County profile

Suffolk County / Boston, MA

Reading this county

Suffolk County is the whole of Boston plus Chelsea, Revere and Winthrop, on a small strip of harbour land. Boston Common, founded in 1634, is the oldest park in the country and still sits in the middle of downtown. Schools here test at the top of the country, the subway network is the oldest in America, and housing is priced to match.

ACT/SAT Scores: #1: College entrance results here rank first in the country, a mark 14 other counties also hold. Entry to Boston's exam schools is by application, and only into two grades. >99% of 3,143 counties
Transit Score: 72: A Transit Score of 72 in the city of Boston, and only two counties score higher. Green Line trains still run through the tunnel that carried America's first subway car. >98% of 270 counties
Park Score: 100%⁹: Every resident lives within reach of a park, and no county in the country does better. >99% of 1,479 counties
Major League Baseball: 0h 07m: Fenway Park is about seven minutes away, and only 11 counties sit closer to a major league ballpark. The Red Sox have played there since 1912. <99% of 3,002 counties
The trade-off — Median Home Price: $799K⁴: The median home is $799K against a typical household income of $85K, and only 36 counties price higher. A buyer without equity already in Greater Boston meets that gap first. >98% of 3,143 counties

One of early Boston's biggest disasters was a 2 million gallon flood of molasses in 1919. But that isn't even the oddest bit of Bostonian culinary trivia. In Massachusetts, it's also illegal to make clam chowder with tomatoes. You've been warned.

Demographics and county data

Each comparison is against the US counties that publish the same measurement. Measurements where too many counties share a single value to be ranked show no comparison at all.

Abortion Regulation: Legal (Restricted)
ACT/SAT Scores: #1
Air Quality: 8.6¹
Alcohol Regulation: #39
All Occupations: $85K¹
American Indians/Alaskan Natives: ↓-1.6%
Amish, Mennonites, etc: ↓-2.5%⁷
Any Airport: 0h 13m
Any Natural Disaster: Medium³
Architecture & Engineering: $100K¹⁰
Art Museums: 1
Arts, Design, Sports, Media & Entertainment: $85K¹⁰
Asian Americans: ↑7.4%
Asian Language Speakers: ↑5.8%
Avalanche: none³
Average School Rating: 23.3⁶
Beergardens & Brewpubs: 14
Bike Score: 69
Blacks/African Americans: ↑10.7%
Boating: 351
Broadband Internet: 85%
Buddhists: ↑0.6%⁷
Building & Grounds Cleaning & Maintenance: $44K¹⁰
Business & Financial Operations: $97K¹⁰
Cannabis Regulation: Legal
Cat Friendly Rentals: 46%
Catholics: ↑31.8%⁷
City Population: 676K
Climate Change Risk: 3.3
Coastal Flooding: Low³
Cold Wave: Medium³
Community & Social Service: $58K¹⁰
Commute Time: 32
Computer & Mathematical: $119K¹⁰
Construction & Extraction: $75K¹⁰
County Population: 771K
Cuisine Diversity: 56
Cycling: 50+
Dentists: 22.2
Dog Friendly Rentals: 25%
Drought: Low³
Earthquakes: Medium³
Education, Training, & Library: $76K¹⁰
Educational Attainment: 33%
Elevation: 49'⁸
English Speakers: ↓-15.5%
Farmers Markets: 13
Farming, Fishing, & Forestry: $44K¹⁰
Fatal Dog Attacks: 0
Fatal Wildlife Attacks: 0
Fire Ants: none
Fishing: 165
Food Preparation & Serving Related: $38K¹⁰
Forests: 0%
Freshwater Access: 516
Gluten-Free Options: 36
Golf: 114
Gun Open Carry Regulation: Legal (w/Permit)
Hail: Low³
Healthcare Practitioners & Technical: $110K¹⁰
Healthcare Support: $40K¹⁰
Heat Wave: Medium³
High School Graduation Rate: 72%¹
Hiking: 475
Hindus: ↑0.3%⁷
Hispanics/Latinos: ↑13.4%
History Museums: 1
Home Ownership Rate: 36%
Homelessness: 157
Homicide Rate: 6¹
Hospitals: 9
Hurricanes: Low³
Ice Storms: High³
Indo-European Language Speakers: ↑9.7%
Installation, Maintenance, & Repair: $64K¹⁰
Investment Potential: 13 / 100
Jehovah's Witnesses: ↓-0.6%⁷
Jews: ↑0.6%⁷
Landslide: Medium³
LDS / Mormons: ↓-1.8%⁷
Legal: $157K¹⁰
Life Expectancy: 82¹
Life, Physical, & Social Science: $103K¹⁰
Lightning: High³
Live Music: 47
Major Airport: 0h 13m
Major City Proximity: Major City
Major League Baseball: 0h 07m
Major League Soccer: 0h 32m
Management: $153K¹⁰
Median Age: 33 years¹¹
Median Home Price: $799K
Median Rental - 1 BR Apartment: $2,517
Median Rental - 2 BR Apartment: $2,983
Median Rental - 3 BR Apartment: $3,594
Median Rental - 4 BR Apartment: $3,955
Median Rental - Room: $1,636
Median Rental - Single Family Home: $3,285⁴
Median Rental - Studio Apartment: $2,380
Mental Health Providers: 86.2
Meth Labs: 0
Michelin Rated Restaurants: none
Minor League Baseball: 0h 54m
Mountains: 636'⁸
Multiracials: ↑0.6%
Muslims: ↑0.8%⁷
National Parks: 5h 16m
Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders: ↓-0.1%
NBA Basketball: 0h 10m
NFL Football: 0h 32m
NHL Hockey: 0h 10m
Not Religious / Atheists / Agnostics: ↑11.0%
Nuclear Strike: Direct Target
Obesity Rate: 21%¹
Office & Administrative Support: $53K¹⁰
Orthodox Christians: ↓-0.2%⁷
Other Language Speakers: ↑1.8%
Other Relocation Incentives: none
Park Score: 100%
People 0-9 Years Old: ↓-2.3%
People 10-19 Years Old: ↓-1.6%
People 20-29 Years Old: ↑10.5%
People 30-39 Years Old: ↑5.8%
People 40-49 Years Old: ↓-0.5%
People 50-59 Years Old: ↓-2.7%
People 60-69 Years Old: ↓-4.5%
People 70-79 Years Old: ↓-3.1%
People 80+ Years Old: ↓-1.6%
Performing Arts: 5
Personal Care & Service: $43K¹⁰
Political Orientation: 97% Dems
Population Density: 13,698
Population Growth: ↓-3.0%
Poverty Rate: 16.5%
Primary Care Physicians: 14.9¹
Private/Home School Regulation: #9
Production: $49K¹⁰
Property Crime Rate: 2,016
Property Tax: 0.69%
Protective Service: $62K¹⁰
Protestants / Non-Denominationals: ↓-23.1%⁷
Rain: 44"
Regional Theatre: 2
River Flooding: High³
Sales & Related: $58K¹⁰
Sales Tax: 6.3%
Same Sex Households: ↑0.5%
Scenic Beauty: #28
Seacoast Proximity: coastal
Seasons: 46 °F
Shark Attacks: 0
Single Parent Households: ↑16.1%
Skiing: 0h 13m
Small or Major Airport: 0h 13m
Smokers: 16%¹
Snow: 51"
Spanish Speakers: ↑13.0%
State Income Tax: 5.0%
Strong Wind: Low³
Summer Heat: 81 °F
Summer Mugginess: Sticky
Sunny Days: 200
Termite Infestation: Moderate
Tobacco Regulation: #3
Top School Rating: 97.8⁶
Tornadoes: High³
Traffic: 8.09M
Transit Score: 72
Transportation & Material Moving: $48K¹⁰
Tsunami: none³
Typical Expenses: $190K⁵
Typical Expenses: $129K⁵
Typical Expenses: $85K⁵
Typical Expenses: $122K⁵
Typical Expenses: $66K⁵
Typical Expenses: $111K⁵
Typical Expenses: $192K⁵
Typical Expenses: $85K⁵
Typical Expenses: $153K⁵
Typical Expenses: $101K⁵
Typical Expenses: $121K⁵
Typical Expenses: $163K⁵
Unemployment Rate: 9.7%¹
Vegetarian Friendliness: 50+
Violent Crime Rate: 752²
Volcanic Activity: none³
Walk Score: 83
Water Quality: 1/4
Whites: ↓-30.9%
Wildfires: Very Low³
Windiness: 11 mph
Wineries: 7
Winter Cold: 35 °F
Winter Weather: Low³

Cities

Back Bay, Boston, Cedar Grove, Chelsea, Cottage Hill, Cottage Park, Court Park, Dorchester Heights, Faneuil, Fort Dawes, Fort Independence, Fort Warren, Germantown, Mount Ida, Point Shirley, Quincy, Revere, Suffolk Downs Station, Winthrop, Winthrop Beach, Winthrop Highlands