Boston ( BAW-stən, ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It serves as a cultural and financial center of New England, a region of the Northeastern United States. Boston has an area of 48.4 square miles (125 km2) and a population of 675,647 as of the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in the Northeastern United States after New York City and Philadelphia. The larger Greater Boston metropolitan statistical area had a population of 5 million in 2025, making it the largest metropolis in New England and the eleventh-largest in the United States. Boston was founded on Shawmut Peninsula in 1630 by English Puritan settlers, who named the city after the market town of Boston, Lincolnshire, England. During the American Revolution and Revolutionary War, Boston was home to several seminal events, including the Boston Massacre (1770), the Boston Tea Party (1773), the Battle of Bunker Hill (1775), and the Siege of Boston (1775–1776). Following American independence from Great Britain, Boston played an important national role as a port, manufacturing hub, and education and culture center, and the city expanded significantly beyond the original peninsula by filling in land and annexing neighboring towns. Boston's many firsts include the nation's first public park (Boston Common, 1634), the first public school (Boston Latin School, 1635), and the first subway system (Tremont Street subway, 1897). By the 21st century, Boston emerged as a global leader in higher education and research, and has become one of the largest biotechnology hubs in the world. With an economy led by finance, professional and business services, information technology, and government, the city is a national leader in medicine, engineering, and business.
Etymology Isaac Johnson—in one of his last official acts as leader of the Charlestown community before his death on September 30, 1630—named the new settlement across the river "Boston" after Johnson's hometown of Boston, Lincolnshire, from where he, his wife (namesake of the Arbella), and John Cotton (grandfather of Cotton Mather) emigrated. The name of the English town derives from its patron saint, St. Botolph, in whose church Cotton served as the rector until he and Johnson emigrated to New England. In early sources, Lincolnshire's Boston was known as "St. Botolph's town", which was later abbreviated as "Boston". Before this renaming, the settlement on the peninsula was known as "Shawmut" by William Blaxton and "Tremontaine" by the Puritan settlers he invited.
History
Indigenous era Before European colonization, the region surrounding present-day Boston was inhabited by the Massachusett people, who established small, seasonal communities in present-day Boston. In 1630, settlers led by John Winthrop arrived, and found Shawmut Peninsula nearly empty of Native people. Most had died of European diseases borne by earlier settlers and traders. Archaeological excavations have unearthed one of the oldest fishweirs in New England, located on Boylston Street, which Native people constructed as early as 7,000 years before European arrival in the Western Hemisphere.
European settlement The first European to live in what would become Boston was a University of Cambridge-educated Anglican cleric named William Blaxton. He was most directly responsible for the foundation of Boston by Puritan colonists in 1630, after Blaxton invited one of their leaders, Isaac Johnson, to cross Back Bay from the failing colony of Charlestown and share the peninsula with him. In September 1630 Puritans made the crossing to present-day Boston. Puritan influence on Boston began even before the settlement was founded with the 1629 Cambridge Agreement, which created the Massachusetts Bay Colony and was signed by the colony's first governor, John Winthrop. Puritan ethics and their focus on education also influenced the city's early history. In 1635, America's first public school, Boston Latin School, was founded in Boston. Boston was the largest town in the Thirteen Colonies until Philadelphia outgrew it in the mid-18th century. Boston's oceanfront location made it a lively port, and the town engaged in shipping and fishing during the colonial era. Boston was a primary stop on the Caribbean trade route and imported large amounts of molasses, which led to the creation of Boston baked beans. Boston's economy stagnated in the decades prior to the American Revolution. By the mid-18th century, New York City and Philadelphia both surpassed Boston in wealth. During this period, Boston encountered financial difficulties even as other New England cities were growing rapidly.
American Revolution and Siege of Boston
Boston played a central role in the American Revolution. Many crucial events of the American Revolution and subsequent American Revolutionary War occurred in or near Boston, where the city's revolutionary spirit against unpopular policies of the British Parliament was widespread and ultimately inspiring to the rest of the Thirteen Colonies. When Parliament passed the Stamp Act 1765, the homes of Andrew Oliver, the official tasked with enforcing the Act, and Thomas Hutchinson, then lieutenant governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, were raved by Boston mobs. The British government responded by sending 2,000 troops of the 14th Foot and 29th Foot to Boston in 1768 to occupy the city and enforce Crown authority, which further inflamed tensions. In 1770, five soldiers of the 29th Foot fired into a Boston mob in what became known as the Boston Massacre, which led to the withdrawal of the occupational troops and helped fuel revolutionary sentiment in the colonies. In May 1773, Parliament passed the Tea Act, which many colonists saw as an attempt by Parliament to compel them to accept taxes established by the Townshend Acts. This led to the Boston Tea Party, a defining event of the American Revolution in which angered Bostonians threw an entire shipment of tea sent from the East India Company into Boston Harbor, escalating the American Revolution. Parliament responded by implementing the Intolerable Acts and demanding compensation for the destroyed tea. This response, in turn, angered the colonists further, leading to the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, the first battles of the American Revolutionary War, which were fought around Boston in Massachusetts Bay Colony. During the siege of Boston from April 19, 1775, to March 17, 1776, New England-based Patriot militia impeded movement by the British Army. Sir William Howe, then commander-in-chief of British forces in North America, led the British army in the siege. On June 17, the British captured Charlestown in present-day Boston during the Battle of Bunker Hill in what proved to be a pyrrhic victory. Bunker Hill also demonstrated the skill and training of the Patriot militia, and led the British to avoid further large-scale engagements for the rest of the Boston campaign. On June 14, 1775, in an effort to unify the Revolutionary War effort, the Second Continental Congress, convening in the colonial-era capital of Philadelphia, founded the Continental Army and unanimously appointed George Washington as its commander-in-chief. Washington then immediately departed Philadelphia for Boston, where he arrived on July 2 and led the Continental Army in the siege. Fighting was limited to small-scale raids and skirmishes, and American troops faced challenges with a deficiency of munitions and supplies. Boston Neck, then narrow and only approximately 100 feet wide, impeded Washington's ability to launch a frontal assault on Boston, which led to a prolonged stalemate between the American besiegers and the besieged British garrison. A young American officer, Rufus Putnam, came up with a plan to make portable fortifications out of wood, which were erected on the frozen ground under cover of darkness. Putnam supervised the effort, which successfully installed the fortifications and dozens of cannons on Dorchester Heights that Henry Knox brought through the snow from Fort Ticonderoga. When the British discovered the newly emplaced artillery, they responded by launching a cannon barrage for two hours, which proved unable to reach the American cannons. Perceiving that his position was untenable, Howe ordered his troops to evacuate Boston, which was carried out on March 17. The date is celebrated annually in Boston as Evacuation Day.
Post-revolution and the War of 1812
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, which was 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. During this period, Boston also flourished culturally. It was admired for its rarefied literary life and generous artistic patronage. Members of old Boston families, later dubbed "Boston Brahmins", came to be regarded as the nation's social and cultural elites. They are often associated with the American upper class, Harvard University, and the Episcopal Church. 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. Boston eventually became a center of the American abolitionist movement. The city reacted largely negatively to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, contributing to President Franklin Pierce's attempt to make an example of Boston after Anthony Burns's attempt to escape to freedom. In 1822, 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. 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).
19th century
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. In the latter half of the 19th century, the city saw increasing numbers of Irish, Germans, Lebanese, Syrians, French Canadians, and Russian and Polish Jews settling there. By 19th century's end, 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, 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, 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. 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 19th century created significant parts of the South End, the West End, the Financial District, and Chinatown. 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). Other proposals were unsuccessful for the annexation of Brookline, Cambridge, and Chelsea.
20th century
Many architecturally significant buildings were built during the early years of the 20th century: Horticultural Hall, the Tennis and Racquet Club, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Fenway Studios, Jordan Hall, and the Boston Opera House. The Longfellow Bridge, built in 1906, was mentioned by Robert McCloskey in Make Way for Ducklings, describing its "salt and pepper shakers" feature. Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, opened in 1912, with the Boston Garden opening in 1928. Logan International Airport opened on September 8, 1923. On January 15, 1919, a flood of molasses in the North End killed 21 people and injured 150. On November 28, 1942, Boston's Cocoanut Grove nightclub was the site of the Cocoanut Grove fire, the deadliest nightclub fire in United States history, killing 492 people and injuring hundreds more. By the early- to mid-20th century, Boston declined economically as factories became old and obsolete and businesses moved out of the region for cheaper labor elsewhere. 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.
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. The Columbia Point complex itself was redeveloped and revitalized from 1984 to 1990 into a mixed-income residential development called Harbor Point Apartments. 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. 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, Harvard Medical School, Tufts University School of Medicine, Northeastern University, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Wentworth Institute of Technology, Berklee College of Music, Boston Conservatory, and 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. Boston has also experienced gentrification in the latter half of the 20th century, with housing prices increasing sharply since the 1990s when the city's rent control regime was struck down by statewide ballot proposition.
21st century
Boston is an intellectual, technological, and political center. However, it has lost some important regional institutions, 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. Boston-based department stores Jordan Marsh and Filene's have both merged into the New York City–based Macy's. The 1993 acquisition of The Boston Globe by The New York Times 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. The USOC then selected Los Angeles to be the American candidate with Los Angeles ultimately securing the right to host the 2028 Summer Olympics. Boston was one of eleven U.S. cities which hosted matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with games taking place at Gillette Stadium in nearby Foxboro.
Geography
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. The highest point in Boston is Bellevue Hill at 330 ft (100 m) above sea level, and the lowest point is at sea level. 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.
Neighborhoods
Boston is sometimes called a "city of neighborhoods" because of the profusion of diverse subsections. The city government's Office of Neighborhood Services has designated 23 neighborhoods:
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. This was accomplished using earth from the leveling or lowering of Boston's three original hills, the "Trimountain", after which Tremont Street is named, and with gravel brought by train from Needham to fill the Back Bay. Back Bay is home to Christian Science Center, Copley Square, Newbury Street, and New England's two tallest buildings: the John Hancock Tower and the Prudential Center. Near the John Hancock Tower is the old John Hancock Building with its prominent illuminated beacon, the color of which forecasts the weather. 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. Back Bay includes many prominent landmarks, such as the Boston Public Library, 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. 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.
Environment
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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. A separate initiative, Resilient Boston Harbor, lays out neighborhood-specific recommendations for coastal resilience. 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.
Climate
Under the Köppen climate classification (using the 27 °F (−3 °C) coldest month isotherm), Boston has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa). If using the 32 °F (0 °C) coldest month isotherm, the city lies within the hot-summer humid continental zone (Köppen Dfa). Summers are warm to hot and humid. 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. In winter, areas near the immediate coast often see more rain than snow, as warm air is sometimes drawn off the Atlantic. Boston lies at the border between USDA plant hardiness zones 6b (away from the coastline) and 7a (close to the coastline). Receiving over 2,600 hours of sunshine annually, Boston is one of the sunniest oceanic cities located at its latitude globally. The warmest 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. Despite average winter temperatures near freezing, Boston can see entire winters without sustained periods of sub-freezing afternoons. The winter of 2001-2002 recorded only two days entirely below freezing, with no day with a daily maximum temperature below 29 °F (−2 °C). The winter of 2023-2024 saw the yearly minimum temperature not falling below 14 °F (−10 °C) that winter. Sub- 0 °F (−18 °C) readings usually occur every 3 to 5 years. 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 Boston since 1957. Several decades may pass between 100 °F (38 °C) readings. The last such reading occurred on July 3, 2026. Boston's average window for freezing temperatures is November 9 to April 5. 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. The record warm daily minimum is 83 °F (28 °C) on both August 2, 1975 and July 21, 2019. The record high dew point is 79 °F (26 °C) recorded on August 10, 2001. The most humid month on record is August 2018 with an average dewpoint of 66.8 °F (19.3 °C) for the month. The hottest month on record is July 2019 with an average mean temperature of 78.7 °F (25.9 °C) for the month. The month with the record warmest daily minimums was July 2019 with an average daily minimum of 70.7 °F (21.5 °C)., and the record warmest daily maximums was July 1983, with an average daily maximum of 87.2 °F (30.7 °C). Boston has recorded entire months in summer without nighttime lows below 63 °F (17 °C), the record most recently tied in August 2022 and previously set in July 2011 and July 2019. 2022 also recorded an entire month in summer without a daily maximum temperature below 75 °F (24 °C), the record highest for the monthly minimum of daily maximum temperature. Summer in Boston can also see entire months without dewpoints below 53 °F (12 °C), with the most recent occurrence being July 2008. Boston has not recorded a summer since records began without at least one instance of a 91 °F (33 °C) temperature, one daily minimum of at least 69 °F (21 °C) or higher, and a dewpoint of 71 °F (22 °C) or greater. The summers where the yearly maximum dew point topped out at 71 °F (22 °C) were in 1974 and 1982; the yearly maximum daily minimum temperature at 69 °F (21 °C) in 1889; and a yearly maximum temperature was 91 °F (33 °C), recorded in 1889 and 1996. The average yearly maximum daily minimum temperature is 76.9 °F (24.9 °C), and the average yearly maximum dew point is 75.4 °F (24.1 °C). Boston averages 43.6 in (1,110 mm) of precipitation a year, with 49.2 in (125 cm) of snowfall per season. Most snowfall occurs from mid-November to early April. Snow is rare in May and October. There is 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 (206 cm). Boston's coastal location on the North Atlantic makes the city very prone to nor'easters, which can produce large amounts of snow and rain. Fog is relatively common, particularly in spring and early summer. Due to its coastal location, Boston 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. Thunderstorms typically occur from May to September. Occasionally, they can become severe, with large hail, damaging winds, and heavy downpours. Although downtown Boston has never been struck by a violent tornado, Boston has experienced many tornado warnings. Damaging storms are more common to areas north, west, and northwest of the city.
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Demographics
In the 2020 census, Boston was estimated to have 691,531 residents living in 266,724 households—a 12% population increase over 2010. Boston 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. In 2011, 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. 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. In 2024, the median household income in Boston was $97,791, while the median income for a family was $110,710. In 2011, 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. 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. From the 1950s to the end of the 20th century, the proportion of non-Hispanic Whites in Boston declined. In 2000, non-Hispanic Whites were 49.5% of Boston's population, making the city majority minority for the first time. In the 21st century, Boston 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. By 2010, in part due to a crash in housing prices, as well as increased efforts to make affordable housing more available, the non-White population had rebounded and non-Hispanic White residents formed 47% of the population.
Ethnicity
In 2011, African-Americans comprised 22% of the city's population. People of Irish descent formed 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%. 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. 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 a growing number of Dominican Americans. There is a large and historical Armenian community in Boston, and the city is home to the Armenian Heritage Park. Over 27,000 Chinese Americans made their home in Boston city proper in 2013. According to the 2012–2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, the largest ancestry groups in Boston are:
Income
Data is from the American Community Survey's five-year estimates 2008–2012.
Religion
In a 2023-24 study by the Pew Research Center, 47% of the population of the city identified themselves as Christians, with 21% attending a variety of Protestant churches and 24% professing Roman Catholic beliefs. 40% claim no religious affiliation. The remaining 13% are composed of adherents of Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and other faiths. In 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. In 2015, the Boston metro area had a Jewish population of approximately 248,000. More than half the Jewish households in the Greater Boston area reside in the city itself, Brookline, Newton, Cambridge, Somerville, or adjacent towns. A small minority practices Confucianism, and some practice Boston Confucianism, an American evolution of Confucianism adapted for Boston intellectuals.
Economy
A global city, Boston is ranked among the top 30 most economically powerful cities in the world. Encompassing $610 billion, the Greater Boston metropolitan area has the eighth-largest economy in the country and 16th-largest in the world. 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. 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. Boston receives the highest absolute amount of annual funding from the National Institutes of Health of all cities in the United States. Boston 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. The Route 128 corridor and Greater Boston continue to be a major center for venture capital investment, and high technology remains an important sector with nearly 5,000 startup companies. In the late 2010s to the 2020s, the city has been a center of artificial intelligence. Tourism composes a large part of Boston's economy, with 21.2 million domestic and international visitors spending $8.3 billion in 2011. 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. 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. Boston 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. In the 2018 Global Financial Centres Index, Boston was ranked as having the 13th-most competitive financial services center in the world and the second-most competitive in the United States. 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 and a center for venture capital firms. Boston is home to the headquarters of Santander Bank and State Street Corporation, the latter specializing in asset management and custody services. Boston is a printing and publishing center—Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is headquartered within the city, along with Bedford-St. Martin's Press and Beacon Press. Pearson PLC publishing units employ several hundred people in Boston. Boston 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. 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 are just outside the city.
Education
Primary and secondary
Boston Public Schools enroll 57,000 students attending 145 schools, including Boston Latin Academy, John D. O'Bryant School of Math & Science, and the 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. The system's students are 40% Hispanic or Latino, 35% Black or African American, 13% White, and 9% Asian. There are private, parochial, and charter schools. Approximately 3,300 minority students attend participating suburban schools through the Metropolitan Educational Opportunity Council. In September 2019, the city began 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.
Colleges and universities
Several of the highest-ranked universities in the world are near Boston. 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 t