In 2023, the population of the Boston-Cambridge-Newton metropolitan area in the United States was about 4.92 million people. This is a slight increase when compared with last year's population, which was about 4.9 million people.

Chart and table of population level and growth rate for the Boston metro area from 1950 to 2025.

Graph and download economic data for Resident Population in Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH (MSA) (BOSPOP) from 2000 to 2024 about Boston, NH, MA, residents, population, and USA.

The gross domestic product (GDP) of the Greater Boston metro area has increased significantly since 2001. In 2022, the area's GDP amounted to 504.1 billion chained 2017 U.S. dollars, compared to 284.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2001.

The population density picture of Boston is generally a story of two Bostons: the high density central and northern neighborhoods, and the low density southern neighborhoods.The highest density areas of Boston are particularly concentrated in Brighton, Allston, and the Fenway area, areas of the city with large numbers of college students and young adults. There is also high population density in areas such as the Back Bay, the South End, Charlestown, the North End, and South Boston. These are all relatively small areas geographically, but have housing stock conducive to population density (e.g. multi-family dwelling units, row housing, large apartment buildings). The southern neighborhoods, specifically Hyde Park and West Roxbury, have significant numbers of people living in them, but lots sizes tend to be much larger. These areas of the city also tend to have more single family dwelling units. In that, there are fewer people per square mile than places north in the city. Census data reveals that population density varies noticeably from area to area. Small area census data do a better job depicting where the crowded neighborhoods are. In this map, areas of highest density exceed 30,000 persons per square kilometer. Very high density areas exceed 7,000 persons per square kilometer. High density areas exceed 5,200 persons per square kilometer. The last categories break at 3,330 persons per square kilometer, and 1,500 persons per square kilometer.How to make this map for your city

This statistic displays the average physician-to-population ratio in select U.S. metropolitan areas as of 2013. During this year, there was an average of 268.1 physicians per 100,000 population in Detroit. Boston has one of the overall highest average wait times for a physician appointment. The average cumulative wait time is approximately 18.5 days in 2014, which has decreased since 2004.

A dataset listing Massachusetts cities by population for 2024.

2020 Census data for the city of Boston, Boston neighborhoods, census tracts, block groups, and voting districts. In the 2020 Census, the U.S. Census Bureau divided Boston into 207 census tracts (~4,000 residents) made up of 581 smaller block groups. The Boston Planning and Development Agency uses the 2020 tracts to approximate Boston neighborhoods. The 2020 Census Redistricting data also identify Boston’s voting districts.

For analysis of Boston’s 2020 Census data including graphs and maps by the BPDA Research Division and Office of Digital Cartography and GIS, see 2020 Census Research Publications

For a complete official data dictionary, please go to 2020 Census State Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171) Summary File, Chapter 6. Data Dictionary. 2020 Census State Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171) Summary File

2020 Census Tracts In Boston

2020 Census Block Groups In Boston

Boston Neighborhood Boundaries Approximated By 2020 Census Tracts

Boston Voting District Boundaries

How racially diverse are residents in Massachusetts? This topic shows the demographic breakdown of residents by race/ethnicity and the increases in the Non-white population since 2010.

Find Massachusetts health data by community, county, and region, including population demographics. Build custom data reports with over 100 health and social determinants of health data indicators and explore over 28,000 current and historical data layers in the map room.

Abstract (en): This study was a joint project of ten major United States cities participating in the Urban Observatory Program: Atlanta, Albuquerque, Baltimore, Boston, Denver, Kansas City, Kansas, Kansas City, Missouri, Milwaukee, Nashville, and San Diego. The survey focused on citizens' perceptions of the problems of urban life. Citizens' attitudes toward local government services and their opinions about local problems in the areas of schooling, housing, public transportation, controlled drugs, law and order, and taxes were assessed in all ten cities. Information on the socioeconomic status of the respondents, and on household composition was also elicited. Demographic data include sex, age, marital status, race, ethnicity, birthplace, level of education, and family income. Each city may be analyzed separately or may be treated as an integral part of the comparative study. ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection: Standardized missing values.; Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.. Adult populations of Atlanta, Albuquerque, Baltimore, Boston, Denver, Kansas City, Kansas, Kansas City, Missouri, Milwaukee, Nashville, and San Diego. An independent sample was drawn from each of the cities included in the study. The samples were designed to represent a cross-section of all households within the politically-defined limits of each central city. They were drawn from the cities' directories and corrections were made with block supplements. Each household in a given city had an equal probability for selection. Within selected households, one adult was designated as respondent and no substitutions were permitted. The samples are not representative of the total United States population living in Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas.

Throughout history, government and industries have neglected investments in some neighborhoods, especially communities of color, who are more likely to have fewer resources.