Suffolk County ( ) is located in the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 797,936, making it the fourth-most populous county in Massachusetts. The county comprises the cities of

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Chelsea, and Revere, and the town of Winthrop. The traditional

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

, the

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and the largest city in Massachusetts. The county government was abolished in 1999, resulting in Suffolk County now functioning only as an

administrative subdivision Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...

of state government and a set of communities grouped together for some statistical purposes. Suffolk County is located at the core of the Boston-

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

- Newton, MA- NH Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the greater Boston-

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, Engl ...

-Providence, MA- RI- NH- CT Combined Statistical Area.

History

The county was created by the

Massachusetts General Court The Massachusetts General Court, formally the General Court of Massachusetts, is the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts located in the state capital of Boston. Th ...

on May 10, 1643, when it was ordered "that the whole

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

within this jurisdiction be divided into four

shire Shire () is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries. It is generally synonymous with county (such as Cheshire and Worcestershire). British counties are among the oldes ...

s". Suffolk initially contained

, Roxbury, Dorchester, Dedham, Braintree, Weymouth, Hingham and

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

. The county was named after

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

, England, which means "southern folk." In 1731, the extreme western portions of Suffolk County, which included Mendon and

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon, northwest of Charing Cross. Uxbridge formed part of the parish of Hillingdon in the county of Middlesex. As part ...

, were split off to become part of Worcester County. In 1793, most of the original Suffolk County split off and became Norfolk County, leaving only Boston, Chelsea, Hingham, and Hull in Suffolk. Hingham and Hull would leave Suffolk County and join Plymouth County in 1803. Revere was set off from Chelsea and incorporated in 1846 and Winthrop was set off from Revere and incorporated in 1852. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, Boston annexed several adjacent cities and towns including Hyde Park, Roxbury, West Roxbury, and Dorchester from Norfolk County and Charlestown and Brighton from Middlesex County, resulting in an enlargement of Suffolk County. During the early 20th century, County government functions were absorbed by the City of

, with

Boston City Council The Boston City Council is the legislative branch of government for the city of Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is made up of 13 members: 9 district representatives and 4 at-large members. Councillors are elected to two-year ...

becoming the de-facto County Commission, and the City Treasurer similarly becoming the County Treasurer, albeit said government was not formally abolished until 1999.

Government and politics

Like an increasing number of Massachusetts counties, Suffolk County exists today only as a historical geographic region, and has no county government. All former county functions were assumed by state agencies in 1999. The sheriff, district attorney, and some other regional officials with specific duties are still elected locally to perform duties within the county region, but there is no county council, executives or commissioners. Prior to the abolition of county government, the authority of the Suffolk County Commission had for many years been exercised by the Boston City Council, even though three communities in the county are not part of the city. However, communities are now granted the right to form their own regional compacts for sharing services. Politically speaking, Suffolk County supports the Democratic Party overwhelmingly. No Republican presidential candidate has won there since

Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States, serving from 1923 to 1929. A Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer from Massachusetts, he previously ...

in 1924. In 2012 Barack Obama received 77.4% of the vote, compared to 20.8% for former

governor of Massachusetts The governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The governor is the chief executive, head of the state cabinet and the commander-in-chief of the commonw ...

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...

. In the 2014 gubernatorial election,

Martha Coakley Martha Mary Coakley (born July 14, 1953) is an American lobbyist, lawyer, and former politician who served as Attorney General of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015. She is most notable for having lost a race for the United States Senate in what was ...

carried the county by a 32.4% margin, while losing the election statewide by 48.4 to 46.5%. In 2020,

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

won the county by the largest margin of any presidential candidate since

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

in 1964, and was the first candidate since then to win more than 80% of the vote in the county.

Sheriff's department

The Suffolk County Sheriff's Department's primary responsibility is oversight of the Nashua Street Jail and the South Bay House of Correction. These were built in the 1990s to replace the historic Charles Street Jail and

Deer Island Prison The Deer Island Prison (–1991) in Suffolk County, Massachusetts was located on Deer Island in Boston Harbor. Once known as the Deer Island House of Industry and later, House of Correction, it held people convicted of drunkenness, illegal posse ...

, respectively. The Suffolk County Sheriff's Department was among those named in a 2020 WBUR report about the neglect of inmates with medical conditions in Massachusetts prisons leading to their deaths. Several notable figures in Massachusetts history were once the sheriff of Suffolk County: * Joseph Hall (1818–1825) * Charles Pinckney Sumner (1825–1839) * John M. Clark (1855–1883) * John A. Keliher (1917–1938) * John F. Dowd (1938–1939) * Frederick R. Sullivan (1939–1968) * John W. Sears (1968–1969) *

Thomas S. Eisenstadt Thomas Stephen Eisenstadt (born May 21, 1936) was sheriff of Suffolk County, Massachusetts from 1969 to 1977, during which time he was the captioned plaintiff in ''Eisenstadt v. Baird'' (1972), a landmark United States Supreme Court decision on co ...

(1969–1977) * Dennis J. Kearney (1977–1987) * Robert Rufo (1987–1996) * Andrea Cabral (2002–2013) * Steven W. Tompkins (2013–present)

District Attorneys

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, 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 U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (52%) is water. It is the second-smallest county in Massachusetts by land area and smallest by total area.

Adjacent counties

* Essex County (north) * Norfolk County (south) * Middlesex County (west) Suffolk County has no land border with Plymouth County to its southeast, but the two counties share a water boundary in the middle of

Massachusetts Bay Massachusetts Bay is a bay on the Gulf of Maine that forms part of the central coastline of Massachusetts. Description The bay extends from Cape Ann on the north to Plymouth Harbor on the south, a distance of about . Its northern and sout ...

National protected areas

* Boston African American National Historic Site *

Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area Boston Harbor Islands National and State Park is a combination national recreation area and state park situated among the islands of Boston Harbor. The park is made up of 34 islands and peninsulas and is managed by the Boston Harbor Islands Pa ...

(part) *

Boston National Historical Park The Boston National Historical Park is an association of sites that showcase Boston's role in the American Revolution and other parts of history. It was designated a national park on October 1, 1974. Seven of the eight sites are connected by the ...

Major highways

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

Demographics

Of the 292,767 households, 24.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 27.1% were married couples living together, 16.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 52.0% were non-families, and 36.3% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 3.11. The median age was 31.5 years. The median income for a household in the county was $50,597 and the median income for a family was $58,127. Males had a median income of $48,887 versus $43,658 for females. The per capita income for the county was $30,720. About 15.7% of families and 20.6% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 28.1% of those under age 18 and 19.1% of those age 65 or over.

Ancestry

According to the 2012-2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, the largest ancestry groups in Suffolk County, Massachusetts are:

Demographic breakdown by town

Income

Data is from the 2007-2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.

Communities

(traditional

) * Chelsea * Revere * Winthrop

Education

Each city has its own school district (including

Boston Public Schools Boston Public Schools (BPS) is a school district serving the city of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest public school district in the state of Massachusetts. Leadership The district is led by a superintendent, hired by t ...

, Chelsea Public Schools, Revere Public Schools, and Winthrop Public Schools), which all follow municipal boundaries. Tertiary institutions in the county include: *

Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology (Franklin Cummings Tech) is a private college of engineering and industrial technologies in Boston, Massachusetts. It was established in 1908 with funds bequeathed in Benjamin Franklin's will. ...

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

Boston Architectural College The Boston Architectural College (BAC) is a private college in Boston. It is New England's largest private college of spatial design. The college's main building is at 320 Newbury Street in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood. History Boston Arc ...

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

(eastern side) *

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

Bunker Hill Community College Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) is a public community college with multiple campuses in the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1973 in the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, BHCC provides higher education and j ...

** Includes a Chelsea Campus *

Cambridge College Cambridge College is a private college based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It also operates regional centers in Lawrence, Massachusetts, Springfield, Massachusetts, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, and Rancho Cucamonga, California. There is a ...

Emerson College Emerson College is a private college in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It also maintains campuses in Los Angeles and Well, Limburg, Netherlands (Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a "school of Public Speaking, o ...

* Emmanuel College *

Fisher College Fisher College is a private college in Boston, Massachusetts, with satellite campuses in Brockton and New Bedford. It is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE). History Fisher College first opened its doors in 19 ...

* parts of

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, including

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

and

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

Massachusetts College of Art and Design Massachusetts College of Art and Design, branded as MassArt, is a public college of visual and applied art in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1873, it is one of the nation's oldest art schools, and the only publicly funded independent art sch ...

Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS) is a private university focused on health- and life-sciences education, with campuses in Boston, Massachusetts, Worcester, Massachusetts, and Manchester, New Hampshire, as well as onli ...

* MGH Institute of Health Professions *

New England College of Optometry The New England College of Optometry is a private optometry college in Boston, Massachusetts. It enrolls over 500 students and is one of the oldest continually operating college of optometry in the United States. History It was originally es ...

New England Conservatory The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. The conservatory is located on Huntington Avenue along Avenue of the Arts (Boston), the Avenue of the Arts near Boston Symphony Ha ...

New England Law Boston New England Law Boston (formerly New England School of Law, and styled as New England Law Boston) is a Private university, private law school in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded as Portia School of Law in 1908 and is located in downtown B ...

North Bennet Street School North Bennet Street School (NBSS) is a private vocational school in Boston, Massachusetts. NBSS offers nine full-time programs, including bookbinding, cabinet and furniture making, carpentry, jewelry making and repair, locksmithing and security t ...

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU or NEU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by the Boston Young Men's Christian Association in 1898 as an all-male instit ...

Roxbury Community College Roxbury Community College (RCC) is a public community college in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. RCC offers associate degrees in arts, and sciences, as well as certificates. RCC has transfer agreements with Curry College, No ...

* Saint John's Seminary *

Sattler College Sattler College is a private college in Boston, Massachusetts, that associates itself with "the historic Christian faith." The college aims to "equip Jesus' peaceful revolution" through relational discipleship and academic excellence. The schoo ...

School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University The School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University (Museum School, SMFA at Tufts, or SMFA; formerly the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) is a dedicated art school within Tufts University, a private research university in Massac ...

Simmons University Simmons University (previously Simmons College) is a private university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1899 by clothing manufacturer John Simmons. In 2018, it reorganized its structure and changed its name to a ...

Suffolk University Suffolk University is a private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. With 7,560 students on all campuses, it is the List of colleges and universities in metropolitan Boston, tenth-largest university ...

Tufts University School of Medicine The Tufts University School of Medicine is the medical school of Tufts University, a Private university, private research university in Massachusetts. It was established in 1893 and is located on the university's health sciences campus in down ...

University of Massachusetts Boston The University of Massachusetts Boston (stylized as UMass Boston) is a Public university, public US-based research university. It is the only public research university in Boston and the third-largest campus in the five-campus University of Ma ...

* Urban College of Boston *

Wentworth Institute of Technology Wentworth Institute of Technology (WIT) is a private university in Boston, Massachusetts. Wentworth was founded in 1904 and offers career-focused education through 22 bachelor's degree programs as well as 11 master's degrees. History In 1903, B ...

Public library systems in the county include: *

Boston Public Library The Boston Public Library is a municipal public library system in Boston, Massachusetts, founded in 1848. The Boston Public Library is also Massachusetts' Library for the Commonwealth (formerly ''library of last recourse''), meaning all adult re ...

* Chelsea Public Library * Revere Public Library * Winthrop Public Library and Museum

References

External links

Suffolk County Sheriff's DepartmentSuffolk County District AttorneySuffolk County Registry of Deeds
*Walling & Gray
1871 Map of Boston, Suffolk, County and Nearby Towns Pages 48-49
from the 187
Atlas of Massachusetts.
* ttps://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/general_ref/cousub_outline/cen2k_pgsz/ma_cosub.pdf US Census Bureau mapof cities, towns, Native American reservations, and census-designated places {{Authority control Massachusetts counties Counties in Greater Boston 1643 establishments in the Massachusetts Bay Colony Populated places established in 1643 1999 disestablishments in Massachusetts Populated places disestablished in 1999 Majority-minority counties in the United States