Data / Rankings / Population / Cities in Massachusetts

Cities in Massachusetts by population

Boston, MA had the highest population of 58 cities in 2020, at 669,665. Palmer Town, MA had the lowest, at 12,418. The median was 43,710 and the figure for Massachusetts was 6.99 million. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest669,665Boston, MA
Lowest12,418Palmer Town, MA
Median43,71058 cities
Massachusetts6,985,320History

All cities, 2020

Boston, MA: 669,665 personsBoston, MA669,665Worcester, MA: 202,448 personsWorcester, MA202,448Springfield, MA: 155,182 personsSpringfield, MA155,182Cambridge, MA: 116,202 personsCambridge, MA116,202Lowell, MA: 115,783 personsLowell, MA115,783Brockton, MA: 105,481 personsBrockton, MA105,481Quincy, MA: 101,487 personsQuincy, MA101,487Lynn, MA: 101,071 personsLynn, MA101,071New Bedford, MA: 100,909 personsNew Bedford, MA100,909Fall River, MA: 93,906 personsFall River, MA93,906Lawrence, MA: 88,903 personsLawrence, MA88,903Newton, MA: 88,806 personsNewton, MA88,806Somerville, MA: 80,777 personsSomerville, MA80,777Framingham, MA: 72,090 personsFramingham, MA72,090Haverhill, MA: 67,637 personsHaverhill, MA67,637Malden, MA: 66,047 personsMalden, MA66,047Waltham, MA: 64,190 personsWaltham, MA64,190Revere, MA: 61,909 personsRevere, MA61,909Medford, MA: 59,566 personsMedford, MA59,566Taunton, MA: 59,417 personsTaunton, MA59,417Weymouth Town, MA: 57,456 personsWeymouth Town, MA57,456Chicopee, MA: 55,456 personsChicopee, MA55,456Peabody, MA: 54,396 personsPeabody, MA54,396Methuen, MA: 52,975 personsMethuen, MA52,975Everett, MA: 48,908 personsEverett, MA48,908Barnstable Town, MA: 48,863 personsBarnstable Town, MA48,863Attleboro, MA: 46,468 personsAttleboro, MA46,468Pittsfield, MA: 43,837 personsPittsfield, MA43,837Leominster, MA: 43,744 personsLeominster, MA43,744Salem, MA: 43,675 personsSalem, MA43,675Beverly, MA: 42,567 personsBeverly, MA42,567Fitchburg, MA: 41,656 personsFitchburg, MA41,656Marlborough, MA: 41,635 personsMarlborough, MA41,635Woburn, MA: 40,792 personsWoburn, MA40,792Chelsea, MA: 40,543 personsChelsea, MA40,543Westfield, MA: 40,153 personsWestfield, MA40,153Braintree Town, MA: 39,080 personsBraintree Town, MA39,080Holyoke, MA: 38,142 personsHolyoke, MA38,142Watertown, MA: 35,326 personsWatertown, MA35,326Randolph Town, MA: 34,969 personsRandolph Town, MA34,969Franklin Town, MA: 32,323 personsFranklin Town, MA32,323North Attleborough Town, MA: 30,816 personsNorth Attleborough Town, MA30,816Gloucester, MA: 29,746 personsGloucester, MA29,746Melrose, MA: 29,710 personsMelrose, MA29,710Northampton, MA: 29,299 personsNorthampton, MA29,299West Springfield Town, MA: 28,766 personsWest Springfield Town, MA28,766Agawam Town, MA: 28,626 personsAgawam Town, MA28,626Amherst Town, MA: 27,803 personsAmherst Town, MA27,803Bridgewater Town, MA: 26,761 personsBridgewater Town, MA26,761Gardner, MA: 21,210 personsGardner, MA21,210Winthrop Town, MA: 19,255 personsWinthrop Town, MA19,255Newburyport, MA: 18,297 personsNewburyport, MA18,297Greenfield, MA: 17,714 personsGreenfield, MA17,714Southbridge Town, MA: 17,701 personsSouthbridge Town, MA17,701Amesbury, MA: 17,337 personsAmesbury, MA17,337Easthampton, MA: 16,174 personsEasthampton, MA16,174North Adams, MA: 12,732 personsNorth Adams, MA12,732Palmer Town, MA: 12,418 personsPalmer Town, MA12,418
persons. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2020
persons
1Boston, MA669,665
2Worcester, MA202,448
3Springfield, MA155,182
4Cambridge, MA116,202
5Lowell, MA115,783
6Brockton, MA105,481
7Quincy, MA101,487
8Lynn, MA101,071
9New Bedford, MA100,909
10Fall River, MA93,906
11Lawrence, MA88,903
12Newton, MA88,806
13Somerville, MA80,777
14Framingham, MA72,090
15Haverhill, MA67,637
16Malden, MA66,047
17Waltham, MA64,190
18Revere, MA61,909
19Medford, MA59,566
20Taunton, MA59,417
21Weymouth Town, MA57,456
22Chicopee, MA55,456
23Peabody, MA54,396
24Methuen, MA52,975
25Everett, MA48,908
26Barnstable Town, MA48,863
27Attleboro, MA46,468
28Pittsfield, MA43,837
29Leominster, MA43,744
30Salem, MA43,675
31Beverly, MA42,567
32Fitchburg, MA41,656
33Marlborough, MA41,635
34Woburn, MA40,792
35Chelsea, MA40,543
36Westfield, MA40,153
37Braintree Town, MA39,080
38Holyoke, MA38,142
39Watertown, MA35,326
40Randolph Town, MA34,969
41Franklin Town, MA32,323
42North Attleborough Town, MA30,816
43Gloucester, MA29,746
44Melrose, MA29,710
45Northampton, MA29,299
46West Springfield Town, MA28,766
47Agawam Town, MA28,626
48Amherst Town, MA27,803
49Bridgewater Town, MA26,761
50Gardner, MA21,210
51Winthrop Town, MA19,255
52Newburyport, MA18,297
53Greenfield, MA17,714
54Southbridge Town, MA17,701
55Amesbury, MA17,337
56Easthampton, MA16,174
57North Adams, MA12,732
58Palmer Town, MA12,418

Other periods

About this ranking

Resident population. Spain and the EU: 1 January, with Spanish figures from the official municipal register (Padrón). Norway: Statistics Norway, 1 January. United States: Census Bureau population estimates for 1 July. United Kingdom regions and local authorities: Office for National Statistics estimates for 30 June. Other countries and the World: World Bank mid-year estimates, which count all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.

The World Bank series exists for every country, so use it (through compare) to rank countries on one basis.

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. Census Bureau. Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. 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. Census Bureau. (2026). Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals) (Cities in Massachusetts by population, 2020) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/

MLA 9

Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals), Cities in Massachusetts by population, 2020. U.S. Census Bureau, 14 May 2026, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/massachusetts-cities?period=2020. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2026. Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). Cities in Massachusetts by population, 2020. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/massachusetts-cities?period=2020.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2026) Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals), Cities in Massachusetts by population, 2020 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/massachusetts-cities?period=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_massachusetts_by_2020,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals): Cities in Massachusetts by population, 2020}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/massachusetts-cities?period=2020. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals): Cities in Massachusetts by population, 2020
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/14
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/massachusetts-cities?period=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/massachusetts-cities?period=2020.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which city has the highest population?

Boston, MA, with 669,665 in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which city has the lowest population?

Palmer Town, MA, with 12,418 in 2020.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Population: other rankings