Data / Rankings / Civilian labor force / Cities in Massachusetts

Cities in Massachusetts by civilian labor force

Boston, MA had the highest civilian labor force of 58 cities in 2021, at 383,009. North Adams, MA had the lowest, at 5,575. The median was 23,467. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest383,009Boston, MA
Lowest5,575North Adams, MA
Median23,46758 cities

All cities, 2021

Boston, MA: 383,009 personsBoston, MA383,009Worcester, MA: 105,223 personsWorcester, MA105,223Cambridge, MA: 69,741 personsCambridge, MA69,741Springfield, MA: 69,036 personsSpringfield, MA69,036Lowell, MA: 62,412 personsLowell, MA62,412Quincy, MA: 58,514 personsQuincy, MA58,514Somerville, MA: 55,816 personsSomerville, MA55,816Brockton, MA: 52,843 personsBrockton, MA52,843Lynn, MA: 52,262 personsLynn, MA52,262New Bedford, MA: 47,389 personsNew Bedford, MA47,389Newton, MA: 45,972 personsNewton, MA45,972Lawrence, MA: 45,000 personsLawrence, MA45,000Fall River, MA: 44,612 personsFall River, MA44,612Framingham, MA: 38,983 personsFramingham, MA38,983Waltham, MA: 38,314 personsWaltham, MA38,314Malden, MA: 37,645 personsMalden, MA37,645Haverhill, MA: 36,826 personsHaverhill, MA36,826Medford, MA: 35,567 personsMedford, MA35,567Weymouth Town, MA: 32,727 personsWeymouth Town, MA32,727Revere, MA: 32,459 personsRevere, MA32,459Taunton, MA: 31,191 personsTaunton, MA31,191Methuen, MA: 28,836 personsMethuen, MA28,836Peabody, MA: 28,466 personsPeabody, MA28,466Chicopee, MA: 27,932 personsChicopee, MA27,932Everett, MA: 27,328 personsEverett, MA27,328Salem, MA: 26,455 personsSalem, MA26,455Barnstable Town, MA: 26,137 personsBarnstable Town, MA26,137Attleboro, MA: 25,164 personsAttleboro, MA25,164Woburn, MA: 23,611 personsWoburn, MA23,611Beverly, MA: 23,323 personsBeverly, MA23,323Leominster, MA: 23,309 personsLeominster, MA23,309Marlborough, MA: 23,172 personsMarlborough, MA23,172Fitchburg, MA: 22,358 personsFitchburg, MA22,358Braintree Town, MA: 21,805 personsBraintree Town, MA21,805Pittsfield, MA: 21,763 personsPittsfield, MA21,763Watertown, MA: 21,154 personsWatertown, MA21,154Westfield, MA: 20,025 personsWestfield, MA20,025Chelsea, MA: 19,504 personsChelsea, MA19,504Randolph Town, MA: 19,020 personsRandolph Town, MA19,020Franklin Town, MA: 18,682 personsFranklin Town, MA18,682Amherst Town, MA: 17,816 personsAmherst Town, MA17,816North Attleborough Town, MA: 17,415 personsNorth Attleborough Town, MA17,415Holyoke, MA: 16,905 personsHolyoke, MA16,905Melrose, MA: 16,147 personsMelrose, MA16,147Northampton, MA: 15,878 personsNorthampton, MA15,878Gloucester, MA: 15,871 personsGloucester, MA15,871West Springfield Town, MA: 15,372 personsWest Springfield Town, MA15,372Agawam Town, MA: 15,284 personsAgawam Town, MA15,284Bridgewater Town, MA: 14,687 personsBridgewater Town, MA14,687Winthrop Town, MA: 10,217 personsWinthrop Town, MA10,217Amesbury, MA: 9,804 personsAmesbury, MA9,804Gardner, MA: 9,788 personsGardner, MA9,788Newburyport, MA: 9,410 personsNewburyport, MA9,410Southbridge Town, MA: 8,940 personsSouthbridge Town, MA8,940Easthampton, MA: 8,253 personsEasthampton, MA8,253Greenfield, MA: 8,120 personsGreenfield, MA8,120Palmer Town, MA: 6,613 personsPalmer Town, MA6,613North Adams, MA: 5,575 personsNorth Adams, MA5,575Boston, MA: 383,009 personsBoston, MA383,009Worcester, MA: 105,223 personsWorcester, MA105,223Cambridge, MA: 69,741 personsCambridge, MA69,741Springfield, MA: 69,036 personsSpringfield, MA69,036Lowell, MA: 62,412 personsLowell, MA62,412Quincy, MA: 58,514 personsQuincy, MA58,514Somerville, MA: 55,816 personsSomerville, MA55,816Brockton, MA: 52,843 personsBrockton, MA52,843Lynn, MA: 52,262 personsLynn, MA52,262New Bedford, MA: 47,389 personsNew Bedford, MA47,389Newton, MA: 45,972 personsNewton, MA45,972Lawrence, MA: 45,000 personsLawrence, MA45,000Fall River, MA: 44,612 personsFall River, MA44,612Framingham, MA: 38,983 personsFramingham, MA38,983Waltham, MA: 38,314 personsWaltham, MA38,314Malden, MA: 37,645 personsMalden, MA37,645Haverhill, MA: 36,826 personsHaverhill, MA36,826Medford, MA: 35,567 personsMedford, MA35,567Weymouth Town, MA: 32,727 personsWeymouth Town, MA32,727Revere, MA: 32,459 personsRevere, MA32,459Taunton, MA: 31,191 personsTaunton, MA31,191Methuen, MA: 28,836 personsMethuen, MA28,836Peabody, MA: 28,466 personsPeabody, MA28,466Chicopee, MA: 27,932 personsChicopee, MA27,932Everett, MA: 27,328 personsEverett, MA27,328Salem, MA: 26,455 personsSalem, MA26,455Barnstable Town, MA: 26,137 personsBarnstable Town, MA26,137Attleboro, MA: 25,164 personsAttleboro, MA25,164Woburn, MA: 23,611 personsWoburn, MA23,611Beverly, MA: 23,323 personsBeverly, MA23,323Leominster, MA: 23,309 personsLeominster, MA23,309Marlborough, MA: 23,172 personsMarlborough, MA23,172Fitchburg, MA: 22,358 personsFitchburg, MA22,358Braintree Town, MA: 21,805 personsBraintree Town, MA21,805Pittsfield, MA: 21,763 personsPittsfield, MA21,763Watertown, MA: 21,154 personsWatertown, MA21,154Westfield, MA: 20,025 personsWestfield, MA20,025Chelsea, MA: 19,504 personsChelsea, MA19,504Randolph Town, MA: 19,020 personsRandolph Town, MA19,020Franklin Town, MA: 18,682 personsFranklin Town, MA18,682Amherst Town, MA: 17,816 personsAmherst Town, MA17,816North Attleborough Town, MA: 17,415 personsNorth Attleborough Town, MA17,415Holyoke, MA: 16,905 personsHolyoke, MA16,905Melrose, MA: 16,147 personsMelrose, MA16,147Northampton, MA: 15,878 personsNorthampton, MA15,878Gloucester, MA: 15,871 personsGloucester, MA15,871West Springfield Town, MA: 15,372 personsWest Springfield Town, MA15,372Agawam Town, MA: 15,284 personsAgawam Town, MA15,284Bridgewater Town, MA: 14,687 personsBridgewater Town, MA14,687Winthrop Town, MA: 10,217 personsWinthrop Town, MA10,217Amesbury, MA: 9,804 personsAmesbury, MA9,804Gardner, MA: 9,788 personsGardner, MA9,788Newburyport, MA: 9,410 personsNewburyport, MA9,410Southbridge Town, MA: 8,940 personsSouthbridge Town, MA8,940Easthampton, MA: 8,253 personsEasthampton, MA8,253Greenfield, MA: 8,120 personsGreenfield, MA8,120Palmer Town, MA: 6,613 personsPalmer Town, MA6,613North Adams, MA: 5,575 personsNorth Adams, MA5,575
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2021
persons		Change on 2020
1Boston, MA383,009-2.3%
2Worcester, MA105,223+1.2%
3Cambridge, MA69,741+1.3%
4Springfield, MA69,036-0.3%
5Lowell, MA62,412+2.1%
6Quincy, MA58,514-1.7%
7Somerville, MA55,816+0.4%
8Brockton, MA52,843-1.1%
9Lynn, MA52,262-2.1%
10New Bedford, MA47,389-1.5%
11Newton, MA45,972+0.6%
12Lawrence, MA45,000-2.3%
13Fall River, MA44,612-0.7%
14Framingham, MA38,983-0.3%
15Waltham, MA38,314+1.6%
16Malden, MA37,645-2.9%
17Haverhill, MA36,826-0.6%
18Medford, MA35,567-0.7%
19Weymouth Town, MA32,727+0.3%
20Revere, MA32,459-6.3%
21Taunton, MA31,191-1.1%
22Methuen, MA28,836-0.1%
23Peabody, MA28,466-1.5%
24Chicopee, MA27,932+0.2%
25Everett, MA27,328-2.5%
26Salem, MA26,455+1.2%
27Barnstable Town, MA26,137+1.8%
28Attleboro, MA25,164-0.5%
29Woburn, MA23,611+0.4%
30Beverly, MA23,323-0.3%
31Leominster, MA23,309-0.9%
32Marlborough, MA23,172-0.7%
33Fitchburg, MA22,358-0.9%
34Braintree Town, MA21,805-0.8%
35Pittsfield, MA21,763-0.6%
36Watertown, MA21,154+0.1%
37Westfield, MA20,025+2.4%
38Chelsea, MA19,504-4.4%
39Randolph Town, MA19,020-2.1%
40Franklin Town, MA18,682+3.4%
41Amherst Town, MA17,816+34.8%
42North Attleborough Town, MA17,4150%
43Holyoke, MA16,905-1.2%
44Melrose, MA16,147-0.7%
45Northampton, MA15,878-0.7%
46Gloucester, MA15,871+0.6%
47West Springfield Town, MA15,372+0.1%
48Agawam Town, MA15,284+0.4%
49Bridgewater Town, MA14,687+6.4%
50Winthrop Town, MA10,217-4.3%
51Amesbury, MA9,804-0.1%
52Gardner, MA9,788-1.6%
53Newburyport, MA9,410+0.7%
54Southbridge Town, MA8,940+0.2%
55Easthampton, MA8,253-8.4%
56Greenfield, MA8,120-0.7%
57Palmer Town, MA6,613+1.2%
58North Adams, MA5,575-0.3%

Other periods

About this ranking

Employed plus unemployed residents, annual average.

More on how it is measured
  • People aged 16 and over by place of residence, from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
  • Active-duty military personnel and people living in institutions are excluded.

United States cities only for now. Counts people where they live, not jobs: for wage and salary jobs by state use oews_employment. BLS estimates cities by splitting county estimates with Census Bureau employment and population data and unemployment insurance claims, so city figures are less precise than state ones. BLS publishes cities of 25,000 or more, and smaller cities in New England.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the cities are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026). Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average (Cities in Massachusetts by civilian labor force, 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24

MLA 9

Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average, Cities in Massachusetts by civilian labor force, 2021. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/massachusetts-cities?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. Cities in Massachusetts by civilian labor force, 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/massachusetts-cities?period=2021.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average, Cities in Massachusetts by civilian labor force, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/massachusetts-cities?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_massachusetts_by_2021,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {{Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average: Cities in Massachusetts by civilian labor force, 2021}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/massachusetts-cities?period=2021. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
TI  - Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average: Cities in Massachusetts by civilian labor force, 2021
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/30
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/massachusetts-cities?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/massachusetts-cities?period=2021.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
Embed this chart

Paste this code into a web page or a blog post. The chart shows the latest figures as they are published, with the source and a link back to this page.

Sites that read oEmbed links, such as WordPress, can show the chart when you paste the link to this page.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Rank Cities in Massachusetts by civilian labor force using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"civilian_labor_force","level":"municipality","within":"Massachusetts","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=civilian_labor_force&level=municipality&within=Massachusetts&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

Which city has the highest civilian labor force?

Boston, MA, with 383,009 in 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest civilian labor force?

North Adams, MA, with 5,575 in 2021.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Civilian labor force: other rankings

Cities in Massachusetts: more rankings