US Census Bureau
Skip top of page navigation

People Business Geography Newsroom Subjects A to Z Search@Census

American Community Survey (ACS)

Skip top of page navigation
 
   ACS Home  |  Contact ACS  
 Boston--Worcester--Lawrence, MA--NH--ME--CT CMSA
Data followed by an * indicates a Significant Difference at the 90 percent level between that data and the data from the most current year.  Data followed by a "c" indicates the estimate for that year and the current year are both controlled; a statistical test is not appropriate.
TABLE 2. SELECTED SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS
  2003
Estimate		 2002
Estimate		 2001
Estimate		 2000
Estimate
SCHOOL ENROLLMENT
Population 3 years and over enrolled in school
1,496,215
1,466,914
1,448,663 *
1,466,166
Nursery school, preschool
7.18%
7.39%
6.63%
7.14%
Kindergarten
5.52%
4.62% *
5.20%
6.13%
Elementary school (grades 1-8)
41.80%
43.06%
42.39%
42.81% *
High school grade (grades 9-12)
21.15%
21.17%
20.60%
19.69% *
College or graduate school
24.34%
23.75%
25.18%
24.23%
 
EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT
Population 25 years and over
3,907,647
3,908,441
3,907,298
3,801,877 *
Less than 9th grade
4.49%
4.30%
4.48%
4.80%
9th to 12th grade, no diploma
7.23%
7.78%
7.35%
8.36% *
High school graduate (including equivalency)
27.33%
27.79%
27.11%
26.87%
Some college, no degree
16.33%
16.14%
17.01%
16.50%
Associate degree
7.65%
7.50%
7.39%
7.12%
Bachelor's degree
21.71%
21.93%
21.62%
21.52%
Graduate or professional degree
15.25%
14.55%
15.05%
14.82%
 
Percent high school graduate or higher
88.3
87.9
88.2
86.8 *
Percent bachelor's degree or higher
37.0
36.5
36.7
36.3
 
MARITAL STATUS
Males 15 years and over
2,195,395
2,177,924 *
2,184,551
2,122,436 *
Never married
31.98%
32.38%
33.02%
32.51%
Now married, except separated
56.37%
56.15%
55.46%
56.76%
Separated
1.48%
1.55%
1.67%
1.22%
Widowed
2.82%
2.66%
2.40% *
2.60%
Divorced
7.34%
7.25%
7.45%
6.91%
 
Females 15 years and over
2,380,209
2,395,915
2,386,569
2,324,700 *
Never married
27.89%
27.54%
27.43%
27.96%
Now married, except separated
50.03%
50.14%
50.18%
50.86%
Separated
2.56%
2.57%
2.70%
2.37%
Widowed
9.44%
9.78%
9.44%
9.22%
Divorced
10.08%
9.97%
10.25%
9.59%
 
FERTILITY
Number of women 15 to 50 years old who had a birth in the past 12 months
77,946
84,032
74,004
83,019
Unmarried women (widowed, divorced, and never married)
21.84%
21.11%
21.39%
22.69%
Per 1,000 unmarried women
24
24
21
26
As a percent of all women with a birth
21.8
21.1
21.4
22.7
Per 1,000 women 15 to 50 years old
51
54
48
55
Per 1,000 women 15 to 19 years old
23
18
17
29
Per 1,000 women 20 to 34 years old
88
104
82
96
Per 1,000 women 35 to 50 years old
30
24
27
27
 
GRANDPARENTS
Number of grandparents with own grandchildren under 18 years in households
92,578
94,268
98,752
80,589
Responsible for grandchildren
30.81%
22.96% *
30.79%
33.42%
 
Characteristics of grandparents responsible for own grandchildren under 18 years
Percent Responsible for grandchildren
less than 1 year
18.48%
14.86%
23.53%
20.02%
1 or 2 years
23.90%
23.54%
25.08%
22.56%
3 or 4 years
15.73%
19.59%
20.10%
13.88%
5 or more years
41.88%
42.02%
31.29%
43.54%
 
Percent who are female
68.7
70.6
65.6
57.5 *
Percent who are married
59.8
56.0
64.0
70.5
Percent who are in labor force
53.0
66.5 *
55.5
55.4
Percent who are in poverty
18.4
15.6
11.7
10.6
 
VETERAN STATUS
Civilian population 18 years and over
4,344,408
4,346,555
4,351,325
4,228,694 *
Civilian veterans
9.95%
10.41%
11.00% *
10.91% *
 
RESIDENCE 1 YEAR AGO
Population 1 year and over
5,662,596
5,647,358
5,615,676 *
5,548,545 *
Same house
87.77%
87.82%
87.79%
86.63% *
Different house in the U.S.
11.55%
11.63%
11.37%
12.53% *
Same county
7.28%
7.32%
6.53% *
7.30%
Different county
4.27%
4.30%
4.84% *
5.22% *
Same state
2.43%
2.54%
2.57%
2.64%
Different state
1.84%
1.76%
2.27% *
2.59% *
Abroad
0.68%
0.56%
0.84%
0.85%
 
PLACE OF BIRTH, CITIZENSHIP, AND YEAR OF ENTRY
Total population
5,736,207
5,716,669
5,673,548 *
5,618,612 *
Native
86.02%
86.72%
87.35% *
87.60% *
Born in United States
84.12%
84.77%
85.15% *
85.74% *
State of residence
60.73%
62.20% *
61.88% *
61.83% *
Different state
23.39%
22.58% *
23.27%
23.90%
Born in Puerto Rico, U.S. Island areas, or born abroad to American parent(s)
1.89%
1.94%
2.21% *
1.86%
Foreign born
13.98%
13.28%
12.65% *
12.40% *
Naturalized citizen
46.52%
45.06%
45.93%
44.14%
Not a citizen
53.48%
54.94%
54.07%
55.86%
Entered 1990 or later
48.97%
46.10%
44.02% *
42.24% *
Entered before 1990
51.03%
53.90% *
55.98% *
57.76% *
 
REGION OF BIRTH OF FOREIGN BORN
Foreign-born population with region of birth reported
802,189
759,248 *
717,454 *
696,098 *
Europe
28.05%
27.17%
27.10%
27.90%
Asia
27.88%
27.66%
29.95% *
27.72%
Africa
5.24%
5.21%
6.66%
6.44%
Oceania
0.37%
0.17%
0.33%
0.22%
Latin America
32.75%
34.69%
30.92%
31.62%
Northern America
5.71%
5.10%
5.03%
6.10%
 
LANGUAGE SPOKEN AT HOME
Population 5 years and over
5,361,656
5,353,650
5,327,153 *
5,244,148 *
English only
80.85%
81.82% *
82.08% *
82.42% *
Language other than English
19.15%
18.18%
17.92% *
17.58% *
Speak English less than "very well"
8.52%
8.10%
7.50% *
7.27% *
Spanish
6.17%
5.91%
5.76% *
5.54% *
Speak English less than "very well"
2.98%
2.92%
2.46% *
2.54% *
Other Indo-European languages
8.91%
8.47%
8.26%
8.32%
Speak English less than "very well"
3.63%
3.24%
2.91% *
3.02% *
Asian and Pacific Islander languages
3.30%
3.25%
3.27%
2.97%
Speak English less than "very well"
1.66%
1.76%
1.93%
1.48%
Other languages
0.78%
0.55% *
0.63%
0.74%
Speak English less than "very well"
0.26%
0.18%
0.20%
0.22%
 
ANCESTRY (TOTAL REPORTED)
Total Population
5,736,207
5,716,669
5,673,548 *
5,618,612 *
Arab
0.78%
0.94%
1.03%
0.93%
Czech
0.22%
0.19%
0.23%
0.21%
Danish
0.23%
0.29%
0.27%
0.29%
Dutch
0.67%
0.56%
0.66%
0.80%
English
12.88%
12.99%
13.32%
13.65% *
French (except Basque)
9.20%
9.90% *
9.35%
9.34%
French Canadian
4.66%
5.00%
4.87%
5.19% *
German
6.68%
7.03%
6.99%
6.94%
Greek
1.63%
1.40%
1.45%
1.38%
Hungarian
0.28%
0.25%
0.41% *
0.32%
Irish
24.13%
25.30% *
25.80% *
23.76%
Italian
15.11%
14.39%
14.16% *
14.68%
Lithuanian
0.94%
1.01%
0.92%
0.91%
Norwegian
0.67%
0.79%
0.70%
0.53%
Polish
4.34%
4.35%
4.40%
4.95% *
Portuguese
3.58%
4.08%
3.88%
3.91%
Russian
2.06%
1.96%
1.78%
2.15%
Scotch-Irish
1.99%
2.03%
2.21%
2.00%
Scottish
3.23%
2.95%
3.30%
3.43%
Slovak
0.10%
0.09%
0.17%
0.09%
Subsaharan African
1.44%
1.35%
1.28%
1.34%
Swedish
2.13%
2.35%
2.33%
2.06%
Swiss
0.16%
0.18%
0.15%
0.15%
Ukrainian
0.38%
0.32%
0.51%
0.27%
United States or American
3.84%
3.40%
3.52%
3.80%
Welsh
0.33%
0.52% *
0.44%
0.41%
West Indian (excluding Hispanic origin groups)
1.94%
1.65%
1.38% *
1.58%
 
Profile Navigation
  
Viewing 2003 Multiyear Profile for Boston--Worcester--Lawrence, MA--NH--ME--CT CMSA
  Demographic - Table 1
  Social - Table 2
  Economic - Table 3
  Housing - Table 4

Back to MA State Index

Download Profile (xls)

 


See footnotes below.

Footnotes

The profile universe is limited to the household population and excludes the population living in institutions, college dormitories, and other group quarters. Data are based on a sample and are subject to sampling variability.

Ancestry listed in this table refers to the total number of reports; for example, the estimate given for Russian represents the number of people who listed Russian as either their first or second ancestry. This table lists only the largest ancestry groups; see the Detailed Tables for more categories. Race and Hispanic origin groups are not included in this table because official data for those groups come from the Race and Hispanic origin questions rather than the ancestry question (see Table 1).

1. An '-' entry in an Estimate column indicates that no sample observations were available to compute an estimate.
2. An '-' following a median estimate means the median falls in the lowest interval of an open-ended distribution.
3. An '+' following a median estimate means the median falls in the upper interval of an open-ended distribution.
4. An 'N' entry in an Estimate column indicates that data for this geographic area cannot be displayed because the number of sample cases is too small.

[Excel] or the letters [xls] indicate a document is in the Microsoft® Excel® Spreadsheet Format (XLS). To view the file, you will need the Microsoft® Excel® Viewer This link to a non-federal Web site does not imply endorsement of any particular product, company, or content. available for free from Microsoft®.
Back to Top   
Source: U.S. Census Bureau  |  American Community Survey Office  |  Page Last Modified: August 29, 2007