Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.
Place dossier plate
SheetMA-BOSTON-MA · Boston, MA 663,972 pop · income 74th pct · 235 tracts
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Boston
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Boston on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Springfield · lowest
51,339
Springfield · lowest
51,339 median HH income
40.6% of the leader · rank #1
Sonterra · near
94,728
Sonterra · near
94,728 median HH income
74.9% of the leader · rank #2
South San Jos… · near
94,740
South San Jos… · near
94,740 median HH income
74.9% of the leader · rank #3
Lake Darby · near
94,743
Lake Darby · near
94,743 median HH income
74.9% of the leader · rank #4
Rochester · near
94,754
Rochester · near
94,754 median HH income
74.9% of the leader · rank #5
Boston · this city
94,755
Boston · this city
94,755 median HH income
74.9% of the leader · rank #6
Cambridge · highest
126,469
Cambridge · highest
126,469 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Boston on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 663,972.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Boston - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Boston lands in the 74th percentile for household income and the 20th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
74th
percentile, household income
93rd
percentile, home value
98th
percentile, median rent
20th
percentile, safety
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Boston, MA
Boston is a mid-sized U.S. city in Massachusetts, home to 663,972 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $94,755 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 11.7%. Typical homes in Boston are valued around $710,400, and the median resident age is 33.2 years. 54.1% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 66.1% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 1,789 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Construction Slowdown), down 40% from five years earlier. Crime here tracks close to the national norm: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 2649.6 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, near the national average (agency reporting is voluntary, so this measures reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). NOAA puts Boston's yearly average temperature at 51.9°F with 43.6 inches of precipitation per year and 49.2 inches of snowfall.
Massachusetts carries a cost-of-living premium: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Massachusetts scores 105.8 (Above Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $2,261 per month. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Massachusetts run around $330, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. Workers in Boston report an average commute of 24.6 minutes, with 34.1% driving alone and 18.8% working from home. Natural-hazard exposure scores 78.8 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Boston's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from reported crime to within-city variation to work and mobility to climate and hazard context to housing and income to comparison shortlist to schools and households to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Boston, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits, annual population history, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Boston?
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 2649.6 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 16% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
PlainCities matches 235 Census tracts to this city.
What does the journey to work look like in Boston?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 34.1%. The reported mean trip to work is 24.6 minutes.
Which cities make useful reference points for Boston?
Within Massachusetts, the closest population matches are Worcester (205,501 residents, $67,544 income); Springfield (154,751 residents, $51,339 income); Cambridge (117,794 residents, $126,469 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Washington, DC (672,079 residents); Las Vegas, NV (650,873 residents); El Paso, TX (678,147 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Climate and hazard context
What physical conditions frame life in Boston?
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 51.9°F, with 43.6 inches of precipitation and 49.2 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Massachusetts is 78.8 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
Mean temperature
51.9°F
Annual precipitation
43.6 in
FEMA risk index (state avg)
78.8
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
How far does income reach against housing in Boston?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 7.5 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 11.7%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
Household income
$94,755
Home value
$710,400
Value / income
7.5×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
The NCES join finds 16 public schools within the city match. 54.1% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
Matched public schools
16
Bachelor's degree+
54.1%
Poverty estimate
11.7%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
The recent population line is broadly flat. That makes the composition of change more important than the headline count: housing turnover, household size, and age structure can shift even when the total barely moves.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +3,308 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +0.5% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 1,789 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Period change
+0.5%
2025 estimate
672,973
2020 estimate
669,665
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Above median income · poverty 11.7% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
105.8 (US=100)
High cost · BEA RPP 2024, Massachusetts average
D
City profile score · Boston, MA
44/100
5 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Bachelor's+ share A
54.1%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income B
$94,755
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
11.7%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Cost of living F
105.8 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Violent crime F
628 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Boston profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 87/100 (A) · 54.1%
Household income: 74/100 (B) · $94,755
Poverty rate: 33/100 (F) · 11.7%
Cost of living: 18/100 (F) · 105.8 index
Violent crime: 9/100 (F) · 628 /100k
Where Boston sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Boston's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Boston highlighted among 11 peers.Read the chart values
Boston, MA (this city): home $710,400, crime 2,650/100k
Washington, DC : home $724,600, crime 4,514/100k
El Paso, TX : home $171,700, crime 1,772/100k
Portland, OR : home $557,600, crime 6,246/100k
Oklahoma City, OK : home $215,100, crime 3,570/100k
Worcester, MA : home $339,500, crime 17/100k
Springfield, MA : home $222,700, crime 3,727/100k
Cambridge, MA : home $1,040,500, crime 3,081/100k
Lowell, MA : home $395,100, crime 2,195/100k
Brockton, MA : home $405,500, crime 1,945/100k
Quincy, MA : home $598,100, crime 1,668/100k
How does Boston compare to other US cities?
Here's how Boston stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income74% higher than other cities
Home value93% pricier than other cities
Median rent98% pricier than other cities
Safety20% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just Massachusetts and the picture shifts: Boston ranks #143 of 149 Massachusetts cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Boston against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Massachusetts only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Massachusetts-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Boston near the bottom of Massachusetts's cities
Among the 247 Massachusetts cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Boston ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Boston only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#127 of 233
45th percentile in Massachusetts
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 247
0th percentile in Massachusetts
Median Home Value
#49 of 240
80th percentile in Massachusetts
Poverty Rate
#28 of 247
88th percentile in Massachusetts
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#82 of 247
67th percentile in Massachusetts
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Massachusetts only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
74th percentile nationally for median household income · 20th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Boston's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Boston's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Boston's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$710,4007th percentilemore affordable than 7% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Boston's home-value-to-income ratio: 7.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#14,881 of 15,516
More affordable than 4% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#109 of 117
Large cities (200,000–999,999)
At 7.5×, Boston sits in the pressured band:
national rank #14,881 of 15,516 and #109 of 117large cities (200,000–999,999).
Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median, a comparison flag, not a verdict on any household.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$94,755Boston, MA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Boston, MA median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Boston, MA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)54.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)11.7%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)66.1%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
663,972
Median Income
$94,755
Median Home Value
$710,400
Median Age
33.2
Poverty Rate
11.7%
Labor force participation
66.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
54.1%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
2649.6
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
627.9
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
2021.7
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Climate
Avg Temperature
51.9°F
Annual Precipitation
43.6"
Annual Snowfall
49.2"
Schools
Total Schools
16
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Boston's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
669,665 residents
2021
659,884 residents
2022
661,014 residents
2023
667,453 residents
2024
674,311 residents
2025
672,973 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
1,789
housing units authorized
Single-Family
72
detached homes
Multifamily
1,717
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
2.7
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
2,993
37
2,956
$586.3M
2020
3,532
24
3,508
$1607.0M
2021
3,512
53
3,459
$836.3M
2022
3,935
53
3,882
$1286.3M
2023
2,051
108
1,943
$722.5M
2024
1,789
72
1,717
$811.6M
Permit volume decreased 40% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
24.6 minutes
Drive Alone
34.1%
Carpool
5.4%
Public Transit
24.0%
Walk
13.8%
Work from Home
18.8%
Other
3.9%
Based on 370,029 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Massachusetts statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $330
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Massachusetts at $330 (electricity about $160 , water and sewer about $60 ).
These are Massachusetts statewide averages, not a meter reading for Boston. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Massachusetts's BEA cost-of-living index is 105.8 (Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Boston is $2,261/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Massachusetts statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 78.8 / 100 (High).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Massachusetts statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Boston sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Boston compares to similar-size Massachusetts cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.