Population
18,807 residents
Census ACS 2023 - Massachusetts
City profile · Massachusetts · Census ACS 2023
Population, income, housing, safety, climate and schools for Winthrop - drawn straight from Census ACS, FBI UCR, NOAA, NCES, HUD and FEMA, refreshed on the 2024–2025 release cycle.
Winthrop - the verdict
Nationally, Winthrop sits in the 81st percentile for household income and the 77th percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
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.
Massachusetts's Winthrop is a small town, with 18,807 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Median household income here is $106,357 per year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 5.5%. Typical homes in Winthrop are valued around $606,900, and the median resident age is 43.6 years. Educational attainment runs 42.9% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 63.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 56 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Construction Slowdown), down 34% from five years earlier. Winthrop reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR figures show 680.9 crimes per 100,000 residents, below the national average (reporting is voluntary across agencies, so treat this as reporting activity rather than a definitive danger score).
Massachusetts carries a cost-of-living premium: the state registers 105.8 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Above Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $2,941 per month. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Massachusetts's average monthly utility costs around $330 (state average). The average commute for Winthrop workers runs 27.9 minutes, with 57.0% driving alone and 15.0% working from home. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 93.5 out of 100 (Very High).
Population
18,807 residents
Census ACS 2023 - Massachusetts
Median Household Income
$106,357 /yr
Poverty 5.5%
Cost of Living Index (state)
105.8 (US=100)
Above Average - BEA RPP 2024, Massachusetts average
Winthrop measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
A national percentile can hide a lot of local variation: narrowed to Massachusetts alone, Winthrop ranks #50 of 149 Massachusetts cities by lowest crime rate - a different, more locally useful comparison than stacking it against the entire country.
For each metric we count every US city with population 1,000+ and a non-null value, then compute what share of them fall below Winthrop's value: round(cities-below ÷ total × 100). Safety is inverted (percentile = share of cities with a higher crime rate) so a higher number always means safer. The in-state rank narrows that same crime-rate comparison to only the cities PlainCities tracks in Massachusetts, breaking ties alphabetically. See the methodology page for the full source-to-figure lineage.
81st percentile nationally for median household income · 77th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
How Winthrop's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$606,900 11th percentile more affordable than 11% of 15,600 US cities
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
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
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.
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
| Year | Total |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 85 |
| 2020 | 70 |
| 2021 | 95 |
| 2022 | 14 |
| 2023 | 8 |
| 2024 | 56 |
Permit volume decreased 34% from 2019 to 2024.
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Based on 10,003 workers 16 and over.
State-average estimates for Massachusetts - EIA 2023 residential energy data
Estimates reflect Massachusetts state averages. Actual costs vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Cost of living is a Massachusetts state average from BEA; rent and hazard risk are county-level figures from HUD and FEMA for the county Winthrop sits in
Population-matched peers from other states, closest to Winthrop's 18,807 residents (Census ACS 5-Year 2023).
Median-household-income-matched peers from other states, closest to Winthrop's $106,357 (Census ACS 5-Year 2023, table B19013).
City-level race and ethnicity, Census ACS 5-year 2023 (tables B02001, B03001), OMB Directive 15 categories.
Population + median household income, sourced from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 (population) and B19013 (median household income).
| City | Population | Median Household Income |
|---|---|---|
| Winthrop (this city) | 18,807 | $106,357 |
| Newburyport | 18,444 | $144,259 |
| Somerset | 18,246 | $111,720 |
| Southbridge | 17,806 | $59,397 |
18,807 people live in Winthrop, MA according to U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates.
Median annual household income in Winthrop runs $106,357, based on Census ACS 2023 data.
BEA does not publish a city-level cost-of-living figure for Winthrop; the closest available measure is the Massachusetts state average, a cost of living index of 105.8 (U.S. average = 100), rated "Above Average" based on BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 data. Costs within Massachusetts vary by metro area.
Winthrop has a total crime rate of 680.9 per 100,000 residents, which is below the national average. This reflects incidents reported to the FBI UCR program, not a definitive safety score -- agency reporting is voluntary and completeness varies by jurisdiction.
A typical home in Winthrop is worth $606,900, according to Census ACS 2023 estimates.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, 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.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Primary sources: Census ACS, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES.
Every figure on PlainCities is rendered directly from Census ACS source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on Census ACS source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.