Greater Boston is the metropolitan region of New England encompassing the municipality of Boston (the capital of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the most populous city in New England) 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 (MSA) and a combined statistical area (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; 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), Manchester (the largest city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire), Worcester (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 may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality * ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record * "Greater" (song), by MercyMe, 2014 *Greater Bank, an Australian ...

. 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 and medical institutions. Greater Boston has been influential upon American history and industry. The region and the state of Massachusetts are global leaders in biotechnology, engineering, higher education,

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 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, and the American Revolution.

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''. In 1692, the town of

Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada Ontario * Bruce County ** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie ** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce * Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...

and surrounding areas experienced one of America's most infamous cases of mass hysteria, the Salem witch trials. 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 region was a center for the abolitionist, temperance, and transcendentalist movements. In 2004, Massachusetts became the first U.S. state to legally recognize same-sex marriage as a result of the decision of the

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) is the court of last resort, highest court in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Although the claim is disputed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the SJC claims the di ...

in Boston. Many prominent American political dynasties have hailed from the Boston region, including the Adams and

Kennedy Kennedy may refer to: People * John F. Kennedy (1917–1963), 35th president of the United States * John Kennedy (Louisiana politician), (born 1951), US Senator from Louisiana * Kennedy (surname), a family name (including a list of persons with t ...

families. Harvard University in Cambridge 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 Justices. Kendall Square 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 A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship refers to all new businesses, including self-employment and businesses that never intend t ...

and quality of innovation which have emerged in the vicinity of the square since 2010. Both Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, also in Cambridge, have been ranked among the most highly regarded academic institutions 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 Virgini ...

. 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 The following highways are numbered 2. For roads numbered A2, see list of A2 roads. For roads numbered B2, see list of B2 roads. For roads numbered M2, see list of M2 roads. For roads numbered N2, see list of N2 roads. International * AH2, As ...

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 cities of Lowell, Lawrence, and Haverhill, much of Plymouth County, and all of

Bristol County Bristol County may refer to: Places * Bristol County, Massachusetts Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the no ...

; 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 unit, and has weak or non-existent county governments, the US Census Bureau organizes its urban regions in the New England around clusters of towns known as New England city and town areas (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, 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 Strafford County is a county in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. As of the 2020 census, the population was 130,889. Its county seat is Dover. Strafford County was one of the five original counties identified for New Hampshire in 1769. It was n ...

, 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 Manchester, Worcester,

, as well as Cape Cod, 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 **

, Massachusetts **

, Rhode Island ** Kent County, Rhode Island ** Newport County, Rhode Island ** Providence County, 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, Massachusetts * Concord, NH Micropolitan Statistical Area **

Merrimack County Merrimack County is a county in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 153,808, making it the third-most populous county in New Hampshire. Its county seat is Concord, the state capital. The county was organi ...

, New Hampshire * Laconia, NH Micropolitan Statistical Area **

Belknap County Belknap County () is a county in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. As of the 2020 census, the population was 63,705. The county seat is Laconia. It is located in New Hampshire's Lakes Region, slightly southeast of the state's geographic center. ...

, 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 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 ...

: *

Boston * Cambridge * Lowell *

* Quincy * Worcester

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 populations per capita. It ranks fifth of all major cities in the country (behind San Francisco, and slightly behind Seattle, Atlanta, and Minneapolis 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 The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, or simply the Carnegie Classification, is a framework for classifying colleges and universities in the United States. It was created in 1970 by the Carnegie Foundation for the Adva ...

. This is, by far, the highest number of such institutions in a single Metropolitan Statistical Area in the United States.

Selected statistics

Changes in house prices for the Greater Boston area are publicly tracked on a regular basis using the Case–Shiller index; 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 Virgini ...
, outside Route 128

Abbott Laboratories Abbott Laboratories is an American multinational medical devices and health care company with headquarters in Abbott Park, Illinois, United States. The company was founded by Chicago physician Wallace Calvin Abbott in 1888 to formulate known dr ...

, in Worcester (pharmaceutical laboratory) *

Advanced Cell Technology Astellas Institute for Regenerative Medicine is a subsidiary of Astellas Pharma located in Marlborough, Massachusetts, US, developing stem cell therapies with a focus on diseases that cause blindness. It was formed in 1994 as a company named A ...

, in Worcester (research laboratory) * AMD, in Boxborough *

Analog Devices Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI), also known simply as Analog, is an American multinational semiconductor company specializing in data conversion, signal processing and power management technology, headquartered in Wilmington, Massachusetts. The co ...

, in Norwood * Atlantic Broadband, in Quincy * Atlantic Tele-Network, 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 Azimuth Systems was a privately held company located near Boston, Massachusetts and in 2016, the company was acquired by Anritsu. The company's primary products include wireless channel emulators and wireless test equipment for LTE, WiMAX, 2G/3G ...

, 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, 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, in Framingham (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 Specialty (medicine), medical specialties, including interve ...

, in Marlborough (headquarters) *

Charles River Laboratories Charles River Laboratories International, Inc., is an American pharmaceutical company specializing in a variety of preclinical and clinical laboratory, gene therapy and cell therapy services for the Pharmaceutical, Medical device and Biotechnolo ...

, in Wilmington (headquarters) * Cisco Systems, 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, in Marlborough (regional headquarters) * Dell Technologies, in Hopkinton (headquarters) * Evergreen Solar, 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, in Andover, Massachusetts *

HourlyNerd Catalant Technologies, Inc., formerly HourlyNerd, is a freelance marketplace that uses a machine-learning algorithm to recommend independent consultants whose skills and expertise are needed for client projects. More than 70,000 independent consu ...

, 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 Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 series ...

, 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 compa ...

, in Chelmsford, Massachusetts (headquarters) * Marshalls, Inc, in Framingham (headquarters) *

The MathWorks MathWorks is an American privately held corporation that specializes in mathematical computing software. Its major products include MATLAB and Simulink, which support data analysis and simulation. History The company's key product, MATLAB, was ...

, in Natick * MITRE Corporation, in Bedford (headquarters) * Morgan Construction Company, in Worcester (rolling steel mill technology) *

National Amusements National Amusements, Inc. is an American privately owned movie theater operator and mass media holding company incorporated in Maryland and based in Norwood, Massachusetts. It is the controlling shareholder of Paramount Global. History The ...

, in Norwood (headquarters) * Novartis, in Cambridge (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 * Ando ...

(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 in Taunton (factory and headquarters) * Saint-Gobain, in Worcester * Sepracor, Inc., in Marlborough (headquarters) *

Staples, Inc. Staples Inc. is an American retail company headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts, that offers products and services designed to support working and learning. The company opened its first store in Brighton, Massachusetts on May 1, 1986. By ...

, in Framingham (headquarters) * Stop & Shop, in Quincy (headquarters) * TJX Corporation, in Framingham (headquarters) * UniFirst, in Wilmington (headquarters) *

WB Mason W.B. Mason is an American business products company headquartered in Brockton, Massachusetts. They are widely known for their colorful fleet of delivery vehicles. The company was founded in 1898 and started out selling rubber stamps and stenci ...

, in Brockton (headquarters) * Wyman-Gordon, in

Grafton Grafton may refer to: Places Australia * Grafton, New South Wales Canada * Grafton, New Brunswick * Grafton, Nova Scotia * Grafton, Ontario England * Grafton, Cheshire * Grafton, Herefordshire *Grafton, North Yorkshire * Grafton, Oxfordshi ...

(complex metal components and products)

Companies along or inside I-95 ( Route 128), not including Boston

* Akamai Technologies, in Cambridge (headquarters) * Athenahealth, in Watertown, Massachusetts (headquarters) * AstraZeneca, in Waltham (R&D) * BBN Technologies, 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 (North American headquarters) * Carl Zeiss SMT, in Peabody (North American headquarters) *

Constant Contact Constant Contact, Inc. is an online marketing company, headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts, with additional offices in Loveland, Colorado; and New York, New York. The company was founded in 1995 by Randy Parker and was later sold to Endur ...

, in Waltham * Dunkin' Brands, in

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...

(headquarters) * Facebook, in Cambridge * General Electric Aviation, in

Lynn Lynn may refer to: People and fictional characters * Lynn (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Lynn (surname) * The Lynns, a 1990s American country music duo consisting of twin sisters Peggy and Patsy Lynn * Lynn ( ...

Global Partners Global Partners LP () is an American energy supply company ranked 361 in the 2018 Fortune 500. The company is organized as a master limited partnership, and its operations focus on the importing of petroleum products and marketing them in North A ...

, 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 Haemonetics Corporation is a global provider of blood and plasma supplies and services. The company was founded in Natick, Massachusetts by Dr. Allen (Jack) Latham in the 1970s. Today, the company has expanded and has offices located in 16 co ...

, 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, 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, in Cambridge * Millennium Pharmaceuticals, in Cambridge * Moderna, in Cambridge (headquarters) *

, 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, 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, in Burlington *

Oracle Corporation Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation headquartered in Austin, Texas. In 2020, Oracle was the third-largest software company in the world by revenue and market capitalization. The company sells da ...

in Burlington *

Osram Sylvania Osram Sylvania Inc. is the North American operation of lighting manufacturer Osram. It was established in January 1993, with the acquisition of GTE’s Sylvania lighting division by Osram GmbH. In 2016, Osram spun off their general lighting busi ...

in Danvers (headquarters) * Parametric Technology Corporation in Needham (headquarters) *

Philips Lighting Signify N.V., formerly known as Philips Lighting N.V., is a Dutch multinational lighting corporation formed in 2016 as a result of the spin-off of the lighting division of Philips, by means of an I.P.O. The company manufactures electric light ...

in Burlington * Progress Software in Bedford (headquarters) * Raytheon, in Waltham (headquarters) *

Sanofi Genzyme Sanofi S.A. is a French multinational pharmaceutical and healthcare company headquartered in Paris, France. Originally, the corporation was established in 1973 and merged with Synthélabo in 1999 to form Sanofi-Synthélabo. In 2004, Sanofi-Syn ...

, in Cambridge (headquarters; many locations in the area) *

SharkNinja SharkNinja (officially, SharkNinja Operating LLC) is an American designer, marketer and distributor of home devices and appliances. It is based in Needham, Massachusetts, near Boston. The company's name is formed by combining its two primary bran ...

, in Needham (headquarters) * SunSetter Products, LP, in Malden (headquarters) * Teradyne, in

North Reading North Reading (pronounced, as is with Reading as () is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 15,554 at the 2020 census. History The area was first settled in 1651 when the town of Reading received a special ...

(headquarters) * Thermo Fisher Scientific, in Waltham (headquarters) * TripAdvisor, LLC, in Needham (headquarters) * Twitter, in Cambridge *

Vistaprint Vistaprint is a Dutch global, e-commerce company that produces physical and digital marketing products for small businesses. Vistaprint was one of the first businesses to offer its customers the capabilities of desktop publishing through the int ...

, in Lexington (North American headquarters) * Wolverine World Wide, in Waltham, Massachusetts (headquarters for Keds, Saucony, Sperry Top-Sider, and

Stride Rite Stride Rite, formerly the Stride Rite Corporation and stylized in all lowercase, is an American children's footwear company. The company markets Stride Rite products globally through brand licensee Vida Shoes International. History Founding a ...

)

Major companies inside Boston proper

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

(headquarters) *

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA) is a state licensed nonprofit private health insurance company under the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association with headquarters in Boston. The Boston location located on 133 Federal Street is curren ...

(headquarters) * Boston Consulting Group (headquarters) * Converse (headquarters) * Fidelity Investments (headquarters) * General Electric (headquarters) * The Gillette Company, now owned by Procter & Gamble (headquarters) *

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (; HMH) is an American publisher of textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, reference works, and fiction and non-fiction for both young readers and adults. The company is based in the Financial Dist ...

(headquarters) *

Iora Health : ''For the international organization, see Indian Ocean Rim Association'' : ''For the Australian Aboriginal people of the Sydney region, see Eora'' The ioras are a small family, Aegithinidae, of four passerine bird species found in south and sou ...

(headquarters) * John Hancock Financial Services, Inc, now the United States division of Canada's

Manulife Financial Manulife Financial Corporation (also known as Financière Manuvie in Quebec) is a Canadian multinational insurance company and financial services provider headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The company operates in Canada and Asia as "Manulife" an ...

* Liberty Mutual (headquarters) * LogMeIn (headquarters) * LPL Financial (headquarters) * Mendix (headquarters) * New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc. (headquarters) * Partners HealthCare (moving to

Assembly Row Assembly Square is a neighborhood in Somerville, Massachusetts. It is located along the west bank of the Mystic River, bordered by Ten Hills and Massachusetts Route 28 to the north and the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston to the south. The di ...

, Somerville) *

Puma Puma or PUMA may refer to: Animals * ''Puma'' (genus), a genus in the family Felidae ** Puma (species) or cougar, a large cat Businesses and organisations * Puma (brand), a multinational shoe and sportswear company * Puma Energy, a mid- and d ...

(North American headquarters, moving to

, Somerville) * Putnam Investments (headquarters) * Rapid7 * Reebok (US headquarters) * Roku * Sapient Corporation (headquarters) *

Sonesta International Hotels Sonesta International Hotels Corporation is an American hotel company founded in 1937, and based in Newton, Massachusetts. Sonesta's largest hotels are in Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago and New Orleans. Its brands include Royal Sonesta, Sonesta, So ...

Corp. (headquarters) * State Street Corporation (headquarters) *

Steward Health Care System Steward Health Care is the largest physician-owned private for-profit health care network in the United States and attends to 2.2 million people during more than twelve million physician and hospital visits annually. Headquartered in Dallas, Stewa ...

(headquarters) *

Toast, Inc. Toast, Inc. is a cloud-based restaurant management software company based in Boston, Massachusetts. The company provides an all-in-one point of sale (POS) system built on the Android operating system. History Toast's founders—Steve Fredet ...

(headquarters) *

Threat Stack F5, Inc. is an American technology company specializing in application security, multi-cloud management, online fraud prevention, Application delivery network, application delivery networking (ADN), application availability & performance, network ...

(headquarters) * Vertex Pharmaceuticals (headquarters) *

Wayfair Wayfair Inc. is an American e-commerce company based in Boston, Massachusetts that sells furniture and home goods online. Formerly known as CSN Stores, it was founded in 2002, and currently offers 14 million items from more than 11,000 global su ...

(headquarters) *

Wellington Management Company Wellington Management Company is a private, independent investment management firm with client assets under management totaling over US$1 trillion based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The firm serves as an investment advisor to over 2 ...

(headquarters) *

Zipcar Zipcar is an American car-sharing company and a subsidiary of Avis Budget Group. Zipcar provides vehicle reservations to its members, billable by the minute, hour or day; members may have to pay a monthly or annual membership fee in addition to ...

(headquarters)

Sports

Annual sporting events include: * The

Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by several cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was i ...

, which follows a course from Hopkinton to Boston * The Head of the Charles Regatta * The

Lenox Industrial Tools 301 The Crayon 301 is a 301 lap ( annual NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire. Christopher Bell is the defending winner, having won it in 2022. History The race has been traditionally ...

, 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 The Boston University Bridge, originally the Cottage Farm Bridge and commonly referred to as the BU Bridge, is a steel truss through arch bridge with a suspended deck carrying Route 2 over the Charles River, connecting the Boston University ca ...

, carrying

Callahan Tunnel The Lieutenant William F. Callahan Jr. Tunnel (colloquially Callahan Tunnel) is one of four tunnels, and one of three road tunnels, beneath Boston Harbor in Boston, Massachusetts. It carries motor vehicles from the North End to Logan Internati ...

, carrying Route 1A Northbound *

Charles M. Braga Jr. Memorial Bridge The Charles M. Braga Jr. Memorial Bridge, also known as the Braga Bridge, is a through truss bridge that carries Interstate 195 over the Taunton River between the town of Somerset and the city of Fall River, near the mouth of the Quequechan Rive ...

, carrying Interstate 195 *

Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge The Claiborne Pell Bridge, commonly known as the Newport Bridge, is a suspension bridge operated by the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority that spans the East Passage of the Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island (northeastern United States). ...

, carrying Route 138 *

Fore River Bridge The Fore River Bridge spans the Weymouth Fore River between Quincy and Weymouth, Massachusetts. The total length of the bridge including the approaches is . History A bascule bridge was built in 1936, replacing an earlier span. The bascule bri ...

, carrying Massachusetts Route 3A * Harvard Bridge, carrying Route 2A * Longfellow Bridge, carrying Massachusetts Route 3, US Route 3, and the

MBTA The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...

Red Line *

North Washington Street Bridge The Charlestown Bridge, officially named the North Washington Street Bridge, is located in Boston and spans the Charles River. As the river's easternmost crossing, the bridge connects the neighborhoods of Charlestown and the North End. Comple ...

, carrying

Route 99 International * European route E99 Australia * Springbrook Road, Springbrook Road, Queensland Canada * British Columbia Highway 99 * Ontario Highway 99 (former) * Saskatchewan Highway 99 China * G99 Taiwan Ring Expressway, G99 Expressway ...

Sumner Tunnel The Sumner Tunnel is a road tunnel in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It carries traffic under Boston Harbor in one direction, from Logan International Airport and Route 1A in East Boston. The tunnel originally deposited traffic at the w ...

, carrying Route 1A Southbound * Ted Williams Tunnel, carrying

I-90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Great Plains, Midwest, and ...

Thomas P. O'Neill Jr. Tunnel The Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill Jr. Tunnel (colloquially O'Neill Tunnel) is a highway tunnel built as part of the Big Dig in Boston, Massachusetts. It carries the Central Artery underneath downtown Boston, and is numbered as Interstate 93 (I-93), U ...

, carrying I-93 and Routes 1 and 3 concurrently *

Tobin Bridge The Maurice J. Tobin Memorial Bridge (formerly the Mystic River Bridge) is a cantilever truss bridge that spans more than two miles (3 km) from Boston to Chelsea over the Mystic River in Massachusetts. The bridge is the largest in New Eng ...

, carrying

Route 1 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbered ...

Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge The Leonard P. Zakim () Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge (also known as “The Zakim”) is a cable-stayed bridge completed in 2003 across the Charles River in Boston, Massachusetts. It is a replacement for the Charlestown High Bridge, an older trus ...

, carrying

Interstate 93 Interstate 93 (I-93) is an Interstate Highway in the New England states of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont in the United States. Spanning approximately along a north–south axis, it is one of three primary Interstate Highways ...

and Route 3 concurrently

Airports

* Logan International Airport in Boston, northeast of downtown Boston, New England's largest transportation center *

Manchester–Boston Regional Airport Manchester–Boston Regional Airport , commonly referred to as Manchester Airport, is a public use airport south of the central business district of Manchester, New Hampshire, United States on the border of Hillsborough and Rockingham countie ...

in Manchester, New Hampshire *

T. F. Green Airport Rhode Island T. F. Green International Airport is a public international airport in Warwick, Rhode Island, United States, south of the state's capital and largest city of Providence. Opened in 1931, the airport was named for former Rhode Islan ...

in Warwick, Rhode Island * Hanscom Field in Bedford *

Norwood Memorial Airport Norwood Memorial Airport is a public airport east of Norwood, in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is home to the offices of prominent local business people and several maintenance facilities. As Outlying Landing Field Norwo ...

* Worcester Regional Airport *

Beverly Regional Airport Beverly Regional Airport is a city-owned, public-use airport located in Beverly, Danvers and Wenham, Massachusetts, in Essex County, three nautical miles (6 km) northwest of Beverly's central business district. The National Pla ...

* 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

heavy rail Various terms are used for passenger railway lines and equipment; the usage of these terms differs substantially between areas: Rapid transit A rapid transit system is an electric railway characterized by high speed (~) and rapid accelerati ...

: Cambridge– Braintree and Boston ( Dorchester) ** Orange Line heavy rail: Boston ( Jamaica Plain)– Malden ** Blue Line heavy rail: Boston–

Revere Revere may refer to: Brands and companies *Revere Ware, a U.S. cookware brand owned by World Kitchen * Revere Camera Company, American designer of cameras and tape recorders *Revere Copper Company * ReVere, a car company recognised by the Classic ...

Green Line Green Line may refer to: Places Military and political * Green Line (France), the German occupation line in France during World War II * Green Line (Israel), the 1949 armistice line established between Israel and its neighbours ** City Line ( ...

light rail/ streetcar: Medford–

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

and

Newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film * Newton ( ...

** Ashmont–Mattapan High-Speed Line streetcar: Ashmont–

Milton Milton may refer to: Names * Milton (surname), a surname (and list of people with that surname) ** John Milton (1608–1674), English poet * Milton (given name) ** Milton Friedman (1912–2006), Nobel laureate in Economics, author of '' Free t ...

– Mattapan ** Silver Line

bus rapid transit Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...

South Station–Logan Airport and Downtown– *

MBTA Commuter Rail The MBTA Commuter Rail system serves as the commuter rail arm of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's transportation coverage of Greater Boston in the United States. Trains run over of track to 141 different stations, with 58 statio ...

** 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 The Needham Line is a branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, running west from downtown Boston, Massachusetts through Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, West Roxbury, and the town of Needham. The second-shortest line of the system at just ...

serving Boston suburbs and Needham ** Framingham/Worcester Line serving southwestern Middlesex County, connecting to Worcester **

Fitchburg Line The Fitchburg Line is a branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail system which runs from Boston's North Station to Wachusett station in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. The line is along the tracks of the former Fitchburg Railroad, which was built across norther ...

serving northwestern Middlesex County, connecting to Fitchburg ** Lowell Line serving northern Middlesex County **

Haverhill/Reading Line The Haverhill Line (formerly named the Haverhill/Reading Line) is a branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, running north from downtown Boston, Massachusetts through the cities and towns of Malden, Melrose, Wakefield, Reading, Wilmington, A ...

and

Newburyport/Rockport Line The Newburyport/Rockport Line is a branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, running northeast from downtown Boston, Massachusetts towards Cape Ann and the Merrimack Valley, serving the North Shore. The first leg, operating via the Eastern Rou ...

serving Essex County & Boston's North Shore * Amtrak service to New York City and Washington, D.C. * Amtrak '' Downeaster'' service to Maine from North Station *

Massport Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) is an American port authority in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It owns and operates three airports—Logan International Airport, Hanscom Field, and Worcester Regional Airport—and public terminals in ...

Logan Express The Logan Express is an airport bus shuttle which operates between Boston Logan International Airport and Massachusetts suburbs. The service, which is funded by Massport, consists of five routes that run between all of Logan Airport's terminals ...

* 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 The Cape Ann Transportation Authority (CATA) is a public, non-profit organization in Massachusetts, charged with providing public transportation to the Cape Ann area, consisting of the city of Gloucester and the nearby towns of Essex, Ipswich and ...

* Greater Attleboro Taunton Regional Transit Authority *

Lowell Regional Transit Authority The Lowell Regional Transit Authority (LRTA) is a public, non-profit organization in Massachusetts, charged with providing public transportation to the Greater Lowell area. This primarily includes the city of Lowell and the towns of Billerica, B ...

* Merrimack Valley Regional Transit Authority *

MetroWest Regional Transit Authority The MetroWest Regional Transit Authority (MWRTA) is a regional public transit authority in the state of Massachusetts providing bus and paratransit service to sixteen communities in the Boston MetroWest. The MWRTA was formed in 2006 and began ser ...

* Montachusett Regional Transit Authority * Rhode Island Public Transit Authority *

Worcester Regional Transit Authority Worcester Regional Transit Authority (WRTA) is a public, non-profit organization charged with providing public transportation to the city of Worcester, Massachusetts and the surrounding towns. The WRTA was created in September 1974 under Chapter ...

Ocean transportation

* Port of Boston (

) *

Cape Cod Canal The Cape Cod Canal is an artificial waterway in the U.S. state of Massachusetts connecting Cape Cod Bay in the north to Buzzards Bay in the south, and is part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. The approximately canal traverses the neck o ...

Geography

* Rivers ** Blackstone River ** Charles River **

Concord River The Concord River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed October 3, 2011 tributary of the Merrimack River in eastern Massachusetts in the United States. The river drains ...

** Ipswich River ** Merrimack River ** Mystic River ** Neponset River ** Sudbury River **

Taunton River The Taunton River (historically also called the "Taunton Great River"), is a river in southeastern Massachusetts in the United States. It arises from the confluence of the Town River and Matfield River, in the town of Bridgewater. From the ...

Weymouth Fore River Weymouth Fore River is a small bay or estuary in eastern Massachusetts and is part of the Massachusetts Bay watershed. The headwater of Weymouth Fore River is formed by the confluence of the Monatiquot River and Smelt Brook in the Weymouth Land ...

* Hills ** 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

Companies along or inside I-95 ( Route 128), not including Boston

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