US Census Bureau
Skip top of page navigation

American Community Survey (ACS)


Skip top of page navigation
American Community Survey Profile 2002  
Download Profile
(excel file)
Includes Tables 1 - 4
 
  You have selected: Your are viewing Table 2
  Boston city -- MA Go to Table:  1   2   3   4
 
Back to MA state index

   Note: The 2002 American Community Survey universe is limited to the household population
and excludes the population living in institutions, college dormitories, and other group quarters.
 
TABLE 2. SELECTED SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS
  Estimate Lower
Bound
Upper
Bound
SCHOOL ENROLLMENT
Population 3 years and over enrolled in school
156,730
142,227
171,234
Nursery school, preschool
8,325
4,589
12,061
Kindergarten
6,398
3,679
9,117
Elementary school (grades 1-8)
49,263
42,845
55,682
High school grade (grades 9-12)
25,390
20,328
30,452
College or graduate school
67,354
57,886
76,822
 
EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT
Population 25 years and over
374,094
363,960
384,228
Less than 9th grade
28,175
21,662
34,688
9th to 12th grade, no diploma
46,937
37,900
55,974
High school graduate (including equivalency)
102,406
88,401
116,411
Some college, no degree
39,628
31,805
47,451
Associate degree
14,535
10,580
18,490
Bachelor's degree
80,923
71,302
90,544
Graduate or professional degree
61,490
52,463
70,517
 
Percent high school graduate or higher
79.9
77.1
82.7
Percent bachelor's degree or higher
38.1
34.8
41.4
 
MARITAL STATUS
Males 15 years and over
205,630
197,199
214,062
Never married
100,547
92,211
108,883
Now married, except separated
82,138
73,654
90,622
Separated
5,042
2,034
8,050
Widowed
4,587
2,501
6,673
Divorced
13,316
8,378
18,254
 
Females 15 years and over
248,426
241,702
255,150
Never married
115,774
106,410
125,138
Now married, except separated
77,401
68,376
86,427
Separated
9,472
6,585
12,360
Widowed
26,347
20,478
32,216
Divorced
19,432
14,231
24,633
 
FERTILITY
Number of women 15 to 50 years old who had
a birth in the past 12 months
7,008
3,518
10,498
Unmarried women (widowed, divorced, and never married)
1,599
0
3,399
Per 1,000 unmarried women
14
0
29
As a percent of all women with a birth
22.8
0.0
47.7
Per 1,000 women 15 to 50 years old
40
20
60
Per 1,000 women 15 to 19 years old
0
0
30
Per 1,000 women 20 to 34 years old
70
34
106
Per 1,000 women 35 to 50 years old
9
1
17
 
GRANDPARENTS
Number of grandparents with own grandchildren
under 18 years in households
11,909
7,137
16,681
Responsible for grandchildren
4,948
1,749
8,147
less than 1 year
0
0
497
1 or 2 years
1,740
0
4,161
3 or 4 years
403
0
878
5 or more years
2,805
584
5,026
 
Characteristics of grandparents responsible for own grandchildren under 18 years
Percent who are female
85.6
68.1
100.0
Percent who are married
41.7
9.4
74.0
Percent who are in labor force
52.4
20.2
84.6
Percent who are in poverty
51.2
16.1
86.3
 
VETERAN STATUS
Civilian population 18 years and over
437,783
426,716
448,850
Civilian veterans
23,344
18,483
28,205
 
DISABILITY STATUS OF THE CIVILIAN NONINSTITUTIONALIZED POPULATION
Population 5 to 20 years
93,894
84,339
103,449
With a disability
5,203
2,840
7,566
 
Population 21 to 64 years
366,489
355,048
377,930
With a disability
39,918
33,438
46,398
Percent employed
37.0
29.1
44.9
No disability
326,571
315,278
337,864
Percent employed
74.1
71.1
77.1
 
Population 65 years and over
51,965
47,518
56,412
With a disability
29,298
24,051
34,545
 
RESIDENCE 1 YEAR AGO
Population 1 year and over
536,484
521,030
551,938
Same house
436,402
414,264
458,540
Different house in the U.S.
93,404
77,145
109,663
Same county
56,657
42,370
70,944
Different county
36,747
29,159
44,335
Same state
17,952
12,017
23,887
Different state
18,795
13,662
23,928
Abroad
6,678
2,825
10,531
 
PLACE OF BIRTH, CITIZENSHIP, AND YEAR OF ENTRY
Total population
545,181
529,191
561,171
Native
398,065
380,163
415,968
Born in United States
378,376
362,920
393,832
State of residence
264,950
248,036
281,864
Different state
113,426
103,135
123,717
Born in Puerto Rico, U.S. Island areas, or
born abroad to American parent(s)
19,689
11,022
28,356
Foreign born
147,116
132,708
161,524
Naturalized citizen
57,999
48,342
67,656
Not a citizen
89,117
72,516
105,718
Entered 1990 or later
72,832
58,857
86,808
Entered before 1990
74,284
65,377
83,191
 
REGION OF BIRTH OF FOREIGN BORN
Foreign-born population with region of birth reported
147,116
132,708
161,524
Europe
24,471
17,109
31,833
Asia
35,652
28,928
42,376
Africa
7,712
2,526
12,898
Oceania
0
0
497
Latin America
75,046
61,981
88,111
Northern America
4,235
1,344
7,126
 
LANGUAGE SPOKEN AT HOME
Population 5 years and over
512,631
497,202
528,060
English only
366,183
345,599
386,767
Language other than English
146,448
126,165
166,731
Speak English less than "very well"
85,932
71,364
100,500
Spanish
60,171
47,651
72,691
Speak English less than "very well"
35,839
25,563
46,115
Other Indo-European languages
57,779
43,944
71,614
Speak English less than "very well"
32,152
22,610
41,694
Asian and Pacific Islander languages
24,298
18,157
30,439
Speak English less than "very well"
15,896
11,657
20,135
Other languages
4,200
730
7,670
Speak English less than "very well"
2,045
0
5,167
 
ANCESTRY (TOTAL REPORTED)
Total Population
545,181
529,191
561,171
Arab
2,881
1,026
4,736
Czech
2,211
312
4,110
Danish
1,622
182
3,062
Dutch
2,247
424
4,070
English
25,651
19,401
31,901
French (except Basque)
8,259
5,309
11,209
French Canadian
5,026
2,604
7,448
German
26,037
20,122
31,952
Greek
4,061
1,132
6,990
Hungarian
1,522
380
2,664
Irish
92,557
80,095
105,019
Italian
50,599
41,527
59,671
Lithuanian
2,774
1,215
4,333
Norwegian
3,196
878
5,514
Polish
10,295
6,017
14,573
Portuguese
3,174
1,169
5,179
Russian
9,653
6,092
13,214
Scotch-Irish
5,248
2,811
7,685
Scottish
6,346
4,077
8,615
Slovak
242
0
645
Subsaharan African
22,024
10,995
33,053
Swedish
4,594
2,249
6,939
Swiss
1,537
0
3,367
Ukrainian
729
0
1,643
United States or American
8,902
4,732
13,072
Welsh
722
74
1,370
West Indian (excluding Hispanic origin groups)
37,367
24,969
49,765
 

The 2002 American Community Survey 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. The degree of uncertainty for an estimate is represented through the use of a confidence interval. The confidence interval computed here is a 90 percent confidence interval and can be interpreted roughly as providing 90 percent certainty that the true number falls between the lower and upper bounds.

School enrollment estimates from the 2002 American Community Survey will tend to be lower than similar estimates from Census 2000 and the Current Population Survey because the school enrollment estimates from the 2002 American Community Survey do not include individuals residing in group quarters, such as college dormitories.

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 the lower and upper bound columns indicates that too few sample observations were available to compute a standard error and thus the lower and upper bounds. A statistical test is not appropriate.
2. An '**' entry in the lower and upper bound columns indicates that no sample observations were available to compute a standard error and thus the lower and upper bounds. A statistical test is not appropriate.
3. An '-' entry in the estimate column indicates that no sample observations were available to compute an estimate.
4. An '-' following a median estimate means the median falls in the lowest interval of an open-ended distribution.
5. An '+' following a median estimate means the median falls in the upper interval of an open-ended distribution.
6. An '***' entry in the lower and upper bound columns indicates that the median falls in the lowest interval or upper interval of an open-ended distribution. A statistical test is not appropriate.
7. An '*****' entry in the lower and upper bound columns indicates that the estimate is controlled. A statistical test is not appropriate.
8. An 'N' entry in the estimate, lower bound, and upper bound columns 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®.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau  |  American Community Survey Office  |  Page Last Modified: August 23, 2007