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Boston Demographics and Statistics

 

The city of Boston is home to more than 610,000 residents. When the Greater Boston Region is considered there are around 4.5 million people. This makes the Greater Boston metropolitan area one of the largest in the country. An interesting note regarding the population of the inner-city is that it fluctuates greatly and can reach a million or more during working days and can soar up to two million when there are celebrations, festivals and other special events. Another factor that is responsible for the fluid nature of the city’s population is the influx of workers from other adjoining regions for education, medical services and for work.
 
When one takes a good look at the breakdown of the population statistics, one will see that Whites make up more than 50%, while African Americans, Asians, Native Americans, Native Hawaiian, Hispanics and other races make up the rest. These other groups include Jews and those that descended from migrants from European nations such as Italy and Ireland.

Boston (city), Massachusetts

  People QuickFacts Boston Massachusetts
  Population, 2006 estimate 590,763 6,437,193
  Population, percent change, April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2006 0.3% 1.4%
  Population, 2000 589,141 6,349,097
  Persons under 5 years old, percent, 2000 5.4% 6.3%
  Persons under 18 years old, percent, 2000 19.8% 23.6%
  Persons 65 years old and over, percent, 2000 10.4% 13.5%
  Female persons, percent, 2000 51.9% 51.8%
  White persons, percent, 2000 (a) 54.5% 84.5%
  Black persons, percent, 2000 (a) 25.3% 5.4%
  American Indian and Alaska Native persons, percent, 2000 (a) 0.4% 0.2%
  Asian persons, percent, 2000 (a) 7.5% 3.8%
  Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, percent, 2000 (a) 0.1% Z
  Persons reporting two or more races, percent, 2000 4.4% 2.3%
  Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin, percent, 2000 (b) 14.4% 6.8%
  Living in same house in 1995 and 2000, pct 5 yrs old & over 47.8% 58.5%
  Foreign born persons, percent, 2000 25.8% 12.2%
  Language other than English spoken at home, pct age 5+, 2000 33.4% 18.7%
  High school graduates, percent of persons age 25+, 2000 78.9% 84.8%
  Bachelor's degree or higher, pct of persons age 25+, 2000 35.6% 33.2%
  Mean travel time to work (minutes), workers age 16+, 2000 28.8 27.0
 
  Housing units, 2000 251,935 2,621,989
  Homeownership rate, 2000 32.2% 61.7%
  Median value of owner-occupied housing units, 2000 $190,600 $185,700
 
  Households, 2000 239,528 2,443,580
  Persons per household, 2000 2.31 2.51
  Median household income, 1999 $39,629 $50,502
  Per capita money income, 1999 $23,353 $25,952
  Persons below poverty, percent, 1999 19.5% 9.3%
  Business QuickFacts Boston Massachusetts
  Wholesale trade sales, 2002 ($1000) 11,392,716 127,129,789
  Retail sales, 2002 ($1000) 5,424,321 73,903,837
  Retail sales per capita, 2002 $9,268 $11,527
  Accommodation and foodservices sales, 2002 ($1000) 2,581,415 11,789,582
  Total number of firms, 2002 48,732 563,539
  Black-owned firms, percent, 2002 7.3% 2.3%
  American Indian and Alaska Native owned firms, percent, 2002 0.5% 0.4%
  Asian-owned firms, percent, 2002 5.7% 3.2%
  Hispanic-owned firms, percent, 2002 6.1% 2.8%
  Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander owned firms, percent, 2002 F S
  Women-owned firms, percent, 2002 25.8% 28.7%
 
Geography QuickFacts Boston Massachusetts
Land area, 2000 (square miles) 48 7,840
Persons per square mile, 2000 12,164.8 809.8
FIPS Code 07000 25
Counties Suffolk County