Official Federal Data
Suffolk County, Massachusetts
FIPS 25025 · Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH · Population 785,121
9 Sources
Updated June 22, 2026
$95,631 ▲
Median Income
$80,734 national
4.4% ▲
Unemployment
4% national
$190.8B ▲
GDP
50.6% ▲
Bachelor's+
35.7% national
Demographics & Population
Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 · 5-Year Estimates
Household Income
Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median Household
$95,631 ▲
Per Capita
$58,636 ▲
Mean Household
$139,201 ▲
Poverty Rate
16.2% ▼
Median Income Comparison
Suffolk County$95,631
Massachusetts$103,960
National$80,734
Population Profile
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Tables B01001, B02001, B03003
Cohorts
Under 18 · 16%
18-34 · 35.9%
35-54 · 24.2%
55-64 · 10.6%
65+ · 13.3%
Race & Ethnicity
Hispanic or Latino is an ethnic category and overlaps with the race categories above.
Educational Attainment
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · Population 25+
87.5%
High School+
National: 89.6%
▼ 2.1 pts
50.6%
Bachelor's+
National: 35.7%
▲ +14.9 pts
23.5%
Graduate+
National: 14.1%
▲ +9.4 pts
Employment Overview
Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
785,121
Population
469,220
Labor Force
Employed
439,114
Unemployment Rate BLS LAUS 2025 annual
4.4% ▲ +0.5 pts YoY
Mean Commute 4 min above national avg
30.9 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
19.9%
Key Takeaways
- Income premium: Households earn well above the national median, supporting strong retail and housing markets.
- Elevated poverty: At 16.2%, the rate is in economically distressed territory and supports federal funding narratives (CDFI, NMTC, EDA).
- Talent advantage: Bachelor's-or-higher attainment exceeds the national average by 14.9 pts, supports knowledge-economy and tech attraction.
- Young population: Median age of 34 is materially below the U.S. norm, a workforce pipeline asset.
Economy & Industry
Bureau of Labor Statistics QCEW · Bureau of Economic Analysis
Key Takeaways
- Largest sector: Health Care and Social Assistance employs 150,302 workers (27.4% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $101,067.
- Economic scale: Regional GDP of $190.8B (2024).
- Wage stratification: Finance and Insurance averages $316,664 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $47,034, a 6.7x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.
Source: BLS QCEW + BEA Regional GDP.
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Industry Concentration
Location Quotient measures regional specialization vs. national average. LQ > 1.0 = concentrated.
Cluster Depth
Source: BLS QCEW · Sub-sectors with LQ ≥ 1.5 indicate genuine cluster concentration
Dominant Cluster
Professional, Scientific & Technical Services Cluster
Coherent grouping of concentrated sub-sectors, signals supply-chain fit for site selectors
98,164
Cluster Employment
2.00x
Peak LQ
Concentrated Sub-Sectors
Securities, Commodity Contracts, Investments
6.89x 34,774
Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation
6.36x 879
Air Transportation
4.27x 11,166
Hospitals
3.81x 96,909
Publishing Industries and Telecommunications
3.17x 12,967
Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar
3.10x 2,554
Educational Services
2.95x 43,806
Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related
2.10x 5,545
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
2.00x 98,164
Computing Infrastructure Providers and Data Processing
1.72x 3,804
Attraction Opportunities
LQ < 0.5 with ≥ 50 employed, realistic diversification targets. Source: BLS QCEW
0.01x
Transportation Equipment Manufacturing
55 employed
0.04x
Warehousing and Storage
380 employed
0.06x
Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing
200 employed
0.06x
Electrical Equipment, Appliance Manufacturing
110 employed
0.07x
Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing
113 employed
0.08x
Nonmetallic Mineral Product Manufacturing
144 employed
0.09x
Miscellaneous Manufacturing
261 employed
0.10x
Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing
458 employed
Key Takeaways
- Top specialization: Securities, Commodity Contracts, Investments concentrates at 6.89x the national norm, top-decile concentration, the kind of signature sector that defines a region's economic identity to site selectors.
- Cluster depth: 10 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, suggesting an interconnected industrial base rather than reliance on a single employer or sector.
- Attraction whitespace: 8 sub-sectors register LQ < 0.5, candidates for diversification or recruitment depending on labor-market fit.
Source: BLS QCEW sub-sector Location Quotients.
Housing & Affordability
Census ACS · HUD Fair Market Rents FY2026
Housing Overview
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates · Tables B25001, B25077, B25064
$705,800 ▲
Median Home Value vs 2019
$2,129 ▲
Rent/Mo
36.5% ▲
Owner-Occ
8.4% ▲
Vacancy
7.4x
Home Value to Income Ratio - Stretched
vs. ~4.1x national average
HUD Fair Market Rents (County Average)
Renter-household-weighted average across 4 town FMR areas · Source: HUD · Fair Market Rents FY2026
Studio
$2,359/mo$2,359 to $2,359
1 Bedroom
$2,476/mo$2,476 to $2,476
2 Bedroom
$2,941/mo$2,941 to $2,941
3 Bedroom
$3,526/mo$3,526 to $3,526
4 Bedroom
$3,894/mo$3,894 to $3,894
30% of monthly median household income (~$2,391/mo) · rents above this line are typically considered cost-burdened.
Key Takeaways
- Stretched market: Home value to income ratio of 7.4x is well above the ~4.1x national average; attainable workforce housing may be a recruitment friction.
- Renter-majority market: 36.5% owner-occupied; flexible labor mobility but consider home-buying pipeline if attracting families.
- Affordable rent tiers: 1 of 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom tiers sit below the 30%-of-median-income affordability threshold (~$2,391/mo).
Source: Census ACS housing tables + HUD Fair Market Rents.
Workforce Pipeline
Labor force readiness, commuting, and workforce composition
Labor Market Overview
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Tables B01001, B23025, B08303, B08301
555,150 ▼
Working Age (18-64) vs 2019
Mean Commute 4 min above national avg
30.9 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
19.9%
Prime-Age Employed (25-54)
85.3%
of prime-age population
▲ vs 2019
Education & Talent Pipeline
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · College Scorecard
Bachelor's+
50.6% ▲
HS Diploma+
87.5% ▲
Regional / Statewide Institutions
Total credentials awarded
45,350/yr
12,366/yr
9,752/yr
9,235/yr
5,123/yr
4,894/yr
3,980/yr
Aging Workforce
Source: Census Bureau ACS · Derived from age & employment tables
14.9%
55-64 of working-age population (18-64)
Workforce by Occupation
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table C24010 · Civilian employed population 16+
Management / Professional
53.6%
Service
18.2%
Sales & Office
16.5%
Construction / Maint.
4.4%
Production / Transport
7.2%
Bars scaled 2× for visual differentiation; percentage labels show actual share of 439,114 employed workers.
Key Takeaways
- Talent pipeline: 6 regional institutions feed the workforce; the top three combined produce 31,353 annual credentials.
Source: ACS workforce data and College Scorecard.
AI Insights
AI-assisted analysis, drawn from 9 federal data sources
Sample AI Insight
Suffolk County shows strong potential for securities, commodity contracts, investments attraction, with a 6.89x concentration and 34,774 jobs in this sub-sector. It ranks in the top decile nationally.
The interconnected base across securities, commodity contracts, investments, scenic and sightseeing transportation, and air transportation creates supply-chain attraction leverage rather than single-employer risk, a structural advantage for industrial recruitment.
Industry Shift Analysis
Manufacturing Automation Risk
High
Healthcare Growth Forecast
+4.2% CAGR
Remote Work Migration
67/100
Prospect Match Scores
Advanced Manufacturing
92/100
Life Sciences
84/100
Data Centers
71/100
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Data Sources
Updated from official federal government data.
Census ACS 5-Year2024
BLS QCEW2025 annual
BLS LAUS (via FRED)2025 annual
BEA Regional GDP2024
Census CBP2023
HUD Fair Market RentsFY2026
FCC Broadband Map2024
USAspending.govFY2026
College ScorecardAY 2022-23
Frequently Asked Questions
Key economic and demographic figures for Suffolk County, Massachusetts, from federal data sources.
What is the population of Suffolk County, Massachusetts?
785,121 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).
What is the median household income in Suffolk County, Massachusetts?
$95,631 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).
What is the unemployment rate in Suffolk County, Massachusetts?
4.4% (2025 annual average, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, LAUS).
What is the GDP of Suffolk County, Massachusetts?
$190.8B (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, CAGDP1).
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