the central part of the state, including one at Grafton.[226]

Massachusetts has avoided many forms of racial strife seen elsewhere in the US, but examples such as the successful electoral showings of the nativist (mainly anti-Catholic) Know Nothings in the 1850s,[227] the controversial Sacco and Vanzetti executions in the 1920s,[228] and Boston's opposition to desegregation busing in the 1970s.[229]

Historical racial and ethnic composition

Massachusetts – Racial and Ethnic Composition

(NH = Non-Hispanic)

Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.

Race / Ethnicity Pop 2000[230] Pop 2010[231] Pop 2020[232] %2000 %2010 %2020

White alone (NH) 5,198,359 4,984,800 4,748,897 81.88% 76.13% 67.55%

Black or African American alone (NH) 318,329 391,693 457,055 5.01% 5.98% 6.5%

Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) 11,264 10,788 9,378 0.18% 0.16% 0.13%

Asian alone (NH) 236,786 347,495 504,900 3.73% 5.31% 7.18%

Pacific Islander alone (NH) 1,706 1,467 1,607 0.03% 0.02% 0.02%

Some Other Race alone (NH) 43,586 61,547 92,108 0.69% 0.94% 1.31%

Mixed Race/Multi-Racial (NH) 110,338 122,195 328,278 1.74% 1.87% 4.67%

Hispanic or Latino (any race) 428,729 627,654 887,685 6.75% 9.59% 12.63%

Total 6,349,097 6,547,629 7,029,917 100% 100% 100%

Languages

The most common varieties of American English spoken in Massachusetts, other than General American, are the cot-caught distinct, rhotic, western Massachusetts dialect and the cot-caught merged, non-rhotic, eastern Massachusetts dialect (popularly known as a "Boston accent").[233]

Top 11 Non-English Languages Spoken in Massachusetts

Language Percentage of population

(as of 2010)[234]

Spanish 7.50%

Portuguese 2.97%

Chinese (including Cantonese and Mandarin) 1.59%

French (including New England French) 1.11%

French Creole 0.89%

Italian 0.72%

Russian 0.62%

Vietnamese 0.58%

Greek 0.41%

Arabic and Khmer (Cambodian) (including all Austroasiatic languages) (tied) 0.37%

As of 2010, 78.93% (4,823,127) of Massachusetts residents 5 and older spoke English at home as a first language, while 7.50% (458,256) spoke Spanish, 2.97% (181,437) Portuguese, 1.59% (96,690) Chinese (which includes Cantonese and Mandarin), 1.11% (67,788) French, 0.89% (54,456) French Creole, 0.72% (43,798) Italian, 0.62% (37,865) Russian, and Vietnamese was spoken as a primary language by 0.58% (35,283) of the population over 5. In total, 21.07% (1,287,419) of Massachusetts's population 5 and older spoke a first language other than English.[199][234]

Religion

Religious self-identification, per Public Religion Research Institute's 2022 American Values Survey[235]

  Unaffiliated (34%)

  Catholicism (34%)

  Protestantism (22%)

  Eastern Orthodoxy (1%)

  Unitarian/Universalist (1%)

  Judaism (3%)

  Hinduism (2%)

  Buddhism (1%)

  New Age (1%)

  Other (1%)

Massachusetts was founded and settled by Brownist Puritans in 1620,[87] and soon after by other groups of Separatists/Dissenters, Nonconformists and Independents from 17th century England.[236] A majority of people in Massachusetts today remain Christians.[199] The descendants of the Puritans belong to many different churches; in the direct line of inheritance are the various Congregational churches, the United Church of Christ and congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association. The headquarters of the Unitarian Universalist Association, long located on Beacon Hill, is now located in South Boston.[237][238] Many Puritan descendants also dispersed to other Protestant denominations. Some disaffiliated along with Roman Catholics and other Christian groups in the wake of modern secularization.[239]

As of the 2014 Pew study, Christians made up 57% of the state's population, with Protestants making up 21% of them. Roman Catholics made up 34% and now predominate because of massive immigration from primarily Catholic countries and regions—chiefly Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Quebec, and Latin America. Both Protestant and Roman Catholic communities have been in decline since the late 20th century, due to the rise of irreligion in New England. It is the most irreligious region of the country, along with the Western United States; for comparison and contrast however, in 2020, the Public Religion Research Institute determined 67% of the population were Christian reflecting a slight increase of religiosity.[240] A significant Jewish population immigrated to the Boston and Springfield areas between 1880 and 1920. Jews make up 3% of the population. Mary Baker Eddy made the Boston Mother Church of Christian Science serve as the world headquarters of this new religious movement. Buddhists, Pagans, Hindus, Seventh-day Adventists, Muslims, and Mormons may also be found. The Satanic Temple has its headquarters in Salem. Kripalu Center in Stockbridge, the Shaolin Meditation Temple in Springfield, and the Insight Meditation Center in Barre are examples of non-Abrahamic religious centers in Massachusetts. According to 2010 data from The Association of Religion Data Archives, (ARDA) the largest single denominations are the Catholic Church with 2,940,199 adherents; the United Church of Christ with 86,639 adherents; and the Episcopal Church with 81,999 adherents.[241]

In 2014, 32% of the population identified as having no religion;[242] in a separate 2020 study, 23% of the population identified as irreligious, and 67% of the population identified as Christians (including 26% as white Protestants and 20% as white Catholics).[240] As of 2022, a plurality of Massachusettsans were irreligious,[240] and the state is considered to be a part of the Unchurched Belt.[243]

Native American tribes

What is today Massachusetts was originally inhabited by the Wampanoag, the Nipmuc, the Massachusett, the Pocumtuc, the Nauset, the Pennacook and a few other tribes.[244][245] Some of these tribes are still represented among the population of the state today.

The largest Native American tribes in Massachusetts according to the 2010 census are listed in the table below:[246]

Tribal groupings with over 600 members in Massachusetts in 2010 census

Tribal grouping American Indian and

Alaska Native alone

AIAN in combination with

one or more other races

Total AIAN alone or

in any combination

Total AIAN population 18850 31855 50705

Cherokee 885 3654 4539

Wampanoag 1674 1642 3316

Micmac 623 1166 1789

South American Indian 817 930 1747

Blackfeet 298 1347 1645

Mexican American Indian 1131 449 1580

Iroquois 457 984 1441

Central American Indian 635 332 967

Nipmuc 305 550 855

Abenaki 197 469 666

Sioux 186 463 649

Tribe not specified 9421 16535 25956

Education

Harvard University and MIT are both widely regarded as in the top handful of universities worldwide for academic research in various disciplines.[66] (Shown are the Widener Library at Harvard and MIT Building 10.)

Further information: List of colleges and universities in Massachusetts, List of engineering schools in Massachusetts, List of high schools in Massachusetts, List of school districts in Massachusetts, Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Massachusetts Department of Higher Education, University of Massachusetts, and History of education in Massachusetts

Towns in Massachusetts by combined mean SAT of their public high school district for the 2015–2016 academic year[247]

In 2018, Massachusetts's overall educational system was ranked the top among all fifty U.S. states by U.S. News & World Report.[248] Massachusetts was the first state in North America to require municipalities to appoint a teacher or establish a grammar school with the passage of the Massachusetts Education Law of 1647,[249] and 19th century reforms pushed by Horace Mann laid much of the groundwork for contemporary universal public education[250][251] which was established in 1852.[128] Massachusetts is home to the oldest school in continuous existence in North America (The Roxbury Latin School, founded in 1645), as well as the country's oldest public elementary school (The Mather School, founded in 1639),[252] its oldest high school (Boston Latin School, founded in 1635),[253] its oldest continuously operating boarding school (The Governor's Academy, founded in 1763),[254] its oldest college (Harvard University, founded in 1636),[255] and its oldest women's college (Mount Holyoke College, founded in 1837).[256] Massachusetts is also home to the highest ranked private high school in the United States, Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, which was founded in 1778.[257]

Massachusetts's per-student public expenditure for elementary and secondary schools was eighth in the nation in 2012, at $14,844.[258] In 2013, Massachusetts scored highest of all the states in math and third-highest in reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress.[259] Massachusetts' public-school students place among the top tier in the world in academic performance.[67]

Massachusetts is home to 121 institutions of higher education.[260] Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, both located in Cambridge, consistently rank among the world's best private universities and universities in general.[261] In addition to Harvard and MIT, several other Massachusetts universities rank in the top 50 at the undergraduate level nationally in the widely cited rankings of U.S. News & World Report: Tufts University (#27), Boston College (#32), Brandeis University (#34), Boston University (#37) and Northeastern University (#40). Massachusetts is also home to three of the top five U.S. News & World Report's best Liberal Arts Colleges: Williams College (#1), Amherst College (#2), and Wellesley College (#4).[262] It is also home to the oldest Catholic liberal arts college, College of the Holy Cross (#33).[263] Boston Architectural College is New England's largest private college of spatial design. The public University of Massachusetts (nicknamed UMass) features five campuses in the state, with its flagship campus in Amherst, which enrolls more than 25,000.[264][265]

As of 2021, Massachusetts has the highest percentage of adults over the age of 25 with a bachelor's degree (46.62%) and a graduate degree (21.27%) of any state in the country.

Economy

See also: List of Massachusetts locations by per capita income and Category:Economy of Massachusetts

The United States Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that the Massachusetts gross state product in 2020 was $584 billion.[266] The per capita personal income in 2012 was $53,221, making it the third-highest state in the nation.[267] As of January 2023, Massachusetts state general minimum wage is $15.00 per hour while the minimum wage for tipped workers is $6.75 an hour, with a guarantee that employers will pay the difference should a tipped employee's hourly wage not meet or exceed the general minimum wage.[268] This wage was set to increase to a general minimum of $15.00 per hour and a tipped worker minimum of $6.75 per hour in January 2023, as part of a series of minimum wage amendments passed in 2018 that saw the minimum wage increase slowly every January up to 2023.[269]

In 2015, twelve Fortune 500 companies were located in Massachusetts: Liberty Mutual, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, TJX Companies, General Electric, Raytheon, American Tower, Global Partners, Thermo Fisher Scientific, State Street Corporation, Biogen, Eversource Energy, and Boston Scientific.[270] CNBC's list of "Top States for Business for 2023" has recognized Massachusetts as the 15th-best state in the nation for business,[271] and for the second year in a row in 2016 the state was ranked by Bloomberg as the most innovative state in America.[272] According to a 2013 study by Phoenix Marketing International, Massachusetts had the sixth-largest number of millionaires per capita in the United States, with a ratio of 6.73 percent.[273] Billionaires living in the state include past and present leaders (and related family) of local companies such as Fidelity Investments, New Balance, Kraft Group, Boston Scientific, and the former Continental Cablevision.[274]

Massachusetts has three foreign-trade zones, the Massachusetts Port Authority of Boston, the Port of New Bedford, and the City of Holyoke.[275] Boston-Logan International Airport is the busiest airport in New England, serving 33.4 million total passengers in 2015, and witnessing rapid growth in international air traffic since 2010.[276]

Sectors vital to the Massachusetts economy include higher education, biotechnology, information technology, finance, health care, tourism, manufacturing, and defense. The Route 128 corridor and Greater Boston continue to be a major center for venture capital investment,[277] and high technology remains an important sector. In recent years tourism has played an ever-important role in the state's economy, with Boston and Cape Cod being the leading destinations.[278] Other popular tourist destinations include Salem, Plymouth, and the Berkshires. Massachusetts is the sixth-most popular tourist destination for foreign travelers.[279] In 2010, the Great Places in Massachusetts Commission published '1,000 Great Places in Massachusetts' that identified 1,000 sites across the commonwealth to highlight the diverse historic, cultural, and natural attractions.[280]

Sunset at Brewster, on Cape Cod Bay.

While manufacturing comprised less than 10% of Massachusetts's gross state product in 2016, the Commonwealth ranked 16th in the nation in total manufacturing output in the United States.[281] This includes a diverse array of manufactured goods such as medical devices, paper goods, specialty chemicals and plastics, telecommunications and electronics equipment, and machined components.[282][283]

The more than 33,000 nonprofits in Massachusetts employ one-sixth of the state's workforce.[284] In 2007, Governor Deval Patrick signed into law a state holiday, Nonprofit Awareness Day.[285]

In February 2017, U.S. News & World Report ranked Massachusetts the best state in the United States based upon 60 metrics including healthcare, education, crime, infrastructure, opportunity, economy, and government. Massachusetts ranked number one in education, number two in healthcare, and number five in the handling of the economy.[286]

Agriculture

Main article: Agriculture in Massachusetts

As of 2012, there were 7,755 farms in Massachusetts encompassing a total of 523,517 acres (2,120 km2), averaging 67.5 acres (27.3 hectares) apiece.[287] Greenhouse, floriculture, and sod products – including the ornamental market – make up more than one third of the state's agricultural output.[288][289] Particular agricultural products of note also include cranberries, sweet corn and apples are also large sectors of production.[289] Fruit cultivation is an important part of the state's agricultural revenues,[290] and Massachusetts is the second-largest cranberry-producing state after Wisconsin.[291]

Taxation

Depending on how it is calculated, state and local tax burden in Massachusetts has been estimated among U.S. states and Washington D.C. as 21st-highest (11.44% or $6,163 per year for a household with nationwide median income)[292] or 25th-highest overall with below-average corporate taxes (39th-highest), above-average personal income taxes, (13th-highest), above-average sales tax (18th-highest), and below-average property taxes (46th-highest).[293] In the 1970s, the Commonwealth ranked as a relatively high-tax state, gaining the pejorative nickname "Taxachusetts". This was followed by a round of tax limitations during the 1980s—a conservative period in American politics—including Proposition 2½.[294]

As of January 1, 2020, Massachusetts has a flat-rate personal income tax of 5.00%,[295] after a 2002 voter referendum to eventually lower the rate to 5.0%[296] as amended by the legislature.[297] There is a tax exemption for income below a threshold that varies from year to year. The corporate income tax rate is 8.8%,[298] and the short-term capital gains tax rate is 12%.[299] An unusual provision allows filers to voluntarily pay at the pre-referendum 5.85% income tax rate, which is done by between one and two thousand taxpayers per year.[300]

The state imposes a 6.25% sales tax[298] on retail sales of tangible personal property—except for groceries, clothing (up to $175.00), and periodicals.[301] The sales tax is charged on clothing that costs more than $175.00, for the amount exceeding $175.00.[301] Massachusetts also charges a use tax when goods are bought from other states and the vendor does not remit Massachusetts sales tax; taxpayers report and pay this on their income tax forms or dedicated forms, though there are "safe harbor" amounts that can be paid without tallying up actual purchases (except for purchases over $1,000).[301] There is no inheritance tax and limited Massachusetts estate tax related to federal estate tax collection.[299]

Energy

Further information: Solar power in Massachusetts, Wind power in Massachusetts, and Category:Energy in Massachusetts

Massachusetts's electricity generation market was made competitive in 1998, enabling retail customers to change suppliers without changing utility companies.[302] In 2018, Massachusetts consumed 1,459 trillion BTU,[303] making it the seventh-lowest state in terms of consumption of energy per capita, and 31 percent of that energy came from natural gas.[303] In 2014 and 2015, Massachusetts was ranked as the most energy efficient state the United States[304][305] while Boston is the most efficient city,[306] but it had the fourth-highest average residential retail electricity prices of any state.[303] In 2018, renewable energy was about 7.2 percent of total energy consumed in the state, ranking 34th.[303]

Transportation

Main pages: Massachusetts Department of Transportation, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, and Category:Transportation in Massachusetts

See also: Plug-in electric vehicles in Massachusetts

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, serving Greater Boston

Massachusetts has 10 regional metropolitan planning organizations and three non-metropolitan planning organizations covering the remainder of the state;[307] statewide planning is handled by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Transportation is the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions by economic sector in Massachusetts.[308]

Regional public transportation

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), also known as "The T",[309] operates public transportation in the form of subway,[310] bus,[311] and ferry[312] systems in the Metro Boston area.

Fifteen other regional transit authorities provide public transportation in the form of bus services in the rest of the state.[313] Four heritage railways are also in operation:

The Cape Cod Central Railroad, operating from Hyannis to Buzzards Bay[314]

The Berkshire Scenic Railway, operating from Lee to Great Barrington[315]

Edaville Railroad in Carver[316]

The Lowell National Historical Park Trolley Line in Lowell[317]

Long-distance rail and bus

Amtrak operates several inter-city rail lines in Massachusetts. Boston's South Station serves as the terminus for three lines, namely the high-speed Acela Express, which links to cities such as Providence, New Haven, New York City, and eventually Washington DC; the Northeast Regional, which follows the same route but includes many more stops, and also continues further south to Newport News in Virginia; and the Lake Shore Limited, which runs westward to Worcester, Springfield, and eventually Chicago.[318][319] Boston's other major station, North Station, serves as the southern terminus for Amtrak's Downeaster, which connects to Portland and Brunswick in Maine.[318]

Outside of Boston, Amtrak connects several cities across Massachusetts, along the aforementioned Acela, Northeast Regional, Lake Shore Limited, and Downeaster lines, as well as other routes in central and western Massachusetts. The Amtrak Hartford Line connects Springfield to New Haven, operated in conjunction with the Connecticut Department of Transportation, and the Valley Flyer runs a similar route but continues further north to Greenfield. Several stations in western Massachusetts are also served by the Vermonter, which connects St. Albans, Vermont to Washington DC.[318]

Amtrak carries more passengers between Boston and New York than all airlines combined (about 54% of market share in 2012),[320] but service between other cities is less frequent. There, more frequent intercity service is provided by private bus carriers, including Peter Pan Bus Lines (headquartered in Springfield), Greyhound Lines, OurBus, BoltBus and Plymouth and Brockton Street Railway. Various Chinatown bus lines depart for New York from South Station in Boston.[321]

MBTA Commuter Rail services run throughout the larger Greater Boston area, including service to Worcester, Fitchburg, Haverhill, Newburyport, Lowell, and Kingston.[322] This overlaps with the service areas of neighboring regional transportation authorities. As of the summer of 2013 the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority in collaboration with the MBTA and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) is operating the CapeFLYER providing passenger rail service between Boston and Cape Cod.[323][324]

Ferry

Most ports north of Cape Cod are served by Boston Harbor Cruises, which operates ferry services in and around Greater Boston under contract with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Several routes connect the downtown area with Hingham, Hull, Winthrop, Salem, Logan Airport, Charlestown, and some of the islands located within the harbor. The same company also operates seasonal service between Boston and Provincetown.[325]

On the southern shore of the state, several different passenger ferry lines connect Martha's Vineyard to ports along the mainland, including Woods Hole, Hyannis, New Bedford, and Falmouth, all in Massachusetts, as well as North Kingstown in Rhode Island, Highlands in New Jersey, and New York City in New York.[326] Similarly, several different lines connect Nantucket to ports including Hyannis, New Bedford, Harwich, and New York City.[327] Service between the two islands is also offered. The dominant companies serving these routes include SeaStreak, Hy-Line Cruises, and The Steamship Authority, the latter of which regulates all passenger services in the region and is also the only company permitted to offer freight ferry services to the islands.[328]

Other ferry connections in the state include a water taxi connecting various points in Fall River,[329] seasonal ferry service connecting Plymouth to Provincetown,[330] and a service between New Bedford and Cuttyhunk.[331]

Rail freight

See also: List of Massachusetts railroads

As of 2018, a number of freight railroads were operating in Massachusetts, with Class I railroad CSX being the largest carrier, and another Class 1, Norfolk Southern serving the state via its Pan Am Southern joint partnership. Several regional and short line railroads also provide service and connect with other railroads.[332] Massachusetts has a total of 1,110 miles (1,790 km) of freight trackage in operation.[333][334]

Air service

Further information: List of airports in Massachusetts

Logan International Airport in Boston is the largest airport in New England in terms of passenger volume

Boston Logan International Airport served 33.5 million passengers in 2015 (up from 31.6 million in 2014)[276] through 103 gates.[335][336] Logan, Hanscom Field in Bedford, and Worcester Regional Airport are operated by Massport, an independent state transportation agency.[336] Massachusetts has 39 public-use airfields[337] and more than 200 private landing spots.[338] Some airports receive funding from the Aeronautics Division of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration; the FAA is also the primary regulator of Massachusetts air travel.[339]

Roads

Prominent roads and cities in Massachusetts

There are a total of 36,800 miles (59,200 km) of interstates and other highways in Massachusetts.[340] Interstate 90 (I-90, also known as the Massachusetts Turnpike), is the longest interstate in Massachusetts. The route travels 136 mi (219 km) generally west to east, entering Massachusetts at the New York state line in the town of West Stockbridge, and passes just north of Springfield, just south of Worcester and through Framingham before terminating near Logan International Airport in Boston.[341] Other major interstates include I-91, which travels generally north and south along the Connecticut River; I-93, which travels north and south through central Boston, then passes through Methuen before entering New Hampshire; and I-95, which connects Providence, Rhode Island with Greater Boston, forming a partial loop concurrent with Route 128 around the more urbanized areas before continuing north along the coast into New Hampshire.[342]

I-495 forms a wide loop around the outer edge of Greater Boston. Other major interstates in Massachusetts include I-291, I-391, I-84, I-195, I-395, I-290, and I-190. Major non-interstate highways in Massachusetts include U.S. Routes 1, 3, 6, and 20, and state routes 2, 3, 9, 24, and 128. A great majority of interstates in Massachusetts were constructed during the mid-20th century, and at times were controversial, particularly the intent to route I-95 northeastwards from Providence, Rhode Island, directly through central Boston, first proposed in 1948. Opposition to continued construction grew, and in 1970 Governor Francis W. Sargent issued a general prohibition on most further freeway construction within the I-95/Route 128 loop in the Boston area.[343] A massive undertaking to bring I-93 underground in downtown Boston, called the Big Dig, brought the city's highway system under public scrutiny for its high cost and construction quality.[140]

Government and politics

The Massachusetts State House, topped by its golden dome, faces Boston Common on Beacon Hill.

Massachusetts has a long political history; earlier political structures included the Mayflower Compact of 1620, the separate Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth colonies, and the combined colonial Province of Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Constitution was ratified in 1780 while the Revolutionary War was in progress, four years after the Articles of Confederation was drafted, and eight years before the present United States Constitution was ratified on June 21, 1788. Drafted by John Adams, the Massachusetts Constitution is the oldest functioning written constitution in continuous effect in the world.[344][345][346] It has been amended 121 times, most recently in 2022.[347]

Massachusetts politics since the second half of the 20th century have generally been dominated by the Democratic Party, and the state has a reputation for being the most liberal state in the country.[348] In 1974, Elaine Noble became the first openly lesbian or gay candidate elected to a state legislature in US history.[349] The state's 12th congressional district elected the first openly gay member of the United States House of Representatives, Gerry Studds, in 1972[350] and in 2004, Massachusetts became the first state to allow same-sex marriage.[63] In 2006, Massachusetts became the first state to approve a law that provided for nearly universal healthcare.[351][352] Massachusetts has a pro-sanctuary city law.[353] As of 2024, Massachusetts has a Democratic Governor, two Democratic Senators, and all nine Congressional Representatives are Democrats. Massachusetts is a blue state; Ronald Reagan was the last Republican to win the state in 1984.

In a 2020 study, Massachusetts was ranked as the 11th easiest state for citizens to vote in.[354]

Government

Main article: Government of Massachusetts

See also: Commonwealth (U.S. state)

Maura Healey (D), the 73rd Governor of Massachusetts

The Government of Massachusetts is divided into three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. The governor of Massachusetts heads the executive branch, while legislative authority vests in a separate but coequal legislature. Meanwhile, judicial power is constitutionally guaranteed to the independent judicial branch.[355]

Executive branch

As chief executive, the governor is responsible for signing or vetoing legislation, filling judicial and agency appointments, granting pardons, preparing an annual budget, and commanding the Massachusetts National Guard.[356] Massachusetts governors, unlike those of most other states, are addressed as His/Her Excellency.[356] The governor is Maura Healey and the incumbent lieutenant governor is Kim Driscoll. The governor conducts the affairs of state alongside a separate Governor's Council made up of the lieutenant governor and eight separately elected councilors.[356] The council is charged by the state constitution with reviewing and confirming gubernatorial appointments and pardons, approving disbursements out of the state treasury, and certifying elections, among other duties.[356]

Aside from the governor and Governor's Council, the executive branch also includes four independently elected constitutional officers: a secretary of the commonwealth, an attorney general, a state treasurer, and a state auditor. The commonwealth's incumbent constitutional officers are respectively William F. Galvin, Andrea Campbell, Deb Goldberg and Diana DiZoglio, all Democrats. In accordance with state statute, the secretary of the commonwealth administers elections, regulates lobbyists and the securities industry, registers corporations, serves as register of deeds for the entire state, and preserves public records as keeper of the state seal.[357] Meanwhile, the attorney general provides legal services to state agencies, combats fraud and corruption, investigates and prosecutes crimes, and enforces consumer protection, environment, labor, and civil rights laws as Massachusetts chief lawyer and law enforcement officer.[358] At the same time, the state treasurer manages the state's cash flow, debt, and investments as chief financial officer, whereas the state auditor conducts audits, investigations, and studies as chief audit executive in order to promote government accountability and transparency and improve state agency financial management, legal compliance, and performance.[359][360]

Legislative branch

The Massachusetts House of Representatives and Massachusetts Senate comprise the legislature of Massachusetts, known as the Massachusetts General Court.[356] The House consists of 160 members while the Senate has 40 members.[356] Leaders of the House and Senate are chosen by the members of those bodies; the leader of the House is known as the Speaker while the leader of the Senate is known as the President.[356] Each branch consists of several committees.[356] Members of both bodies are elected to two-year terms.[361]

Judicial branch

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (a chief justice and six associates) are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Governor's Council, as are all other judges in the state.[356]

Federal court cases are heard in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, and appeals are heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.[362]

Federal representation

The Congressional delegation from Massachusetts is entirely Democratic.[363] The Senators are Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey while the Representatives are Richard Neal (1st), Jim McGovern (2nd), Lori Trahan (3rd), Jake Auchincloss (4th), Katherine Clark (5th), Seth Moulton (6th), Ayanna Pressley (7th), Stephen Lynch (8th), and Bill Keating (9th).[364]

In U.S. presidential elections since 2012, Massachusetts has been allotted 11 votes in the electoral college, out of a total of 538.[365] Like most states, Massachusetts's electoral votes are granted in a winner-take-all system.[366]

Politics

Main articles: Politics of Massachusetts and Political party strength in Massachusetts

See also: United States presidential elections in Massachusetts

Two older men and an older woman stand in a crowd with signs reading "Joe Kennedy for Congress".

Boston Pride Parade, 2012. From left: Representative Joe Kennedy III, Senator Elizabeth Warren, and former representative Barney Frank.

For more than 70 years, Massachusetts has shifted from a previously Republican-leaning state to one largely dominated by Democrats; the 1952 victory of John F. Kennedy over incumbent Senator Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. is seen as a watershed moment in this transformation. His younger brother Edward M. Kennedy held that seat until his death from a brain tumor in 2009.[367] Since the 1950s, Massachusetts has gained a reputation as being a politically liberal state and is often used as an archetype of modern liberalism, hence the phrase "Massachusetts liberal".[368]

Massachusetts is one of the most Democratic states in the country. Democratic core concentrations are everywhere, except for a handful of Republican leaning towns in the Central and Southern parts of the state. Until recently, Republicans were dominant in the Western and Northern suburbs of Boston, however both areas heavily swung Democratic in the Trump era. The state as a whole has not given its Electoral College votes to a Republican in a presidential election since Ronald Reagan carried it in 1984, and not a single county has voted for a Republican presidential candidate since 1988 . Additionally, Massachusetts provided Reagan with his smallest margins of victory in both the 1980[369] and 1984 elections.[370] Massachusetts had been the only state to vote for Democrat George McGovern in the 1972 presidential election. In 2020, Biden received 65.6% of the vote, the best performance in over 50 years for a Democrat.[371]

Democrats have an absolute grip on the Massachusetts congressional delegation; there are no Republicans elected to serve at the federal level. Both Senators and all nine Representatives are Democrats; only one Republican (former Senator Scott Brown) has been elected to either house of Congress from Massachusetts since 1994. Massachusetts is the most populous state to be represented in the United States Congress entirely by a single party.[372]

As of the 2018 elections, the Democratic Party holds a super-majority over the Republican Party in both chambers of the Massachusetts General Court (state legislature). Out of the state house's 160 seats, Democrats hold 127 seats (79%) compared to the Republican Party's 32 seats (20%), an independent sits in the remaining one,[373] and 37 out of the 40 seats in the state senate (92.5%) belong to the Democratic Party compared to the Republican Party's three seats (7.5%).[374] Both houses of the legislature have had Democratic majorities since the 1950s.[375]

Party registration as of August 2024[376]

Party Total voters Percentage

Unenrolled 3,256,754 64.43%

Democratic 1,327,704 26.27%

Republican 418,899 8.29%

Other 51,182 1.01%

Total 5,054,539 100.00%

Despite the state's Democratic-leaning tendency, Massachusetts has generally elected Republicans as Governor: only two Democrats (Deval Patrick and Maura Healey) have served as governor since 1991, and among gubernatorial election results from 2002 to 2022, Republican nominees garnered 48.4% of the vote compared to 45.7% for Democratic nominees.[377] These have been considered to be among the most moderate Republican leaders in the nation;[378][379] they have received higher net favorability ratings from the state's Democrats than Republicans.[380]

A number of contemporary national political issues have been influenced by events in Massachusetts, such as the decision in 2003 by the state Supreme Judicial Court allowing same-sex marriage[381] and a 2006 bill which mandated health insurance for all Massachusetts residents.[352] In 2008, Massachusetts voters passed an initiative decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana.[382] Voters in Massachusetts also approved a ballot measure in 2012 that legalized the medical use of marijuana.[383] Following the approval of a ballot question endorsing legalization in 2016, Massachusetts began issuing licenses for the regulated sale of recreational marijuana in June 2018. The licensed sale of recreational marijuana became legal on July 1, 2018; however, the lack of state-approved testing facilities prevented the sale of any product for several weeks.[384] However, in 2020, a ballot initiative to implement Ranked-Choice Voting failed, despite being championed by many progressives.[385]

Massachusetts is one of the most pro-choice states in the Union. A 2014 Pew Research Center poll found that 74% of Massachusetts residents supported the right to an abortion in all/most cases, making Massachusetts the most pro-choice state in the United States.[386]

In 2020, the state legislature overrode Governor Charlie Baker's veto of the ROE Act, a controversial law that codified existing abortion laws in case the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, dropped the age of parental consent for those seeking an abortion from 18 to 16, and legalized abortion after 24 weeks, if a fetus had fatal anomalies, or "to preserve the patient's physical or mental health."[387]

The 2023 American Values Atlas by Public Religion Research Institute found that same-sex marriage is supported near-universally by Massachusettsans.[388]

Cities, towns, and counties

Main articles: Government of Massachusetts § County Government, and Government of Massachusetts § Municipal Government

As of 2023,[389] there are 292 towns and 59 cities in Massachusetts. Over time, many towns have voted to become cities; 14 municipalities still refer to themselves as "towns" even though they have a city form of government.[389]

There are 50 cities and 301 towns in Massachusetts, grouped into 14 counties.[390] The fourteen counties, moving roughly from west to east, are Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire, Hampden, Worcester, Middlesex, Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Bristol, Plymouth, Barnstable, Dukes, and Nantucket. Eleven communities which call themselves "towns" are, by law, cities since they have traded the town meeting form of government for a mayor-council or manager-council form.[391]

Boston is the state capital in Massachusetts. The population of the city proper is 692,600,[392] and Greater Boston, with a population of 4,873,019, is the 11th largest metropolitan area in the nation.[393] Other cities with a population over 100,000 include Worcester, Springfield, Lowell, Cambridge, Brockton, Quincy, New Bedford, and Lynn. Plymouth is the largest municipality in the state by land area, followed by Middleborough.[390]

Massachusetts, along with the five other New England states, features the local governmental structure known as the New England town.[394] In this structure, incorporated towns—as opposed to townships or counties—hold many of the responsibilities and powers of local government.[394] Most of the county governments were abolished by the state of Massachusetts beginning in 1997 including Middlesex County,[395] the largest county in the state by population.[396][397] The voters of these now-defunct counties elect only Sheriffs and Registers of Deeds, who are part of the state government. Other counties have been reorganized, and a few still retain county councils.[398]

  

Largest cities or towns in Massachusetts

Source:[399][400]

Rank Name County Pop. Rank Name County Pop.

Boston

Boston

Worcester

Worcester 1 Boston Suffolk 654,776 11 Lawrence Essex 88,508 Springfield

Springfield

Cambridge

Cambridge

2 Worcester Worcester 205,918 12 Newton Middlesex 87,453

3 Springfield Hampden 154,789 13 Somerville Middlesex 79,815

4 Cambridge Middlesex 117,090 14 Framingham Middlesex 71,265

5 Lowell Middlesex 113,994 15 Haverhill Essex 67,361

6 Brockton Plymouth 105,994 16 Malden Middlesex 65,074

7 Quincy Norfolk 101,119 17 Waltham Middlesex 64,015

8 New Bedford Bristol 100,941 18 Brookline Norfolk 62,726

9 Lynn Essex 100,843 19 Plymouth Plymouth 62,131

10 Fall River Bristol 93,884 20 Medford Middlesex 62,098

Arts, culture, and recreation

The site of Henry David Thoreau's cabin at Walden Pond in Concord

Massachusetts is home to many of the worlds' most prestigious art museums, such as the Clark Art Institute (pictured above)

Massachusetts has contributed to American arts and culture. Drawing from its Native American and Yankee roots, along with later immigrant groups, Massachusetts has produced several writers, artists, and musicians. Some major museums and important historical sites are also located there, and events and festivals throughout the year celebrate the state's history and heritage.[401]

Massachusetts was an early center of the Transcendentalist movement, which emphasized intuition, emotion, human individuality and a deeper connection with nature.[123] Ralph Waldo Emerson, who was born in Boston but spent much of his later life in Concord, largely created the philosophy with his 1836 work Nature, and continued to be a key figure in the movement for the remainder of his life. Emerson's friend, Henry David Thoreau, who was also involved in Transcendentalism, recorded his year spent alone in a small cabin at nearby Walden Pond in the 1854 work Walden; or, Life in the Woods.[402]

Other famous authors and poets born or strongly associated with Massachusetts include Anne Bradstreet, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Louisa May Alcott, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Edith Wharton, e.e. cummings, Herman Melville, W.E.B. Du Bois, Sylvia Plath, Elizabeth Bishop, John Updike, Anne Sexton, H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, Helen Hunt Jackson, Khalil Gibran, Mary Higgins Clark, Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Jack Kerouac and Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as "Dr. Seuss".[403][404][405] Famous painters from Massachusetts include Winslow Homer and Norman Rockwell;[405] many of the latter's works are on display at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge.[406]

An outdoor dance performance at Jacob's Pillow in Becket

Massachusetts is also an important center for the performing arts. Both the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Boston Pops Orchestra are based in Massachusetts.[407] Other orchestras in Massachusetts include the Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra in Barnstable, the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra,[408] and the Springfield Symphony Orchestra.[409][410] Tanglewood, in western Massachusetts, is a music venue that is home to both the Tanglewood Music Festival and Tanglewood Jazz Festival, as well as the summer host for the Boston Symphony Orchestra.[411]

Other performing arts and theater organizations in Massachusetts include the Boston Ballet, the Boston Lyric Opera,[407] and the Lenox-based Shakespeare & Company. In addition to classical and folk music, Massachusetts has produced musicians and bands spanning a number of contemporary genres, such as the classic rock bands Aerosmith and Boston, the proto-punk band the Modern Lovers, the new wave band the Cars, and the alternative rock band Pixies.[412] The state has also been the birthplace of the rock bands Staind, Godsmack, and Highly Suspect, since these bands all were formed in Massachusetts cities such Springfield, Lawrence, and Cape Cod respectively.[413][414][415] Film events in the state include the Boston Film Festival, the Boston International Film Festival, and a number of smaller film festivals in various cities throughout Massachusetts.[416]

USS Constitution fires a salute during its annual Fourth of July turnaround cruise

Built in 1681, the Old Ship Church in Hingham is the oldest church in America in continuous ecclesiastical use.[417] Massachusetts has since become one of the most irreligious states in the U.S.[418]

Massachusetts is home to a large number of museums and historical sites. The Clark Art Institute, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, and the DeCordova contemporary art and sculpture museum in Lincoln are all located within Massachusetts,[419] and the Maria Mitchell Association in Nantucket includes several observatories, museums, and an aquarium.[420] Historically themed museums and sites such as the Springfield Armory National Historic Site in Springfield,[158] Boston's Freedom Trail and nearby Minute Man National Historical Park, both of which preserve a number of sites important during the American Revolution,[158][421] the Lowell National Historical Park, which focuses on some of the earliest mills and canals of the Industrial Revolution in the US,[158] the Black Heritage Trail in Boston, which includes important African-American and abolitionist sites in Boston,[422] and the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park[158] all showcase various periods of Massachusetts's history. Plymouth Rock, marks the disembarkation site of the Mayflower Pilgrims who founded Plymouth Colony in December 1620.

Plimoth Plantation and Old Sturbridge Village are two open-air or "living" museums in Massachusetts, recreating life as it was in the 17th and early 19th centuries, respectively.[423][424]

Massachusetts has the largest population of the New England states. New Englander culture and identity remains strong in Massachusetts (Flag of New England pictured above).[425]

Boston's annual St. Patrick's Day parade and "Harborfest", a week-long Fourth of July celebration featuring a fireworks display and concert by the Boston Pops as well as a turnaround cruise in Boston Harbor by the USS Constitution, are popular events.[426] The New England Summer Nationals, an auto show in Worcester, draws tens of thousands of attendees every year.[427] The Boston Marathon is also a popular event in the state drawing more than 30,000 runners and tens of thousands of spectators annually.[428]

Long-distance hiking trails in Massachusetts include the Appalachian Trail, the New England National Scenic Trail, the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail, the Midstate Trail, and the Bay Circuit Trail.[429] Other outdoor recreational activities in Massachusetts include sailing and yachting, freshwater and deep-sea fishing,[430] whale watching,[431] downhill and cross-country skiing,[432] and hunting.[433]

Massachusetts is one of the states with the largest percentage of Catholics. It has many sanctuaries such as the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy (Stockbridge, Massachusetts).[434]

Media

See also: List of television stations in Massachusetts, List of newspapers in Massachusetts, and List of radio stations in Massachusetts

There are two major television media markets located in Massachusetts. The Boston/Manchester market is the fifth-largest in the United States.[435] The other market surrounds the Springfield area.[436] WGBH-TV in Boston is a major public television station and produces national programs such as Nova, Frontline, and American Experience.[437][438]

The Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Springfield Republican, and the Worcester Telegram & Gazette are Massachusetts's largest daily newspapers.[439] In addition, there are many community dailies and weeklies. The Associated Press maintains a bureau in Boston, and local news wire the State House News Service feeds coverage of state government to other Massachusetts media outlets. There are a number of major AM and FM stations which serve Massachusetts,[440] along with many more regional and community-based stations. Some colleges and universities also operate campus television and radio stations, and print their own newspapers.[441][442][443]

Health

See also: List of hospitals in Massachusetts, Massachusetts health care reform, and Governorship of Mitt Romney § Health care

Map showing the average Medicare reimbursement per enrollee for the counties in Massachusetts.[444]

Massachusetts generally ranks highly among states in most health and disease prevention categories. In 2015, the United Health Foundation ranked the state as third-healthiest overall.[445] Massachusetts has the most doctors per 100,000 residents (435.38),[446][447] the second-lowest infant mortality rate (3.8),[448][449] and the lowest percentage of uninsured residents (children as well as the total population).[450][451][452] According to Business Insider, commonwealth residents have an average life expectancy of 80.41 years, the fifth-longest in the country.[453][454] 36.1% of the population is overweight and 24.4% is obese,[455] and Massachusetts ranks sixth-highest in the percentage of residents who are considered neither obese nor overweight (39.5%).[455] Massachusetts also ranks above average in the prevalence of binge drinking, which is the 20th-highest in the country.[456][457]

The nation's first Marine Hospital was erected by federal order in Boston in 1799.[458][459] There are currently a total of 143 hospitals in the state.[460] According to 2015 rankings by U.S. News & World Report, Massachusetts General Hospital is ranked in the top three in two health care specialties.[461] Massachusetts General Hospital was founded in 1811 and serves as the largest teaching hospital for nearby Harvard University.[462]

The state of Massachusetts is a center for medical education and research including Harvard affiliates Brigham and Women's Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Dana–Farber Cancer Institute[463] as well as the New England Baptist Hospital, Tufts Medical Center, and Boston Medical Center which is the primary teaching hospital for Boston University.[464] The University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School is located in Worcester.[465] The Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences has two of its three campuses in Boston and Worcester.[466]

Sports

Main article: Sports in Massachusetts

Gillette Stadium in Foxborough is the home venue for the New England Patriots (NFL) and the New England Revolution (MLS)

Massachusetts is home to five major league professional sports teams: eighteen-time NBA Champions Boston Celtics,[467] nine-time World Series winners Boston Red Sox,[468] six-time Stanley Cup winners Boston Bruins,[469] six-time Super Bowl winners New England Patriots,[470] and five-time MLS Cup finalists New England Revolution.[471]

In the late 19th century, the Olympic sports of basketball[472] and volleyball[473] were invented in the Western Massachusetts cities of Springfield[472] and Holyoke,[473] respectively. The Basketball Hall of Fame is a major tourist destination in the City of Springfield and the Volleyball Hall of Fame is located in Holyoke.[473] The American Hockey League (AHL), the NHL's development league, is headquartered in Springfield.[474]

Several universities in Massachusetts are notable for their collegiate athletics. The state is home to two Division I FBS teams, Boston College of the Atlantic Coast Conference, and FBS Independent University of Massachusetts at Amherst. FCS play includes Harvard University, which competes in the famed Ivy League, and College of the Holy Cross of the Patriot League. Boston University, Northeastern University, UMASS Lowell, Stonehill College, and Merrimack College also participate in Division I athletics.[475][476] Many other Massachusetts colleges compete in lower divisions such as Division III, where MIT, Tufts University, Amherst College, Williams College, and others field competitive teams.[477]

Massachusetts is also the home of rowing events such as the Eastern Sprints on Lake Quinsigamond and the Head of the Charles Regatta.[478] A number of major golf events have taken place in Massachusetts, including nine U.S. Opens and two Ryder Cups.[479][480]

Massachusetts has produced several successful Olympians including Thomas Burke, James Connolly, and John Thomas (track and field); Butch Johnson (archery); Nancy Kerrigan (figure skating); Todd Richards (snowboarding); Albina Osipowich (swimming); Aly Raisman (gymnastics); Patrick Ewing (basketball); Stephen Nedoroscik (pommel horse); as well as Jim Craig, Mike Eruzione, Bill Cleary, Keith Tkachuk (ice hockey).[481][482]

See also

Administrative divisions of Massachusetts

Index of Massachusetts-related articles

Outline of Massachusetts

Massachusetts Bay Colony

New England

USS Massachusetts, 8 ships

USRC Massachusetts, 2 ships