Massachusetts and Boston Statistics Resource Guide: Massachusetts Statistics

Basic figures about the people of Massachusetts, with a column comparing them to the U.S. average. Look for the map view, charts and functionality tools. There is lots of useful data on the Bay State at various Census webpages. You might start with Data Finders at the basic Census Webpage, or use the American FactFinder page as a useful navigational tool. One specific site worth exploring is the American Community Survey, which "is a new nationwide survey designed to provide communities a fresh look at how they are changing."

There's no way to give you a static Massachusetts page here, but this interactive tool provides selected demographic and economic statistics from the American Community Survey and the Current Population Survey.

The Secretary of the Commonwealth hosts this page related to Massachusetts and the national census. Limited access to current information is linked here; for more complete or older Census information about any state, please visit the U.S. Census directly.

The Citizen Information Service provides more than just economic data--although those types of statistics are here. (See, for example, the Part 5 economic statistics PDFs at the bottom of the opening page.) Moreover, "Massachusetts Facts" will inform you about Commonwealth history, politics, and a wide variety of factoids on Massachusetts. Ever wonder what the State folk song is? Look here. The CIS Home Page will also provide some basic maps in PDF form, as well as information useful to the political life of MA citizens.

Not to be confused with a website of the same name that used to be (but no longer is) maintained by mass.gov, this nice demographic mapping service was created with Maptitude for the Web mapping software by the Caliper Corporation, a GIS mapping and technology company based in Newton. It provides a nice array of comparative state maps for a variety of statistical fields, including basic demographics, education, housing, crime, politics, health, and more. Note the pop-open window at the bottom of the opening screen that allows you to look for city-specific figures. Some statistics, like those at many other sites, are based on the 2000 Census. Others that come from state agencies are sometimes more recent.

MassBenchmarks is just the new name given to the Massachusetts State Data Center, which "is a program of the UMass Donahue Institute's Economic and Public Policy Research Unit and is housed at the Institute's offices on the UMass Amherst campus." The group puts out a quarterly publication to which you can subscribe. The best ready reference materials can be accessed through the links in the left frame to areas like "Indices" and "Regions." For example, here's the base page for information on the Boston Metro Region. By the way, this is the official SDC (State Data Center) according to the U.S. Census. And it is also the Census BIDC (Business and Industry Data Center) for the Commonwealth.

State Library of Massachusetts maintains an electronic repository called DSpace. This collection includes state documents that have either been digitized or created in electronic form. Here is a selection of older Massachusetts census documents. You can search the larger DSpace by using the search box in the upper right.

The Kaiser Family Foundation has a number of resources that provide insight into the nation's health care challenges and various health reform proposals being considered at the national and state levels. Among them is the website statehealthfacts.org. This page presents some general economic and demographic data, which is downloadable. You can choose a different data category from the opening box in the light grey-blue area of the left-hand frame. Other areas include Health Status, Health Coverage & Uninsured, and Health Costs & Budgets. You can also do 50 state comparisons.

The federal Economic Census, which gathers statistics related to business enterprises, is conducted every five years (and is years in the making). The 2002 Census was the last to be in the form of static webpage data. The latest, from 2007, is still being loaded. I am linking to a page listing availability of Massachusetts data above. You can either click on the "Get Data" link to the right of each item, or simply build your own searches using the American FactFinder interactive site.

Monthly data series of employment, unemployment and other labor force statistics specific to Massachusetts. Below main chart are links to statistics for specific metropolitan areas (like Boston). Another webpage from the BLS on the New England Economy: Massachusetts is also available.

Links to the above, but also to additional labor, consumer and economic statistics specific to the Bay State. Posted by the BLS office here in Boston (who can be contacted for additional information).

Here are the current labor data series from the Commonwealth. The DWD also reproduces Municipal Employment Data, and provides links to other State data sources--look for the links in the right frame for other "Economic Data" and "Information" Tools.

PD (or Public Document) 43 is the Secretary of the Commonwealth's biannual report of voter registration, turnout and election results. The website provides a searchable database of Massachusetts historical election data back to 1979.

NAEP stands for "National Assessment of Educational Progress." Here is the State Profiles page in "The Nation's Report Card," an ongoing study of assessment results in basic education. Click on the map or open up the window list just above the map to select the "jurisdiction profile" for Massachusetts.

And for statistics on International Students in Massachusetts--something we sometimes get asked about--take a look at the Massachusetts Fact Sheet page linked from this "Open Doors" page belonging to the Institute of International Education (IIE).

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) produces this intriguing ranking of US states' economic structures, seeking to measure their preparedness to engage with New Economic factors such as globalization, innovation, digital readiness, and the like.

The Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth – known as MassINC – is an independent, nonpartisan research and educational institute. MassINC says that they "bring together diverse perspectives – including those held by conservatives and liberals, business and labor, advocates and policy makers – to focus on the challenge of achieving the American Dream in Massachusetts." More analysis than statistically oriented, you can nonetheless pick up data in their various publications, which cover areas like Education & Workforce Development, Public Safety, Economy & Jobs, Growth & Development, Politics & Civic Life, Immigration & Demographics, Cost of Living, Health Care. MassINC also produces Research Reports, which often contain statistical analysis.

"A geographic information system (GIS) is a computer system capable of assembling, storing, manipulating, and displaying geographically referenced information (i.e. spatial data)." This website is the home of the major GIS for Massachusetts. Maps include color and black & white orthophotos, topographic maps, and very specific types of maps including coastal areas, environmental justice areas, legislative districts, and more. As of the summer of 2005, you have two ways to explore MassGIS data online; through a new OLIVER data-viewer, or through browser-based Mapping Applications. The site now also has a page of other recommended "Cool Interactive Maps on the Web."

Utilizing digital data produced by the Office of Digital Cartography and GIS, Planning Department, BRA: "The Boston Atlas is the BRA's public internet mapping application. It includes data from many city agencies, including the Assessing Department and the Boston Water and Sewer Commission, as well as information from neighboring towns and state agencies. Information such as building footprints, planning areas, land parcels, and streets can be combined with aerial photography and historical maps to make custom maps." Viewed best with their new Flash viewer and an improved Java viewer.
NOTE: If you are interested in GIS, please also consult the LibGuide entitled GIS: Geographic Information Science/Systems.

The New England Economic Indicators database contains comprehensive historical data for all data published in Indicators as well as additional data. These data are available for the United States, New England as a whole, each of the six New England states, and, for some series, major New England metropolitan areas." Export data in .csv files. The Fed also recently launched a more interactive search called Indicators Interactive. Both tools are affiliated with the monthly publication of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston called New England Economic Indicators, which includes feature articles, as well as monthly statistics.

is "a member-supported, non-profit organization dedicated to providing objective economic analyses and forecasts" about the New England states. They provide Key Employment Data. And even there press releases can be worth checking out. [Note: While checking the links for this guide in September of 2009, I received repeated warnings of this website being identified as a Google "Reported Attack Site!" So, even though the website appears as normal, caution might be appropriate.]

Founded in the 1970s, "the Northeast-Midwest Institute is a Washington-based, private, non-profit, and non-partisan research organization dedicated to economic vitality, environmental quality, and regional equity for Northeast and Midwest states." Their website contains Economic Data and Research Reports. For example, here is a State Profile of Massachusetts. Click on the link for the data type to see a PDF with comparative statistics for all of the states covered.

The Population Reference Bureau says that its mission is to inform "people around the world about population, health, and the environment, and empowers them to use that information to advance the well-being of current and future generations." It is a good place to look for global social issues and country information. But it also has U.S. and state information. Here, for example, is the summary page for Massachusetts. Note, in the left frame, that you can customize this information in various ways. You can set different variables, and download resulting data pages to Excel.

This PDF of Bay State Data is part of a larger national project from the AARP's Public Policy Institute. (Note on a box to mid-right of the base page, there are links to earlier editions of the national report.) The State Handbook "facilitates state-by-state and state-national comparisons" by providing selected economic, demographic, and fiscal statistics about each of the states. Gender and age comparisons are provided for some of the data. Tables and maps of selected data are included. The Massachusetts report provides a nice 11 page summary of the state.

MassEcon does a fairly good job of providing links for a variety of Massachusetts statistics. This opening Data Center page opens with a link page to Commonwealth Communities. Other categories, listed in the blue left frame, include Demographics, Indicators, Key Reports and Cost of Living.

Formerly partnered with Suffolk University, Beacon Hill Institute offers publications and postings related to how economics can illuminate current public policy issues of Boston and the Bay State.