Suffolk County, Massachusetts facts for kids

Suffolk County
Quick facts for kids Suffolk County
	County
	Suffolk County Courthouse
	Seal
	Seal
	Location within the U.S. state of Massachusetts
	Massachusetts's location within the U.S.
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Country	United States
State	Massachusetts
Founded	May 10, 1643
Named for	Suffolk
Seat	Boston
Largest city	Boston
Area
• Total	120 sq mi (300 km2)
• Land	58.15 sq mi (150.6 km2)
• Water	62 sq mi (160 km2) 52%%
Population (2020)
• Total	797,936
• Density	13,698/sq mi (5,289/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional districts	5th, 7th, 8th

Suffolk County is located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 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, Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop.

The traditional county seat is Boston, the state capital and the largest city in Massachusetts. The county government was abolished in late 1999, and so Suffolk County today functions only as an administrative subdivision of state government and a set of communities grouped together for some statistical purposes. Suffolk County constitutes the core of the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the greater Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH-CT Combined Statistical Area.

History

Old Suffolk County Courthouse 1810-1841

The county was created by the Massachusetts General Court on May 10, 1643, when it was ordered "that the whole plantation within this jurisdiction be divided into four shires". Suffolk initially contained Boston, Roxbury, Dorchester, Dedham, Braintree, Weymouth, and Hingham. The county was named after Suffolk, England, which means "southern folk."

In 1731, the extreme western portions of Suffolk County, which included Uxbridge, were split off to become part of Worcester County. In 1793, most of the original Suffolk County (including Milton) except for Boston, Chelsea, Hingham, and Hull (which remained in Suffolk) split off and became Norfolk County. 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.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 120 square miles (310 km²), of which 58 square miles (150 km²) is land and 62 square miles (160 km²) (52%) is water. It is the second-smallest county in Massachusetts by land area and smallest by total area.

Adjacent counties

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.

National protected areas

Major Highways

I‑90 / Mass Pike
I‑93
US 1
US 20

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1790	44,865	—
1800	28,015	−37.6%
1810	34,381	22.7%
1820	43,940	27.8%
1830	62,163	41.5%
1840	95,773	54.1%
1850	144,517	50.9%
1860	192,700	33.3%
1870	270,802	40.5%
1880	387,927	43.3%
1890	484,780	25.0%
1900	611,417	26.1%
1910	731,388	19.6%
1920	835,522	14.2%
1930	879,536	5.3%
1940	863,248	−1.9%
1950	896,615	3.9%
1960	791,329	−11.7%
1970	735,190	−7.1%
1980	650,142	−11.6%
1990	663,906	2.1%
2000	689,807	3.9%
2010	722,023	4.7%
2020	797,936	10.5%
U.S. Decennial Census 1790-1960 1900-1990 1990-2000 2010-2020

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

**Suffolk County Racial Breakdown of Population (2017)**
Race	Percentage of Suffolk County population	Percentage of Massachusetts population	Percentage of United States population	County-to-State Difference	County-to-USA Difference
White	61.7%	81.3%	76.6%	–19.6%	–14.9%
White (Non-Hispanic)	45.4%	72.1%	60.7%	–26.7%	–15.3%
Black	24.9%	8.8%	13.4%	+16.1%	+11.5%
Hispanic	22.9%	11.9%	18.1%	+11.0%	+4.8%
Asian	9.1%	6.9%	5.8%	+2.2%	+3.3%
Native Americans/Hawaiians	0.9%	0.6%	1.5%	+0.3%	–0.6%
Two or more races	3.4%	2.4%	2.7%	+1.0%	+0.7%

Ancestry

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

Ancestry	Percentage of Suffolk County population	Percentage of Massachusetts population	Percentage of United States population	County-to-State Difference	County-to-USA Difference
Irish	13.73%	21.16%	10.39%	–7.42%	+3.35%
Italian	9.50%	13.19%	5.39%	–3.69%	+7.80%
West Indian	6.05%	1.96%	0.90%	+4.09%	+1.05%
Puerto Rican	5.32%	4.52%	1.66%	+0.80%	+3.66%
English	4.32%	9.77%	7.67%	–5.45%	–3.35%
German	4.21%	6.00%	14.40%	–1.79%	–10.19%
Chinese	4.02%	2.28%	1.24%	+1.74%	+2.78%
American	3.96%	4.26%	6.89%	–0.30%	–2.93%
Sub-Saharan African	3.78%	2.00%	1.01%	+1.78%	+2.76%
Haitian	3.13%	1.15%	0.31%	+1.98%	+2.82%
Polish	2.41%	4.67%	2.93%	–2.26%	–0.53%
French	2.01%	6.82%	2.56%	–4.81%	–0.55%
Cape Verdean	1.99%	0.97%	0.03%	+1.02%	+1.96%
Vietnamese	1.61%	0.69%	0.54%	+0.92%	+1.07%
Russian	1.56%	1.65%	0.88%	–0.08%	+0.69%
Arab	1.54%	1.10%	0.59%	+0.44%	+0.95%
Jamaican	1.47%	0.44%	0.34%	+1.03%	+1.12%
Scottish	1.27%	2.28%	1.71%	–1.02%	–0.45%
Asian Indian	1.22%	1.39%	1.09%	–0.17%	+0.13%
Mexican	1.18%	0.67%	11.96%	+0.51%	–10.78%
French Canadian	1.19%	3.91%	0.65%	–2.72%	+0.53%

Demographic breakdown by town

Income

See also: List of Massachusetts locations by per capita income

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

Rank	Town		Area (land)	Per capita income	Median household income	Median family income	Population	Number of households
1	Winthrop	City	2.0 sq mi (5.2 km2)	$36,624	$61,744	$81,647	17,430	7,356
	Massachusetts	State		$35,051	$65,981	$83,371	6,512,227	2,522,409
2	Boston	City	48.42 sq mi (125.41 km2)	$33,158	$51,739	$61,035	609,942	247,621
	Suffolk County	County		$32,034	$51,638	$60,342	713,089	286,437
	United States	Country		$27,915	$52,762	$64,293	306,603,772	114,761,359
3	Revere	City	5.9 sq mi (15.3 km2)	$25,085	$50,592	$58,345	50,845	19,425
4	Chelsea	City	2.2 sq mi (5.7 km2)	$20,214	$43,155	$46,967	34,872	12,035

Communities

Map of Suffolk County showing (clockwise from bottom) Boston (red), Chelsea (yellow), Revere (green), and Winthrop (blue). Interior water features such as Boston Harbor are filled in by the color of the containing city.