Largest Cities in Massachusetts: Ranked by Population

The largest city in Massachusetts in our data is Boston, MA, with an estimated 4,688,346 people, followed by Springfield, MA (623,401) and Worcester, MA (498,328). This list ranks the top 50 places among the 72 Massachusetts communities with at least 5,000 residents.

What are the top 50 in Massachusetts?

How big are the largest cities in Massachusetts?

Of the 72 places with pages, 8 have more than 100,000 residents, 41 have between 25,000 and 100,000, and 23 have fewer than 25,000. The median place has about 39,752 people. The ten largest places account for about 75% of the combined population of all pages, which shows how concentrated the state's population is across communities. Middlesex County contributes 13 of the top 50.

Which counties do the top 50 belong to?

The 50 places on this list are spread across 12 counties of Massachusetts. Middlesex County has 13 (Cambridge, Lowell, Newton, Somerville, Framingham, Waltham, Malden, Medford, Everett, Wobu); Essex County has 8 (Lynn, Lawrence, Haverhill, Peabody, Methuen Town, Salem, Beverly, Gloucester); Hampden County has 6 (Springfield, Chicopee, Westfield, Holyoke, Agawam, West Springfield). Counties with several entries are usually centers of a metropolitan area, where one large city is surrounded by many suburbs that each pass the 5,000-resident threshold.

How does Massachusetts compare with the rest of the country?

The median Massachusetts place with a page has about 39,752 residents, compared with about 13,459 nationwide, so the state's typical community is larger than the national typical place. Boston, MA ranks 10th among all US places by estimated population in our data. The state has 139 communities in total, of which 72 reach 5,000 residents. See the national ranking of the largest cities for comparison.

Quick answers about Massachusetts cities

• Which is the largest city in Massachusetts? Boston (4,688,346 people).
• How many Massachusetts cities have more than 100,000 people? 8 in our data.
• How many have 25,000 to 100,000? 41.
• What is the typical size? About 39,752 residents for a place with a page.

How is this ranking made?

The data comes from the SimpleMaps US Cities Database, which gives each place an estimated population and a density in people per square kilometer. We convert density to people per square mile and rank the places with at least 5,000 residents. Boundaries matter: a city that includes large parks or farmland scores lower on density than a compact city of the same size, and population estimates can include areas that share a city's ZIP codes. Read why population figures differ and how density is calculated before you quote a number.

Where to go next

Rankings use dataset estimates, not official counts.