Greater Boston is the metropolitan region of

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

encompassing the municipality of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

(the capital of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

and the most populous city in

) and its surrounding areas. The region forms the northern arc of the

Northeast megalopolis The Northeast megalopolis, also known as the Northeast Corridor, Acela Corridor, Boston–Washington corridor, or BosWash, is the world's largest megalopolis in terms of economic output and the second most populous megalopolis in the United St ...

, so Greater Boston means both a

metropolitan statistical area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally Incorporated town, incorporate ...

(MSA) and a

combined statistical area Combined statistical area (CSA) is a United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) term for a combination of adjacent metropolitan (MSA) and micropolitan statistical areas (µSA) across the 50 US states and the territory of Puerto Ric ...

(CSA), which is broader. The MSA consists of most of the eastern third of Massachusetts, excluding the

South Coast South Coast is a name often given to coastal areas to the south of a geographical region or major metropolitan area. Geographical Australia *South Coast (New South Wales), the coast of New South Wales, Australia, south of Sydney * South Coast (Q ...

and

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

; the CSA additionally includes the municipalities of

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

(capital of

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

(the largest city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire),

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

(the second largest city in Massachusetts and in New England), the South Coast region, and Cape Cod. While the city of Boston covers and has 675,647 residents as of the 2020 census, the urbanization has extended well into surrounding areas and the CSA has a population of more than 8.4 million people, making it one of the most populous such regions in the U.S. The CSA is one of two in Massachusetts, the other being Greater Springfield. Greater Boston is the only CSA in New England that lies in three states (Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island); some definitions extend it into a fourth (Connecticut). Some of Greater Boston's most well-known contributions involve the region's

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...

and medical institutions. Greater Boston has been influential upon American

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

and

industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

. The region and the state of Massachusetts are global leaders in

biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

finance Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...

, and

maritime trade Maritime may refer to: Geography * Maritime Alps, a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps * Maritime Region, a region in Togo * Maritime Southeast Asia * The Maritimes, the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Princ ...

. As of 2020, 64% of Massachusetts' population lives in the Greater Boston metropolitan region, and 88% of Massachusetts' population lives in the Boston Combined Statistical Area. Greater Boston is ranked tenth in population among US metropolitan statistical areas, home to 4,941,632 people as of the

2020 United States Census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

, and sixth among combined statistical areas, with a population of 8,466,186. The area has hosted many people and sites significant to

American culture The culture of the United States of America is primarily of Western, and European origin, yet its influences includes the cultures of Asian American, African American, Latin American, and Native American peoples and their cultures. The U ...

and history, particularly

American literature American literature is literature written or produced in the United States of America and in the colonies that preceded it. The American literary tradition thus is part of the broader tradition of English-language literature, but also inc ...

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

, and the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

was the site of the first colony in New England, founded in 1620 by the Pilgrims, passengers of the ''

Mayflower ''Mayflower'' was an English ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After a grueling 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, r ...

''. In 1692, the town of Salem and surrounding areas experienced one of America's most infamous cases of

mass hysteria Mass psychogenic illness (MPI), also called mass sociogenic illness, mass psychogenic disorder, epidemic hysteria, or mass hysteria, involves the spread of illness symptoms through a population where there is no infectious agent responsible for c ...

, the

Salem witch trials The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than 200 people were accused. Thirty people were found guilty, 19 of whom w ...

. In the late 18th century, Boston became known as the "Cradle of Liberty" for the agitation there that led to the American Revolution. The Greater Boston region has played a powerful scientific, commercial, and cultural role in the history of the United States. Before the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, the region was a center for the

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture *Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...

, and transcendentalist movements. In 2004, Massachusetts became the first U.S. state to legally recognize

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

as a result of the decision of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in Boston. Many prominent American political dynasties have hailed from the Boston region, including the Adams and Kennedy families.

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States, with the largest

financial endowment A financial endowment is a legal structure for managing, and in many cases indefinitely perpetuating, a pool of financial, real estate, or other investments for a specific purpose according to the will of its founders and donors. Endowments are o ...

of any university, and whose

Law School A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

has spawned a contemporaneous majority of

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

Justices A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

Kendall Square Kendall Square is a neighborhood in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The square itself at the intersection of Main Street and Broadway. It also refers to the broad business district east of Portland Street, northwest of the Charles River, north of MIT ...

in Cambridge has been called "the most innovative square mile on the planet", in reference to the high concentration of

entrepreneurial Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...

start-ups and quality of innovation which have emerged in the vicinity of the square since 2010. Both Harvard University and the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

, also in Cambridge, have been ranked among the most highly regarded

academic institution Academic institution is an educational institution dedicated to education and research, which grants academic degrees. See also academy and university. Types * Primary schools – (from French ''école primaire'') institutions where children ...

s in the world.

Definitions

Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC)

The most restrictive definition of the Greater Boston area is the region administered by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council. The MAPC is a regional planning organization created by the

Massachusetts legislature The Massachusetts General Court (formally styled the General Court of Massachusetts) is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the earliest days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, w ...

to oversee transportation infrastructure and economic development concerns in the Boston area. The MAPC includes 101 cities and towns that are grouped into eight subregions. These include most of the area within the region's outer circumferential highway,

I-495 Interstate 495 (I-495) is the designation for several Interstate Highways in the United States, all of which are related to Interstate 95, listed from south to north: * The Capital Beltway, a beltway around Washington, D.C., running through Virgin ...

. In 2013, the population of the MAPC district was 3.2 million, which was 48% of the total population of Massachusetts, in an area of , of which 39% is forested and an additional 11% is water, wetland, or other open space. The eight subregions and their principal towns are: Inner Core (Boston), Minuteman ( Route 2 corridor), MetroWest (Framingham), North Shore (Lynn), North Suburban (Woburn), South Shore ( Route 3 corridor), SouthWest (Franklin), and Three Rivers (Norwood). Notably excluded from the MAPC and its partner planning body, the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization, are the

Merrimack Valley The Merrimack Valley is a bi-state region along the Merrimack River in the U.S. states of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The Merrimack is one of the larger waterways in New England and has helped to define the livelihood and culture of those ...

cities of Lowell, Lawrence, and Haverhill, much of Plymouth County, and all of Bristol County; these areas have their own regional planning bodies. Bristol County is part of the Greater Boston CSA, as part of the Providence MSA.

New England City and Town Area (NECTA)

Because New England's local governance model is organized around the smaller

New England town The town is the basic unit of Local government in the United States, local government and local division of state authority in the six New England states. Most other U.S. states lack a direct counterpart to the New England town. New England towns ...

unit, and has weak or non-existent county governments, the

US Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

organizes its urban regions in the New England around clusters of towns known as

New England city and town area A New England city and town area (NECTA) is a geographic and statistical entity defined by the U.S. federal government for use in the six-state New England region of the United States. NECTAs are analogous to metropolitan statistical areas and micr ...

s (NECTAs) rather than around county borders as it does in the rest of the country. The set of towns containing the core urbanized area, along with surrounding towns with strong social and economic ties to the core area, is defined as the Boston–Cambridge–Nashua, MA–NH Metropolitan NECTA. The Boston NECTA region is further subdivided into several NECTA divisions, which are listed below. The Boston, Framingham, and Peabody NECTA divisions together correspond roughly to the MAPC area. The total population of the Boston NECTA was 4,540,941 (). *Boston–Cambridge–Newton, MA NECTA Division (92 towns) *Framingham, MA NECTA Division (12 towns) *Peabody–Salem–Beverly, MA NECTA Division (4 towns) *Brockton–Bridgewater–Easton, MA NECTA Division (Old Colony region) (8 towns) *Haverhill–Newburyport–Amesbury, MA–NH NECTA Division (Merrimack Valley region) (21 towns) *Lawrence–Methuen–Salem, MA–NH NECTA Division (part of Merrimack Valley region) (4 towns) *Lowell–Billerica–Chelmsford, MA–NH NECTA Division (Northern Middlesex region) (15 towns) *Nashua, NH–MA NECTA Division (21 towns) *Taunton–Middleborough–Norton, MA NECTA Division (part of Southeastern region) (9 towns) *Lynn–Saugus–Marblehead, MA NECTA Division (5 towns)

Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)

An alternative definition defined by the

United States Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, pol ...

, using counties as building blocks instead of towns, is the Boston–Cambridge–Newton, MA–NH Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is further subdivided into three metropolitan divisions. The metropolitan statistical area had a total population of 4,941,632 as of the 2020 census and is the tenth-largest in the United States. The components of the metropolitan area are listed below. *Boston–Cambridge–Newton, MA–NH Metropolitan Statistical Area **Boston, MA Metropolitan Division *** Norfolk County, Massachusetts *** Plymouth County, Massachusetts *** Suffolk County, Massachusetts **Cambridge–Newton–Framingham, MA Metropolitan Division *** Essex County, Massachusetts *** Middlesex County, Massachusetts **Rockingham County–Strafford County, NH Metropolitan Division *** Rockingham County, New Hampshire *** Strafford County, New Hampshire

Combined Statistical Area (CSA)

A wider functional metropolitan area based on commuting patterns is also defined by the Office of Management and Budget as the Boston–Worcester–Providence combined statistical area. This area consists of the metropolitan areas of

, as well as

, in addition to greater Boston. The total population for the extended region was estimated at 8,466,186 at the 2020 census. The following areas, along with the above MSA, are included in the combined statistical area: * Downtown_Providence_Rhode_Island_2008

Providence–Warwick, RI–MA Metropolitan Statistical Area ** Bristol County, Massachusetts ** Bristol County, Rhode Island ** Kent County, Rhode Island ** Newport County, Rhode Island **

Providence County Providence County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 660,741, or 60.2% of the state's population. Providence County contains the city of Providence, the state cap ...

, Rhode Island ** Washington County, Rhode Island *Worcester, MA–CT Metropolitan Statistical Area ** Worcester County, Massachusetts ** Windham County, Connecticut * Manchester–Nashua, NH Metropolitan Statistical Area ** Hillsborough County, New Hampshire *

Barnstable Town, MA Metropolitan Statistical Area Barnstable County is a county located in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. At the 2020 census, the population was 228,996. Its shire town is Barnstable. The county consists of Cape Cod and associated islands (some adjacent islands are in Duk ...

Barnstable County Barnstable County is a county located in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. At the 2020 census, the population was 228,996. Its shire town is Barnstable. The county consists of Cape Cod and associated islands (some adjacent islands are in Duk ...

, Massachusetts * Concord, NH Micropolitan Statistical Area ** Merrimack County, New Hampshire * Laconia, NH Micropolitan Statistical Area ** Belknap County, New Hampshire

Principal cities and towns

;Cities and towns Plymouth County: Bristol County: Norfolk County: Suffolk County: Essex County: Middlesex County: Worcester County:

Boston metropolitan area

The Census Bureau defines the following as principal cities in the Boston NECTA using criteria developed for what the

Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, pol ...

calls a

Core Based Statistical Area A core-based statistical area (CBSA) is a U.S. geographic area defined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that consists of one or more counties (or equivalents) anchored by an urban center of at least 10,000 people plus adjacent countie ...

: *

* Lowell *

* Quincy *

Largest cities and towns

Cities and towns in the Boston CSA with at least 50,000 residents:

Demographics

Population density

The most densely populated census tracts in the Boston CSA (2010):

Race and ethnicity

The 40 most diverse Census tracts in the Boston CSA: The 40 census tracts in the Boston CSA with the highest percentage of residents who identify as Hispanic or Latino: Census tracts in the Boston CSA with the highest percentage of residents who identify as Black American: Census tracts in the Boston CSA with the highest percentage of residents who identify as Asian American: Census tracts in the Boston CSA with the highest percentage of residents who identify as Irish American: Census tracts in the Boston CSA with the highest percentage of residents who identify as Italian American: Census tracts in the Boston CSA with the highest percentage of residents who identify as Portuguese American: Census tracts in the Boston CSA with French or French Canadian listed as first ancestry:

Other

Greater Boston has a sizable Jewish community, estimated at between 210,000 people, and 261,000 or 5–6% of the Greater Boston metro population, compared with about 2% for the nation as a whole. Contrary to national trends, the number of Jews in Greater Boston has been growing, fueled by the fact that 60% of children in Jewish mixed-faith families are raised Jewish, compared with roughly one in three nationally. The City of Boston also has one of the largest

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

populations per capita. It ranks fifth of all major cities in the country (behind San Francisco, and slightly behind

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, and

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

respectively), with 12.3% of the city identifying as gay, lesbian, or bisexual.

Higher education

A long established center of higher education, the area includes many community colleges, two-year schools, and internationally prominent undergraduate and graduate institutions. The graduate schools include highly regarded schools of law, medicine, business, technology, international relations, public health, education, and religion. Greater Boston contains seven R1 Research Institutions as per the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. This is, by far, the highest number of such institutions in a single

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally Incorporated town, incorporate ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Selected statistics

Changes in house prices for the Greater Boston area are publicly tracked on a regular basis using the

Case–Shiller index The Standard & Poor's CoreLogic Case–Shiller Home Price Indices are repeat-sales house price indices for the United States. There are multiple Case–Shiller home price indices: A national home price index, a 20-city composite index, a 10 ...

; the statistic is published by

Standard & Poor's S&P Global Ratings (previously Standard & Poor's and informally known as S&P) is an American credit rating agency (CRA) and a division of S&P Global that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks, bonds, and commodities. S&P is con ...

and is also a component of S&P's 10-city composite index of the value of the residential real estate market.

Major companies

References:

Companies along, inside or outside
I-495 Interstate 495 (I-495) is the designation for several Interstate Highways in the United States, all of which are related to Interstate 95, listed from south to north: * The Capital Beltway, a beltway around Washington, D.C., running through Virgin ...
, outside Route 128

* Abbott Laboratories, in

(pharmaceutical laboratory) * Advanced Cell Technology, in Worcester (research laboratory) *

AMD Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is an American multinational semiconductor company based in Santa Clara, California, that develops computer processors and related technologies for business and consumer markets. While it initially manufactur ...

, in Boxborough * Analog Devices, in Norwood *

Atlantic Broadband Breezeline (previously Atlantic Broadband) is the trade name for the United States operations of Cogeco Communications, constituting the 8th largest cable operator in the United States, based on the number of television service customers served ...

, in Quincy *

Atlantic Tele-Network ATN International, Inc. (ATN) (), formerly known as Atlantic Tele-Network, Inc., is a publicly traded telecommunications company that is headquartered in Beverly, Massachusetts. It operates digital wireless, wireline, and both terrestrial and sub ...

, in Beverly * Avid Technology, Inc, in

Burlington Burlington may refer to: Places Canada Geography * Burlington, Newfoundland and Labrador * Burlington, Nova Scotia * Burlington, Ontario, the most populous city with the name "Burlington" * Burlington, Prince Edward Island * Burlington Bay, no ...

(headquarters) * Azimuth Systems, in

Acton Acton may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Acton Australia * Acton, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Acton, Tasmania, a suburb of Burnie * Acton Park, Tasmania, a suburb of Hobart, Tasmania, formerly known as Acton Canada ...

Bain & Company Bain & Company is an American management consulting company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm provides advice to public, private, and non-profit organizations. One of the Big Three management consultancies, Bain & Company was fou ...

, in Boston (headquarters) *

Bain Capital Bain Capital is an American private investment firm based in Boston. It specializes in private equity, venture capital, credit, public equity, impact investing, life sciences, and real estate. Bain Capital invests across a range of industry se ...

, in Boston (headquarters) * Bertucci's Corporation, in Northborough (headquarters) * BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc., in

Westborough Westborough is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 21,567 at the 2020 Census, in over 7,000 households. Incorporated in 1717, the town is governed under the New England open town meeting system, headed ...

(headquarters) *

Bose Corporation Bose Corporation () is an American manufacturing company that predominantly sells audio equipment. The company was established by Amar Bose in 1964 and is based in Framingham, Massachusetts. It is best known for its home audio systems and spea ...

, in

Framingham Framingham () is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. Incorporated in 1700, it is located in Middlesex County and the MetroWest subregion of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The city proper covers with a popul ...

(headquarters) * Boston Properties, Inc., in Boston (headquarters) *

Boston Scientific Corporation Boston Scientific Corporation ("BSC"), incorporated in Delaware, is a biomedical/biotechnology engineering firm and multinational manufacturer of medical devices used in interventional medical specialties, including interventional radiology, in ...

, in Marlborough (headquarters) * Charles River Laboratories, in Wilmington (headquarters) *

Cisco Systems Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational corporation, multinational digital communications technology conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develo ...

, in Boxborough * CommunityRoot, in Boston (headquarters) *

David Clark Company David Clark Company, Inc. is an American manufacturing company. DCC designs and manufactures a wide variety of aerospace and industrial protective equipment, including pressure-space suit systems, anti-G suits, headsets, and several medical/safet ...

, in Worcester (manufacturer of space suits) *

Diebold Diebold Nixdorf is an American multinational financial and retail technology company that specializes in the sale, manufacture, installation and service of self-service transaction systems (such as ATMs and currency processing systems), point ...

, in Marlborough (regional headquarters) *

Dell Technologies Dell Technologies Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Round Rock, Texas. It was formed as a result of the September 2016 merger of Dell and EMC Corporation (which later became Dell EMC). Dell's products incl ...

, in Hopkinton (headquarters) *

Evergreen Solar Evergreen Solar, Inc. was "a fully integrated manufacturer of solar panels producing wafers, cells and panels." On August 15, 2011, the company filed for Chapter 11 reorganization with the intent of selling its assets.Greentechmedia.Evergreen Fil ...

, in Marlborough (headquarters) *

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...

, in Marlborough (regional headquarters) *

Schneider Electric Schneider Electric SE is a French multinational company that specializes in digital automation and energy management. It addresses homes, buildings, data centers, infrastructure and industries, by combining energy technologies, real-time automatio ...

, in

Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ed., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 387. As of th ...

* HourlyNerd, in Boston *

Innerscope Research Innerscope Research was an integrated consumer neuroscience research firm that was acquired by Nielsen in 2015. Founded in 2006, Innerscope was based in Boston, Massachusetts with an office in New York City. Using applied neuroscience tools such ...

, in Boston (headquarters) * Intel Corporation, in

Hudson Hudson may refer to: People * Hudson (given name) * Hudson (surname) * Henry Hudson, English explorer * Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back * Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudso ...

Kronos Incorporated Kronos Incorporated was an American multinational workforce management and human capital management cloud provider headquartered in Lowell, Massachusetts, United States, which employed more than 6,000 people worldwide. In February 2020, the com ...

, in

Chelmsford, Massachusetts Chelmsford () is a town in Massachusetts that was established in 1655. It is located northwest of Boston. The Chelmsford militia played a role in the American Revolution at the Battle of Lexington and Concord and the Battle of Bunker Hill. ...

(headquarters) *

Marshalls Marshalls is an American chain of off-price department stores owned by TJX Companies. Marshalls has over 1,000 American stores, including larger stores named Marshalls Mega Store, covering 42 states and Puerto Rico, and 61 stores in Canada. M ...

, Inc, in Framingham (headquarters) * The MathWorks, in Natick * MITRE Corporation, in Bedford (headquarters) * Morgan Construction Company, in Worcester (rolling steel mill technology) * National Amusements, in Norwood (headquarters) *

Novartis Novartis AG is a Swiss-American multinational pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland and Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States (global research).name="novartis.com">https://www.novartis.com/research-development/research-loc ...

, in

(US headquarters) * Philips Electronics North America, in Andover (regional headquarters) *

Philips Healthcare Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...

, in

Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia *Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Andove ...

(global headquarters) and Framingham *

Red Hat Red Hat, Inc. is an American software company that provides open source software products to enterprises. Founded in 1993, Red Hat has its corporate headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina, with other offices worldwide. Red Hat has become ass ...

, in Westford (engineering headquarters) *

Reed & Barton Reed & Barton was a prominent American silversmith manufacturer based in the city of Taunton, Massachusetts, operating between 1824 and 2015. Its products include sterling silver and silverplate flatware. The company produced many varieties of br ...

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

(factory and headquarters) *

Saint-Gobain Compagnie de Saint-Gobain S.A. () is a French multinational corporation, founded in 1665 in Paris and headquartered on the outskirts of Paris, at La Défense and in Courbevoie. Originally a mirror manufacturer, it now also produces a variety of ...

, in Worcester * Sepracor, Inc., in Marlborough (headquarters) * Staples, Inc., in

(headquarters) *

Stop & Shop The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company, known as Stop & Shop, is a regional chain of supermarkets located in the northeastern United States. From its beginnings in 1892 as a small grocery store, it has grown to include 406 stores chain-wide. Sto ...

, in Quincy (headquarters) *

TJX Corporation The TJX Companies, Inc. (abbreviated TJX) is an American multinational off-price department store corporation, headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts. It was formed as a subsidiary of Zayre Corp. in 1987, and became the legal successor t ...

, in Framingham (headquarters) * UniFirst, in Wilmington (headquarters) * WB Mason, in Brockton (headquarters) *

Wyman-Gordon Wyman-Gordon is a company that designs and manufactures complex metal components. Founded in 1883 as a manufacturer of crankshafts for looms, it has a long history of making forged metal components, particularly for the aerospace industry. Wyman-G ...

, in Grafton (complex metal components and products)

Companies along or inside
I-95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the Canadia ...
(
Route 128 The following highways are numbered 128: Canada * New Brunswick Route 128 * Ontario Highway 128 (former) * Prince Edward Island Route 128 Costa Rica * National Route 128 India * National Highway 128 (India) Japan * Japan National Route 128 ...
), not including Boston

Akamai Technologies Akamai Technologies, Inc. is an American content delivery networkJ. Dilley, B. Maggs, J. Parikh, H. Prokop, R. Sitaraman, and B. Weihl. (CDN), cybersecurity, and cloud service company, providing web and Internet security services. Akamai's Inte ...

, in

(headquarters) *

Athenahealth Athenahealth (stylized as athenahealth) is a private American company that provides network-enabled services for healthcare and point-of-care mobile apps in the United States. The company was founded in 1997 in San Diego and is now headquarte ...

, in

Watertown, Massachusetts Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, and is part of Greater Boston. The population was 35,329 in the 2020 census. Its neighborhoods include Bemis, Coolidge Square, East Watertown, Watertown Square, and the West End. Watertown ...

(headquarters) *

AstraZeneca AstraZeneca plc () is a British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with its headquarters at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in Cambridge, England. It has a portfolio of products for major diseases in areas includin ...

, in Waltham (R&D) *

BBN Technologies Raytheon BBN (originally Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc.) is an American research and development company, based next to Fresh Pond in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. In 1966, the Franklin Institute awarded the firm the Frank P. Brown ...

, in Cambridge (headquarters) *

Biocell Center Biocell Center is an international company specializing in the cryopreservation and private banking of amniotic fluid stem cells. The company is headquartered in Italy with several international locations and is involved with numerous partnerships ...

, in Medford (North American headquarters) *

Biogen Idec Biogen Inc. is an American multinational biotechnology company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, specializing in the discovery, development, and delivery of therapies for the treatment of neurological diseases to patients worldwide. History ...

, in

Weston Weston may refer to: Places Australia * Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Weston, New South Wales * Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra * Weston Park, Canberra, a park Canada * Weston, Nova Scotia * ...

(North American headquarters) *

Carl Zeiss SMT Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH comprises the Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology business group of ZEISS and develops and produces equipment for the manufacture of microchips. The company is majority owned by Carl Zeiss AG, with a 24.9% minority stake by ...

, in Peabody (North American headquarters) * Constant Contact, in Waltham *

Dunkin' Brands Dunkin' Brands Group, Inc. was an American restaurant holding company which ran three chains of fast-food restaurants: Dunkin' Donuts, Mister Donut, and Baskin-Robbins. It was headquartered in Canton, Massachusetts. History Allied-Lyons In 197 ...

, in Canton (headquarters) *

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

, in Cambridge *

General Electric Aviation GE Aviation, a subsidiary of General Electric, is headquartered in Evendale, Ohio, outside Cincinnati. GE Aviation is among the top aircraft engine suppliers, and offers engines for the majority of commercial aircraft. GE Aviation is part of the ...

, in Lynn * Global Partners, in Waltham (headquarters) *

Google Inc. Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. I ...

, in Cambridge * Haemonetics, in Braintree * IBM, in Waltham, Cambridge and Littleton * InterSystems Corporation, in Cambridge (headquarters) *

iRobot Corporation iRobot Corporation is an American technology company that designs and builds consumer robots. It was founded in 1990 by three members of MIT's Artificial Intelligence Lab, who designed robots for space exploration and military defense. The com ...

, in

(headquarters) *

Keurig Keurig is a beverage brewing system for home and commercial use. The machines are manufactured by the American company Keurig Dr Pepper. The main Keurig products are: K-Cup pods, which are single-serve coffee containers; other beverage pods; and ...

, in Burlington (headquarters) *

Lionbridge Lionbridge Technologies, Inc is an American company that provides translation and localization services. Based in Waltham, Massachusetts, the company has operations in 26 countries. History Lionbridge was founded in 1996. In 2005, they acquired B ...

, in Waltham (US headquarters) * Meditech, in Westwood (headquarters) *

Microsoft Corporation Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation, multinational technology company, technology corporation producing Software, computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at th ...

, in Cambridge *

Millennium Pharmaceuticals Takeda Oncology (originally Millennium Pharmaceuticals) is a biopharmaceutical company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is a fully owned subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical. Takeda Oncology's research, development and commercialization act ...

, in Cambridge *

Moderna Moderna, Inc. ( ) is an American pharmaceutical and biotechnology company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts that focuses on RNA therapeutics, primarily mRNA vaccines. These vaccines use a copy of a molecule called messenger RNA (mRNA) to pro ...

, in Cambridge (headquarters) * National Amusements, in Dedham (headquarters) * National Grid, in Waltham (US headquarters) *

NetApp Inc NetApp, Inc. is an American hybrid cloud data services and data management company headquartered in San Jose, California. It has ranked in the Fortune 500 from 2012–2021. Founded in 1992 with an IPO in 1995, NetApp offers cloud data services ...

, in Waltham * NetBlazr, in Watertown *

Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporatio ...

, in Burlington * Novartis AG, Inc, in Cambridge (research headquarters) *

Novell, Inc. Novell, Inc. was an American software and services company headquartered in Provo, Utah, that existed from 1980 until 2014. Its most significant product was the multi- platform network operating system known as Novell NetWare. Under the lea ...

, in Waltham *

Nuance Communications Nuance Communications, Inc. is an American multinational computer software technology corporation, headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts, that markets speech recognition and artificial intelligence software. Nuance merged with its compe ...

, in Burlington * Oracle Corporation in Burlington * Osram Sylvania in Danvers (headquarters) *

Parametric Technology Corporation PTC Inc. (formerly Parametric Technology Corporation) is an American computer software and services company founded in 1985 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The global technology company has over 6,000 employees across 80 offices in ...

in Needham (headquarters) * Philips Lighting in Burlington *

Progress Software Progress Software Corporation (Progress) is an American public company that offers software for creating and deploying business applications. Headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts with offices in 16 countries, the company posted revenues ...

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

(headquarters) *

Raytheon Raytheon Technologies Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense conglomerate headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It is one of the largest aerospace and defense manufacturers in the world by revenue and market capitaliza ...

, in Waltham (headquarters) * Sanofi Genzyme, in Cambridge (headquarters; many locations in the area) * SharkNinja, in Needham (headquarters) * SunSetter Awnings, SunSetter Products, LP, in Malden, Massachusetts, Malden (headquarters) * Teradyne, in North Reading, Massachusetts, North Reading (headquarters) * Thermo Fisher Scientific, in Waltham (headquarters) * TripAdvisor, TripAdvisor, LLC, in Needham (headquarters) * Twitter, in Cambridge * Vistaprint, in Lexington, Massachusetts, Lexington (North American headquarters) * Wolverine World Wide, in Waltham, Massachusetts (headquarters for Keds, Saucony, Sperry Top-Sider, and Stride Rite Corporation, Stride Rite)

Major companies inside Boston proper

* American Tower Corporation, American Tower (headquarters) * Au Bon Pain (headquarters) *

(headquarters) * Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (headquarters) * Boston Consulting Group (headquarters) * Converse (shoe company), Converse (headquarters) * Fidelity Investments (headquarters) * General Electric (headquarters) * The Gillette Company, now owned by Procter & Gamble (headquarters) * Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (headquarters) * Iora Health (headquarters) * John Hancock Insurance, John Hancock Financial Services, Inc, now the United States division of Canada's Manulife Financial * Liberty Mutual (headquarters) * LogMeIn (headquarters) * LPL Financial (headquarters) * Mendix (headquarters) * New Balance, New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc. (headquarters) * Partners HealthCare (moving to Assembly Row, Somerville) * Puma (brand), Puma (North American headquarters, moving to Assembly Row, Somerville) * Putnam Investments (headquarters) * Rapid7 * Reebok (US headquarters) * Roku * Sapient Corporation (headquarters) * Sonesta International Hotels Corp. (headquarters) * State Street Corporation (headquarters) * Steward Health Care System (headquarters) * Toast, Inc. (headquarters) * Threat Stack (headquarters) * Vertex Pharmaceuticals (headquarters) * Wayfair (headquarters) * Wellington Management Company (headquarters) * Zipcar (headquarters)

Sports

Annual events in Boston, Annual sporting events include: * The Boston Marathon, which follows a course from Hopkinton to Boston * The Head of the Charles Regatta * The Lenox Industrial Tools 301, Sylvania 300 and New Hampshire Indy 225 auto races at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway oval track.

Transportation

Interstates

* * * * * * * * * *

U.S. Routes

* * * * *

State Highways

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Bridges and tunnels

* Boston University Bridge, carrying Route 2 *Callahan Tunnel, carrying Massachusetts Route 1A, Route 1A Northbound * Charles M. Braga Jr. Memorial Bridge, carrying Interstate 195 (Rhode Island–Massachusetts), Interstate 195 * Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge, carrying Rhode Island Route 138, Route 138 * Fore River Bridge, carrying Massachusetts Route 3A *Harvard Bridge, carrying List of highways numbered 2A, Route 2A *Longfellow Bridge, carrying Massachusetts Route 3, US Route 3, and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, MBTA Red Line (MBTA), Red Line *North Washington Street Bridge, carrying Route 99 * Sumner Tunnel, carrying Massachusetts Route 1A, Route 1A Southbound * Ted Williams Tunnel, carrying Interstate 90, I-90 * Thomas P. O'Neill Jr. Tunnel, carrying Interstate 93, I-93 and Routes 1 and 3 concurrently * Tobin Bridge, carrying US Route 1, Route 1 * Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge, Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge, carrying Interstate 93, US Route 1, Route 1 and Route 3 concurrently

Airports

* Logan International Airport in Boston, northeast of downtown Boston, New England's largest transportation center * Manchester–Boston Regional Airport in Manchester, New Hampshire * T. F. Green Airport in Warwick, Rhode Island * Hanscom Field in

* Norwood Memorial Airport * Worcester Regional Airport * Beverly Regional Airport * Lawrence Municipal Airport (Massachusetts), Lawrence Municipal Airport

Rail and bus

MBTA Commuter Rail and funding district map

* Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA, generally known as the "T") rapid transit lines: ** Red Line (MBTA), Red Line Rapid Transit, heavy rail:

– Braintree and Boston (Dorchester, Massachusetts, Dorchester) ** Orange Line (MBTA), Orange Line heavy rail: Boston (Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, Jamaica Plain)–Malden, Massachusetts, Malden ** Blue Line (MBTA), Blue Line heavy rail: Boston–Revere, Massachusetts, Revere ** Green Line (MBTA), Green Line light rail/tram, streetcar: Medford–Brighton, Massachusetts, Brighton and Newton, Massachusetts, Newton ** Ashmont–Mattapan High-Speed Line tram, streetcar: Ashmont, Boston, Ashmont–Milton, Massachusetts, Milton–Mattapan ** Silver Line (MBTA), Silver Line bus rapid transit South Station–Logan Airport and Downtown– * MBTA Commuter Rail ** Old Colony Lines (MBTA), Old Colony Lines serving Plymouth County ** Providence/Stoughton Line serving northern Bristol County, central Norfolk County, Kent County, and Washington County, connecting to Providence, Rhode Island ** Fairmount Line shuttle service from South Station ** Franklin Line serving western Norfolk County ** Greenbush Line serving Boston's South Shore ** Needham Line serving Boston suburbs and Needham ** Framingham/Worcester Line serving southwestern Middlesex County, connecting to

** Fitchburg Line serving northwestern Middlesex County, connecting to Fitchburg, Massachusetts, Fitchburg ** Lowell Line serving northern Middlesex County ** Haverhill/Reading Line and Newburyport/Rockport Line serving Essex County & Boston's North Shore * Amtrak service to New York City and Washington, D.C. * Amtrak ''Downeaster (train), Downeaster'' service to Maine from North Station * Massport Logan Express * Plymouth & Brockton Street Railway Co. The first railway line in the United States was in Quincy. See Neponset River. The following Regional Transit Authorities have bus service that connects with MBTA commuter rail stations: * Brockton Area Transit Authority * Cape Ann Transportation Authority * Greater Attleboro Taunton Regional Transit Authority * Lowell Regional Transit Authority * Merrimack Valley Regional Transit Authority * MetroWest Regional Transit Authority * Montachusett Regional Transit Authority * Rhode Island Public Transit Authority * Worcester Regional Transit Authority

Ocean transportation

* Port of Boston (Massport) * Cape Cod Canal

Geography

* Rivers ** Blackstone River ** Charles River ** Concord River ** Ipswich River ** Merrimack River ** Mystic River ** Neponset River ** Sudbury River ** Taunton River ** Weymouth Fore River * Hills ** Bellevue Hill, Boston, Bellevue Hill ** Great Blue Hill

Definitions

Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC)

New England City and Town Area (NECTA)

Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)

Combined Statistical Area (CSA)

Principal cities and towns

Boston metropolitan area

Largest cities and towns

Demographics

Population density

Race and ethnicity

Other

Higher education

Selected statistics

Major companies

Major companies inside Boston proper

Sports

Transportation

Interstates

U.S. Routes

State Highways

Bridges and tunnels

Airports

Rail and bus

Ocean transportation

Geography

Climate

See also

Notes

References

Further reading