Boston 2010 Census: Facts & Figures

Mar 23, 2011

• The City of Boston's population is 617,594 residents, a 4.8% increase over the 2000 census or 28,453 people.
• Comparatively, Boston’s population grew by 14,858 between 1990 and 2000, or 2.6%.
• This marks the first time since the 1970s that Boston’s population exceeded 600,000.
• Boston continues to be a majority minority city with 53% of the population non-white or Hispanic and 47% white non-Hispanic. In 2000 Boston’s majority status was 51% to 49%.
• Of the largest Northeastern cities for which data were released, Boston grew the most since 2000.

• Since 2000 Boston issued permits for 19,070 units of housing 5,468 of which are affordable.
• Since 2000 Boston added 29 dormitories and nearly 11,000 dormitory beds, an increase of 39%.
• During the decade Boston completed 11 non-residential higher-education projects with a total of 655,400 square feet of building space.
• Boston added 9.8 million square feet of office space to its stock.
• Boston has built 4,970 hotel rooms (35%) with the addition of world class hotels such as The Mandarin, Westin Waterfront, Renaissance Hotel, The Liberty Hotel and the Intercontinental.
• University student enrollment in the city grew by 16,559 students or 12.3% compared to 2000.
• During the decade, Boston received $16.6 billion in National Institute of Health (NIH) grants.