Research Department Releases Boston in Context Report

Jun 13, 2013

• 48% of Bostonians drive a car to work (either alone or in a carpool), compared to over 90% of the U.S. and 84.2% of Massachusetts.  However West Roxbury and Hyde Park are the anomalies in Boston with over 83% of West Roxbury and nearly 73% of Hyde Park residents driving to work.

• The median age for Boston is 32.1 years old, which is significantly lower than both the U.S. (37.1) and Massachusetts (39.0).  That being said there is a lot of variability by neighborhood. Fenway (22.8), Allston (24.8), and Brighton (28.1) all have median ages below 30, where as the median age in West Roxbury is over 42 years old.

• 47% of Boston is white, non-Hispanic, compared to 63.7% of the U.S. and 76.1% of Massachusetts.

• 42.5% of Boston residents 25 or older have a college degree, compared to 27.9% of the U.S.  Over 80% of residents in Back Bay (84.8%) and Beacon Hill (87%) have college degrees.

• Nearly 76% of Boston residents lived in the same house they did a year ago, compared to 84.2% of the U.S. and 86.1% of Massachusetts.  On the other hand, 6.7% of Boston residents moved to Boston within the last year from another state or abroad, compared to 3.2% of those residing in Massachusetts and 3.0% in the U.S.

• 33.9% of Boston’s housing units are owner occupied, compared to 65.1% of the U.S. and 62.3% of Massachusetts.  Allston, Chinatown, Mission Hill and Fenway all have high concentrations of renters.   In West Roxbury about 64% of the residences are owner occupied.