According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 Sub-County Population Estimates, 10 out of Massachusetts’ 26 cities or towns with populations of 50,000 or more in 2018 increased in population from July 1, 2018 to July 1, 2019. Framingham led the group in terms of total gained with an estimated 1,507 person increase over the year, and was also the fastest-growing large place in terms of percentage growth, with a 2.1% population increase. The City of Boston, which has led the state in terms of numeric growth in the state every other year since 2010, this year ranked second behind Framingham. In terms of annual percentage growth among places with populations over 50,000 in Massachusetts, Boston ranked 6th this year, behind Framingham, Plymouth, Cambridge, Weymouth, and Methuen, which ranked 1st through 5th, respectively. This shift in population growth away from Boston may be reflective of the decreasing immigration in the state as a whole over the past few years – as estimated in the Census Bureau’s latest county-level population release - and also reflects a greater increase in housing units in these fastest growing communities relative to other places in the state. Table 1 shows the estimated numerical change and percent change from July 1, 2018 to July 1, 2019 for cities and towns in Massachusetts with populations over 50,000 in 2018 and how they rank nationally in among other large incorporated places in the U.S.

In the United States overall, 62% of the 774 incorporated places over 50,000 persons increased in population from 2018 to 2019, with an average 0.6% increase among all 774 places. The most significant growth was seen in parts of the South and West, particularly in Texas which counted seven places in the Top-25 fastest growing places by annual percent-change.

Map 1. Massachusetts Sub-County Population Estimates, July 1, 2019

Figure description.

Citation for map: UMass Donahue Institute
Source Data: Annual Estimates of the Resident Population: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2019. U.S. Census Bureau Population Division. May 21, 2020.

Map 2. Estimated Annual Percent Change, July 1, 2018 to July 1, 2019 by Massachusetts Municipality

Figure description.

Citation for map: UMass Donahue Institute
Source Data: Annual Estimates of the Resident Population: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2019. U.S. Census Bureau Population Division. May 21, 2020.

Among the 351 individual cities and towns in Massachusetts, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that 154 municipalities, or just 44%, increased in population between July 1, 2018 and July 1, 2019. This percentage is in contrast to the Vintage 2018 estimates released by the Bureau in May of 2019, when 287 municipalities, or 82% of all, were estimated as increasing. Again here we see the effects of a downward revision of the immigration component in the county-level estimates to which the municipal estimates are controlled. The largest population gains from 2018 to 2019 were estimated in Framingham (1,507) Boston (1,453), Franklin (886), and Cambridge (776), representing a shift in population growth from the largest urban centers in the state, like Cambridge and Boston, into smaller cities and nearby towns like Framingham, Franklin, Foxborough, and others located mostly in Middlesex, Norfolk, and Plymouth Counties.

Percentage-wise, the fastest growers of the year were mostly small- to mid-sized towns and cities, including many in Middlesex, Worcester, Norfolk, and Plymouth. The table below shows the top 25 fastest growing municipalities in the state in terms of percentage change from 2018 to 2019.

Map 3. Cumulative Change in Population from 2010-2019 by Massachusetts Municipality

Figure description.

Citation for map: UMass Donahue Institute
Source Data: Annual Estimates of the Resident Population: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2019. U.S. Census Bureau Population Division. May 21, 2020.

Since the last census in 2010, the largest cumulative population gains have occurred within the already dense Suffolk, Middlesex, and Essex counties as well as portions of Worcester and Norfolk counties, while most population loss was experienced in Berkshire, Franklin, and Barnstable counties. The municipalities with the largest cumulative population gains since the 2010 Census include Boston (74,808), Cambridge (13,779), Framingham (6,093), Somerville (5,659), and Plymouth (5,060). Everett and Lowell, while still included in the top 10 growers since the last Census, have shifted further down in rank in the 2019 vintage estimates, possibly as a result of diminishing international immigration in the state overall in the current estimates year compared to last. By percent change, the largest gains from 2010 to 2019 were estimated in Hopkinton (23.9%), Burlington (16.9%), Lunenburg (16.5%), Boxborough (15.6%), and Salisbury (15.0%).

Table 3 lists the 25 fastest growing MCDs in Massachusetts since April 1, 2010 by population growth and is followed by a table of the 25 fastest growing MCDs by percentage growth (Table 4).