Mayor of Boston facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mayor of Boston
Seal
Incumbent Michelle Wu since November 16, 2021
Style	His/Her Honor
Member of	Board of Aldermen (1822-1854)
Residence	None official
Seat	Boston City Hall
Nominator	Non-partisan nominating petition
Appointer	Popular vote
Term length	Four years
Constituting instrument	Boston City Charter
Precursor	Boston Board of Selectmen
Formation	Original Post: 1822 Current form: 1909
First holder	John Phillips
Salary	$199,000 (2018)

John Phillips, the first mayor of Boston

The Mayor of Boston is like the main leader of the city of Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States. Boston has a special way of governing called a mayor–council government, where the mayor works with a city council. In Boston, people vote for their mayor in elections that are non-partisan, meaning candidates don't run as members of a political party. The mayor serves for four years, and there's no limit to how many times they can be elected. The mayor's main office is located in Boston City Hall.

The current mayor of Boston is Michelle Wu.

History of Boston's Mayoral Role

Before 1822, Boston was a town, not a city. Towns in Massachusetts are usually run by a town meeting and a group called board of selectmen. Boston was the first place in Massachusetts to become a city, which happened in 1822. With this new city status, Boston started having a mayor, who was elected every year. In 1895, the mayor's term was changed to two years.

In 1909, the state government made more changes to how Boston's mayor was elected. They wanted to make the mayor's job officially non-partisan, meaning candidates would not run as part of a political party. They also made the mayoral term four years long. The first mayor elected under these new rules was John F. Fitzgerald. Since 1926, every mayor of Boston has been known to be a Democrat.

In 1918, a law was passed that stopped the Mayor of Boston from serving two terms in a row. This law was removed in 1939.

More changes were made in 1949. These changes included adding a first round of voting, called a preliminary election, to narrow down the candidates to just two before the main election. Also, the Boston City Council changed from having 22 members to nine members. These changes started in 1951.

From 1951 to 1991, Boston's mayoral elections happened the year before presidential elections. But starting in 1993, they now happen the year after presidential elections.

Mayor's Salary

In June 2018, the City Council voted to increase the mayor's salary to $207,000. This change took effect after the November 2021 mayoral election. In October 2022, the Council voted again to increase the mayor's salary to $250,000.

Who Has Been Mayor of Boston?

There isn't an official way the City of Boston numbers its mayors, so the numbering has changed over time. For example, Thomas Menino was called the 47th mayor when he started, but his successor, Marty Walsh, was identified as the 54th. The Walsh administration used Wikipedia for its numbering. This way of counting includes people who were elected mayors and counts those who served terms that were not in a row more than once. For instance, James Michael Curley served four terms that were not consecutive, and he was counted four times. Kim Janey, who became acting mayor in March 2021, referred to herself as the 55th mayor.

Using ( ) in the table below means a mayor served terms that were not in a row.

#	Mayor		Term		In office			Party
			Start	End	Terms won	Duration
1		Phillips, JohnJohn Phillips	May 1, 1822	May 1, 1823	1	1 year		Federalist
2		Quincy III, JosiahJosiah Quincy III	May 1, 1823	January 5, 1829	6	5 years, 8 months		Federalist
3		Otis, Harrison G.Harrison G. Otis	January 5, 1829	January 2, 1832	3	3 years		Federalist
4		Wells, CharlesCharles Wells	January 2, 1832	January 6, 1834	2	2 years		Whig
5		Lyman, TheodoreTheodore Lyman	January 6, 1834	January 4, 1836	2	2 years		Democratic
6		Armstrong, Samuel T.Samuel T. Armstrong	January 4, 1836	January 1, 1837	1	1 year		Whig
7		Eliot, Samuel A.Samuel A. Eliot	January 1, 1837	January 6, 1840	3	3 years		Whig
8		Chapman, JonathanJonathan Chapman	January 6, 1840	January 2, 1843	3	3 years		Whig
9		Brimmer, MartinMartin Brimmer	January 2, 1843	January 6, 1845	2	2 years		Whig
—		Parker, WilliamWilliam Parker	January 6, 1845	February 27, 1845	—	2 months		Whig
10		Davis, Thomas AspinwallThomas Aspinwall Davis	February 27, 1845	November 22, 1845	1	9 months		Native American
—		Leavitt, BensonBenson Leavitt	November 22, 1845	December 11, 1845	—	1 month		Whig
11		Quincy IV., JosiahJosiah Quincy IV.	December 11, 1845	January 1, 1849	3	3 years, 1 month		Whig
12		Bigelow, John P.John P. Bigelow	January 1, 1849	January 5, 1852	3	3 years		Whig
13		Seaver, BenjaminBenjamin Seaver	January 5, 1852	January 2, 1854	2	2 years		Whig
14		Smith, Jerome V. C.Jerome V. C. Smith	January 2, 1854	January 7, 1856	2	2 years		American
15		Rice, Alexander H.Alexander H. Rice	January 7, 1856	January 4, 1858	2	2 years		Independent
16 (1)		Lincoln Jr., Frederic W.Frederic W. Lincoln Jr.	January 4, 1858	January 7, 1861	3	3 years		Republican
17		Wightman, JosephJoseph Wightman	January 7, 1861	January 5, 1863	2	2 years		Democratic
18 (2)		Lincoln Jr., Frederic W.Frederic W. Lincoln Jr.	January 5, 1863	January 7, 1867	4	4 years		Republican
19		Norcross, OtisOtis Norcross	January 7, 1867	January 6, 1868	1	1 year		Republican
20		Shurtleff, Nathaniel B.Nathaniel B. Shurtleff	January 6, 1868	January 2, 1871	3	3 years		Democratic
21		Gaston, WilliamWilliam Gaston	January 2, 1871	January 6, 1873	2	2 years		Democratic
22 (1)		Pierce, Henry L.Henry L. Pierce	January 6, 1873	November 29, 1873	1	11 months		None
—		Cutter, Leonard R.Leonard R. Cutter	November 29, 1873	January 5, 1874	—	1 month		Democratic
23		Cobb, Samuel C.Samuel C. Cobb	January 5, 1874	January 1, 1877	3	3 years		None
24 (1)		Prince, Frederick O.Frederick O. Prince	January 1, 1877	January 7, 1878	1	1 year		Democratic
25 (2)		Pierce, Henry L.Henry L. Pierce	January 7, 1878	January 6, 1879	1	1 year		Republican
26 (2)		Prince, Frederick O.Frederick O. Prince	January 6, 1879	January 2, 1882	3	3 years		Democratic
27		Green, Samuel A.Samuel A. Green	January 2, 1882	January 1, 1883	1	1 year		Republican
28		Palmer, AlbertAlbert Palmer	January 1, 1883	January 7, 1884	1	1 year		Democratic
29		Martin, Augustus PearlAugustus Pearl Martin	January 7, 1884	January 5, 1885	1	1 year		Republican
30		O'Brien, HughHugh O'Brien	January 5, 1885	January 7, 1889	4	4 years		Democratic
31 (1)		Hart, Thomas N.Thomas N. Hart	January 7, 1889	December 31, 1890	2	2 years		Republican
32		Matthews Jr., NathanNathan Matthews Jr.	January 1, 1891	January 7, 1895	4	4 years		Democratic
33		Curtis, Edwin UptonEdwin Upton Curtis	January 7, 1895	January 6, 1896	1	1 year		Republican
	Mayoral term increased to two years.
34		Quincy, JosiahJosiah Quincy	January 6, 1896	January 1, 1900	2	4 years		Democratic
35 (2)		Hart, Thomas N.Thomas N. Hart	January 1, 1900	January 6, 1902	1	2 years		Republican
36		Collins, PatrickPatrick Collins	January 6, 1902	September 13, 1905	2	3 years, 9 months		Democratic
—		Whelton, Daniel A.Daniel A. Whelton	September 15, 1905	January 1, 1906	—	3 months		Democratic
37 (1)		Fitzgerald, John F.John F. Fitzgerald	January 1, 1906	January 6, 1908	1	2 years		Democratic
38		Hibbard, George A.George A. Hibbard	January 6, 1908	February 7, 1910	1	2 years		Republican
	Mayoral term increased to four years.
39 (2)		Fitzgerald, John F.John F. Fitzgerald	February 7, 1910	February 2, 1914	1	4 years		Democratic
40 (1)		Curley, James MichaelJames Michael Curley	February 2, 1914	February 4, 1918	1	4 years		Democratic
41		Peters, Andrew J.Andrew J. Peters	February 4, 1918	February 6, 1922	1	4 years		Democratic
42 (2)		Curley, James MichaelJames Michael Curley	February 6, 1922	January 4, 1926	1	4 years		Democratic
43		Nichols, MalcolmMalcolm Nichols	January 4, 1926	January 6, 1930	1	4 years		Republican
44 (3)		Curley, James MichaelJames Michael Curley	January 6, 1930	January 1, 1934	1	4 years		Democratic
45		Mansfield, FrederickFrederick Mansfield	January 1, 1934	January 3, 1938	1	4 years		Democratic
46		Tobin, Maurice J.Maurice J. Tobin	January 3, 1938	January 4, 1945	2	7 years		Democratic
—		Kerrigan, John E.John E. Kerrigan	January 4, 1945	January 7, 1946	—	1 year		Democratic
47 (4)		Curley, James MichaelJames Michael Curley	January 7, 1946	January 2, 1950	1	4 years		Democratic
48		Hynes, John B.John B. Hynes	January 2, 1950	January 4, 1960	3	10 years		Democratic
49		Collins, John F.John F. Collins	January 4, 1960	January 1, 1968	2	8 years		Democratic
50		White, KevinKevin White	January 1, 1968	January 2, 1984	4	16 years		Democratic
51		Flynn, RaymondRaymond Flynn	January 2, 1984	July 12, 1993	3	9 years, 6 months		Democratic
52		Menino, ThomasThomas Menino	July 12, 1993	January 6, 2014	5	20 years, 6 months		Democratic
53		Walsh, MartyMarty Walsh	January 6, 2014	March 22, 2021	2	7 years, 2 months		Democratic
—		Janey, KimKim Janey	March 22, 2021	November 16, 2021	—	8 months		Democratic
54		Wu, MichelleMichelle Wu	November 16, 2021	Incumbent	1	3 years, 7 months		Democratic

died in office
acting mayor only
Native American Party and American Party were formal names of the "Know Nothing" movement.

Acting Mayors of Boston

Thomas Menino, the longest-serving mayor of Boston

Boston's city rules say that the City Council President becomes the acting mayor if the mayor is away, can't do their job, or if the position is empty. An acting mayor can only do urgent tasks that can't wait. They cannot make permanent appointments.

Here are the people who have served as acting mayor when the office was empty:

See also

• Timeline of Boston
• List of elections in Massachusetts
• List of members of the Boston City Council
• List of mayors of Roxbury, Massachusetts
• List of mayors of Charlestown, Massachusetts
• List of mayors of the 50 largest cities in the United States