The Longwood Medical and Academic Area’s Economic Contributions to Boston and Massachusetts
May 2021
From the executive summary:
The reputation of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a global innovator has long been anchored to its higher education and healthcare institutions. Located in the City of Boston, the Longwood Medical and Academic Area (LMA) is a 213-acre innovation hub that is home to 22 prominent institutions, including three Harvard-affiliated teaching hospitals, three Harvard graduate schools, and sixteen other colleges, universities, cultural institutions, and medical centers.
Rapid growth in such a small area led to the creation of a non-profit now known as MASCO to serve as the convening organization for the institutions in the LMA and to address their shared challenges, such as land use, transportation, and congestion. Today, MASCO serves as the preeminent organization planning and advocating for people who need to access the LMA, while also providing some of the transportation services necessary for them to move into and around the LMA safely and efficiently. MASCO also creates ways for LMA institutions to collaborate around shared development and access goals and provides other shared services.
The LMA has one of the highest concentrations of jobs in the City of Boston and Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Together, LMA institutions employ nearly 68,000 workers, including researchers, educators, clinicians, administrators, and volunteers and educate 27,000 students. These totals are the highest in LMA history, with total employment increasing by nearly 30%, or nearly 15,000 jobs, in only 10 years. This is double the state’s growth rate during the same period.
- The LMA institutions employ nearly 68,000 workers and volunteers and educate 27,000 students.
- These totals are the highest in LMA history.
- Over ten years, total employment increased by nearly 30%, or nearly 15,000 jobs.
- LMA doubled the state’s growth rate during the same time.
