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Boston Combined Statistical Area

Boston–Worcester–Providence
Boston
Country  United States
State(s)
Principal cities
Population
 (2020)
 • Total 8,466,186 (CSA)
4,941,632 (MSA)
 • Rank
Time zone EST
Area code(s) 617, 781, 857, 339, 978, 508, 351, 774, 603, 401

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, 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 and Cape Cod; the CSA additionally includes the municipalities of Providence (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 48.4 square miles (125 km2) and has 675,647 residents as of the 2020 census, the urbanization has extended well into surrounding areas and the CSA has a 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 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, and maritime trade.

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, 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, politics, and the American Revolution.

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

Harvard University in Cambridge is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States, with the largest financial endowment of any university, and whose Law School 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 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, also in Cambridge, have been ranked among the most highly regarded academic institutions in the world.

Definitions

Greater Boston Lg
Light Blue represents the area in Massachusetts known as Greater Boston, while Dark Blue represents the Metro-Boston area, and Red represents the City of Boston.

Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC)

The most restrictive definition of the Greater Boston area is the region administered by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC). The MAPC is a regional planning organization created by the Massachusetts legislature 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. The population of the MAPC district is 5,414,140 (as of 2010), which is 68% of the total population of Massachusetts, in an area of 1,422 square miles (3,680 km2), 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 cities of Lowell, Lawrence, and Haverhill, much of Plymouth County, and all of Bristol County; these areas have their own regional planning bodies. Northern Bristol County is part of the Greater Boston CSA, as part of the Providence MSA.

New England City and Town Area (NECTA)

MIT Charles River aerial
Cambridge and Boston; MIT and Kendall Square in the foreground, and Boston's Financial District in the background

The urbanized area surrounding Boston serves as the core of a definition used by the US Census Bureau known as the New England city and town area (NECTA). The set of towns containing the core urbanized area plus 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 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 (as of 2000).

  • 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)

Historical population
Census Pop.
1850 650,357
1860 830,998 27.8%
1870 978,346 17.7%
1880 1,205,439 23.2%
1890 1,515,684 25.7%
1900 1,890,122 24.7%
1910 2,260,762 19.6%
1920 2,563,123 13.4%
1930 2,866,567 11.8%
1940 2,926,650 2.1%
1950 3,186,970 8.9%
1960 3,516,435 10.3%
1970 3,918,092 11.4%
1980 3,938,585 0.5%
1990 4,133,895 5.0%
2000 4,391,344 6.2%
2010 4,552,402 3.7%
2014 (est.) 4,732,161 3.9%
US Decennial Census

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 four metropolitan divisions. The metropolitan statistical area had a total population of approximately 4,732,161 as of 2014 and is the tenth-largest in the United States. The components of the metropolitan area with their estimated 2012 populations are listed below.

  • Boston–Cambridge–Newton, MA–NH Metropolitan Statistical Area (4,640,802)

Combined Statistical Area (CSA)

Providence, RI skyline edit
Providence, Rhode Island

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, Providence, as well as Cape Cod, in addition to greater Boston. The total population as of 2014 for the extended region was estimated at 8,099,575. The following areas, along with the above MSA, are included in the combined statistical area, with their estimated 2012 populations:

Principal cities and towns

Winthrop ma
Winthrop, MA
Cities and towns

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:

Largest cities and towns

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

Rank City 2000
population
2010
population
2014
population
% change
(2010 to 2014)
1 Boston 589,141 617,594 655,884 &10000000000000006199865+6.20%
2 Worcester 172,648 181,045 183,016 &10000000000000001088679+1.09%
3 Providence 173,618 178,042 179,154 &10000000000000000624571+0.62%
4 Manchester 107,006 109,565 110,448 &10000000000000000805914+0.81%
5 Lowell 105,167 106,519 109,945 &10000000000000003216327+3.22%
6 Cambridge 101,355 105,162 109,694 &10000000000000004309541+4.31%
7 New Bedford 93,768 95,072 94,845 Template:Number table sorting/negative−0.24%
8 Brockton 94,304 93,810 94,779 &10000000000000001032938+1.03%
9 Quincy 88,025 92,271 93,397 &10000000000000001220318+1.22%
10 Lynn 89,050 90,329 92,137 &10000000000000002001572+2.00%
11 Fall River 91,938 88,857 88,712 Template:Number table sorting/negative−0.16%
12 Newton 83,829 85,146 88,287 &10000000000000003688957+3.69%
13 Nashua 86,605 86,494 87,259 &10000000000000000884454+0.88%
14 Warwick 85,808 82,672 81,963 Template:Number table sorting/negative−0.86%
15 Cranston 79,269 80,387 81,037 &10000000000000000808588+0.81%
16 Somerville 77,478 75,754 78,901 &10000000000000004154236+4.15%
17 Lawrence 72,043 76,377 78,197 &10000000000000002382916+2.38%
18 Pawtucket 72,958 71,148 71,499 &10000000000000000493337+0.49%
19 Framingham 66,910 68,318 70,068 &10000000000000002561550+2.56%
20 Waltham 59,226 60,632 63,014 &10000000000000003928618+3.93%
21 Haverhill 58,969 60,879 62,488 &10000000000000002642947+2.64%
22 Malden 56,340 59,450 60,859 &10000000000000002370058+2.37%
23 Brookline 57,107 58,732 59,115 &10000000000000000652114+0.65%
24 Plymouth 51,701 56,468 57,463 &10000000000000001762059+1.76%
25 Medford 55,765 56,173 57,437 &10000000000000002250191+2.25%
26 Taunton 55,976 55,874 56,544 &10000000000000001199126+1.20%
27 Weymouth 53,988 53,743 55,643 &10000000000000003535344+3.54%
28 Revere 47,283 51,755 54,157 &10000000000000004641097+4.64%
29 Peabody 48,129 51,251 52,376 &10000000000000002195079+2.20%
30 Methuen 43,789 47,255 52,044 &10000000000000010134377+10.13%

Demographics

St. Patrick's Day Parade, Scituate MA
St. Patrick's Day Parade in Scituate, Massachusetts, in Plymouth County, the municipality with the highest percentage identifying Irish ancestry in the United States, at 47.5% in 2010. Irish Americans constitute the largest ethnicity in Greater Boston.
Boston Chinatown Paifang
Boston's Chinatown, with its paifang gate, is home to many Chinese and also Vietnamese restaurants.
Were a gay and happy family wagon
Boston gay pride march, held annually in June

Population density

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

Rank City or neighborhood Census tract Population Population density
/sq mi /km2
1 Fenway–Kenmore 10404 5,817 110,108 285,180
2 Fenway–Kenmore 10403 3,003 87,828 227,470
3 Fenway–Kenmore 10408 1,426 85,137 220,500
4 Beacon Hill 202 3,649 80,851 209,400
5 North End 301 1,954 66,288 171,690
6 North End 302 1,665 64,642 167,420
7 North End 304 2,451 58,435 151,350
8 Cambridge 3539 7,090 56,819 147,160
9 Back Bay 10801 2,783 56,534 146,420
10 East Boston 502 5,231 55,692 144,240

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.

County 2016 Estimate 2010 Census Change Area Density
Essex County, Massachusetts 779,018 743,159 &10000000000000004825212+4.83% 492.56 sq mi (1,275.7 km2) 1,582/sq mi (611/km2)
Middlesex County, Massachusetts 1,589,774 1,503,085 &10000000000000005767405+5.77% 817.82 sq mi (2,118.1 km2) 1,944/sq mi (751/km2)
Norfolk County, Massachusetts 697,181 670,850 &10000000000000003925020+3.93% 396.11 sq mi (1,025.9 km2) 1,760/sq mi (680/km2)
Plymouth County, Massachusetts 513,565 494,919 &10000000000000003767485+3.77% 659.07 sq mi (1,707.0 km2) 779/sq mi (301/km2)
Suffolk County, Massachusetts 784,230 722,023 &10000000000000008615653+8.62% 58.15 sq mi (150.6 km2) 13,486/sq mi (5,207/km2)
Rockingham County, New Hampshire 303,251 295,223 &10000000000000002719300+2.72% 694.72 sq mi (1,799.3 km2) 437/sq mi (169/km2)
Strafford County, New Hampshire 127,428 123,143 &10000000000000003479694+3.48% 368.97 sq mi (955.6 km2) 345/sq mi (133/km2)
Total 4,794,447 4,552,402 &10000000000000005316863+5.32% 3,487.40 sq mi (9,032.3 km2) 1,375/sq mi (531/km2)

Major companies

References:

(regional headquarters)

    • Novartis, headquartered in Cambridge, with locations worldwide (a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company based in Basel)
    • Philips Electronics North America, in Andover (regional headquarters)
    • Philips Healthcare, in Andover (global headquarters) and Framingham
    • Red Hat, in Westford (engineering headquarters)
    • Reed & Barton in Taunton (factory and headquarters)
    • Saint-Gobain, in Worcester
    • Sepracor, Inc., in Marlborough (headquarters)
    • Staples, Inc., in Framingham (headquarters)
    • Stop & Shop, in Quincy (headquarters)
    • TJX Corporation, in Framingham (headquarters)
    • Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., in Boston (headquarters)
    • UniFirst, in Wilmington (headquarters)
    • WB Mason, in Brockton (headquarters)
    • Wyman-Gordon, in Grafton (complex metal components and products)
  • Companies along or inside I-95 (Route 128), not including Boston:
    • Akamai Technologies, in Cambridge (headquarters)
    • AstraZeneca, in Waltham (R&D)
    • BBN Technologies, in Cambridge (headquarters)
    • Biocell Center, in Medford (North American headquarters)
    • Biogen Idec, in Weston (North American headquarters)
    • Carl Zeiss SMT, in Peabody (North American headquarters)
    • Constant Contact, in Walthem
    • Dunkin' Brands, in Canton (headquarters)
    • Facebook, in Cambridge
    • General Electric Aviation, in Lynn
    • Genzyme Corporation, in Cambridge (headquarters)
    • Genzyme Corporation, in Waltham (R&D)
    • Google Inc., in Cambridge
    • Haemonetics, in Braintree
    • IBM, in Waltham, Cambridge and Littleton
    • InterSystems Corporation, in Cambridge (headquarters)
    • iRobot Corporation, in Burlington (headquarters)
    • Keurig, in Reading (headquarters)
    • Meditech, in Westwood (headquarters)
    • Microsoft Corporation, in Cambridge
    • Millennium Pharmaceuticals, in Cambridge
    • National Amusements (Parent company of CBS and Viacom), in Dedham (headquarters)
    • National Grid, in Waltham (US headquarters)
    • NetApp Inc, in Waltham
    • NetBlazr, in Watertown
    • Nokia, in Burlington
    • Novartis AG, Inc, in Cambridge (research headquarters)
    • Novell, Inc., in Waltham
    • Nuance Communications, in Burlington
    • Oracle Corporation in Burlington
    • Osram Sylvania in Danvers (headquarters)
    • Parametric Technology Corporation in Needham (headquarters)
    • Philips Lighting in Burlington
    • Progress Software in Bedford (headquarters)
    • Raytheon, in Waltham (headquarters)
    • Reebok, in Canton (US headquarters)
    • SunSetter Products, LP, in Malden (headquarters)
    • Teradyne, in North Reading (headquarters)
    • Thermo Fisher Scientific, in Waltham (headquarters)
    • TripAdvisor, LLC, in Needham (headquarters)
    • Twitter, in Cambridge
    • Vistaprint, in Lexington (North American headquarters)
  • Major companies inside Boston proper:
    • American Tower (headquarters)
    • Au Bon Pain (headquarters)
    • Bain & Company (headquarters)
    • Bentley Motors (US headquarters)
    • Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (headquarters)
    • Boston Consulting Group (headquarters)
    • Fidelity Investments (headquarters)
    • The Gillette Company, now owned by Procter & Gamble (headquarters)
    • Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (headquarters)
    • John Hancock Financial Services, Inc, now the United States division of Canada's Manulife Financial
    • Liberty Mutual (headquarters)
    • LogMeIn (headquarters)
    • LPL Financial (headquarters)
    • New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc. (headquarters)
    • Putnam Investments (headquarters)
    • Sapient Corporation (headquarters)
    • Sonesta International Hotels Corp. (headquarters)
    • State Street Corporation (headquarters)
    • Steward Health Care System (headquarters)
    • Toast, Inc. (headquarters)
    • Vertex Pharmaceuticals (headquarters)
    • Wayfair (headquarters)
    • Wellington Management Company (headquarters)
    • Zipcar (headquarters)

Transportation

Interstates

  • I‑90
  • I‑93
  • I‑95
  • I‑190
  • I‑195
  • I‑290
  • I-293
  • I-295
  • I-395
  • I‑495

U.S. Routes

State Highways

  • Route 1A
  • Route 2
  • Route 2A
  • Route 3
  • Route 3A
  • Route 4
  • Route 9
  • Route 16
  • Route 18
  • Route 24
  • Route 25
  • Route 27
  • Route 28
  • Route 30
  • Route 38
  • Route 53
  • Route 58
  • Route 60
  • Route 62
  • Route 97
  • Route 106
  • Route 109
  • Route 110
  • Route 113
  • Route 114
  • Route 115
  • Route 117
  • Route 122
  • Route 123
  • Route 125
  • Route 126
  • Route 128
  • Route 129
  • Route 133
  • Route 135
  • Route 138
  • Route 139
  • Route 140
  • Route 146
  • Route 213
  • Route 225

Bridges and tunnels

Airports

Rail and bus

MBTA Commuter Rail and funding district map
The MBTA district, with Commuter Rail lines in purple
  • Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA, generally known as the "T") rapid transit lines:
  • MBTA Commuter Rail
    • Old Colony Lines serving Plymouth County
    • Providence/Stoughton Line serving northern Bristol County, western 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 Worcester
    • Fitchburg Line serving northwestern Middlesex County, connecting to 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 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

Salem Ferry
The Salem Ferry, 92 ft. Catamaran is photographed approaching its dock off Blaney Street at the Salem Maritime National Historic Site in Salem, Massachusetts, United States.

Geography

Climate

Climate data for Boston (Logan Airport), 1981−2010 normals, extremes 1872−present
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °F (°C) 72
(22)
73
(23)
89
(32)
94
(34)
97
(36)
100
(38)
104
(40)
102
(39)
102
(39)
90
(32)
83
(28)
76
(24)
104
(40)
Mean maximum °F (°C) 56.4
(13.6)
57.7
(14.3)
67.6
(19.8)
80.7
(27.1)
87.3
(30.7)
92.1
(33.4)
94.9
(34.9)
93.3
(34.1)
87.9
(31.1)
79.1
(26.2)
70.5
(21.4)
61.3
(16.3)
96.2
(35.7)
Average high °F (°C) 35.8
(2.1)
38.7
(3.7)
45.4
(7.4)
55.6
(13.1)
66.0
(18.9)
75.9
(24.4)
81.4
(27.4)
79.6
(26.4)
72.4
(22.4)
61.4
(16.3)
51.5
(10.8)
41.2
(5.1)
58.8
(14.9)
Average low °F (°C) 22.2
(−5.4)
24.7
(−4.1)
31.1
(−0.5)
40.6
(4.8)
49.9
(9.9)
59.5
(15.3)
65.4
(18.6)
64.6
(18.1)
57.4
(14.1)
46.5
(8.1)
38.0
(3.3)
28.2
(−2.1)
44.1
(6.7)
Mean minimum °F (°C) 4.1
(−15.5)
8.5
(−13.1)
14.7
(−9.6)
30.7
(−0.7)
40.8
(4.9)
49.6
(9.8)
57.3
(14.1)
55.4
(13.0)
45.8
(7.7)
34.9
(1.6)
24.2
(−4.3)
11.1
(−11.6)
2.3
(−16.5)
Record low °F (°C) −13
(−25)
−18
(−28)
−8
(−22)
11
(−12)
31
(−1)
41
(5)
50
(10)
46
(8)
34
(1)
25
(−4)
−2
(−19)
−17
(−27)
−18
(−28)
Average precipitation inches (mm) 3.36
(85)
3.25
(83)
4.32
(110)
3.74
(95)
3.49
(89)
3.68
(93)
3.43
(87)
3.35
(85)
3.44
(87)
3.94
(100)
3.99
(101)
3.78
(96)
43.77
(1,112)
Average snowfall inches (cm) 12.9
(33)
10.9
(28)
7.8
(20)
1.9
(4.8)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
trace 1.3
(3.3)
9.0
(23)
43.8
(111)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) 11.3 9.8 11.6 11.2 12.0 10.9 9.6 9.4 8.6 9.4 10.6 11.6 126.0
Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) 6.7 5.3 4.2 0.7 0 0 0 0 0 0.1 0.8 4.6 22.4
Average relative humidity (%) 62.3 62.0 63.1 63.0 66.7 68.5 68.4 70.8 71.8 68.5 67.5 65.4 66.5
Mean monthly sunshine hours 163.4 168.4 213.7 227.2 267.3 286.5 300.9 277.3 237.1 206.3 143.2 142.3 2,633.6
Percent possible sunshine 56 57 58 57 59 63 65 64 63 60 49 50 59
Source: NOAA (relative humidity and sun 1961−1990)

Sports

Club Sport League Stadium Established League titles
Boston Bruins Ice hockey National Hockey League TD Garden (Boston) 1924 6 Stanley Cups
7 Eastern Conference Titles
Boston Cannons Lacrosse Major League Lacrosse Harvard Stadium (Boston) 2001 1 MLL Championship
Boston Celtics Basketball National Basketball Association TD Garden (Boston) 1946 17 NBA Championships
21 Eastern Conference Titles
Boston Pride Ice hockey National Women's Hockey League Bright Hockey Center (Boston) 2015 2 Isobel Cups
Boston Red Sox Baseball Major League Baseball Fenway Park (Boston) 1901 9 MLB World Series Champions
14 American League Pennants
New England Patriots Football National Football League Gillette Stadium (Foxboro) 1960 6 Super Bowl Champions
11 AFC Champions
New England Revolution Soccer Major League Soccer Gillette Stadium (Foxboro) 1995 1 US Open Cup
1 SuperLiga

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.

Higher education

Widener Library
Harvard University, a leading global university, is located in Cambridge, MA in Greater Boston

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.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Gran Boston para niños

kids search engine
Greater Boston Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.