Greater Boston is the metropolitan region of

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

encompassing the municipality of

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, the capital of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

and the most populous city in New England, and its surrounding areas, home to 4,941,632. The most stringent definition of the region, used by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, consists of most of the eastern third of mainland Massachusetts, excluding the Merrimack Valley and most of Southeastern Massachusetts, though most definitions (including the U.S. Census definition) include much of these areas and portions of southern

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. While the city of Boston covers and has 675,647 residents as of the 2020 census, the urbanization has extended well into surrounding areas and the Combined Statistical Area (CSA in the rest of the document), which includes the

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester is the List of municipalities in New Hampshire, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. Located on the banks of the Merrimack River, it had a population of 115,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Manches ...

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer months. The ...

and Worcester areas, has a population of more than 8.4 million people, making it one of the most populous such regions in the U.S. Some of Greater Boston's most well-known contributions involve the region's

higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

and medical institutions. Greater Boston has been influential upon American

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

and industry. The region and the state of Massachusetts are global leaders in

biotechnology Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

finance Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

, and maritime trade. Greater Boston is ranked tenth in population among US metropolitan statistical areas, home to 4,941,632 people as of the 2020 United States census, and sixth among combined statistical areas, with a population of 8,466,186. The area has hosted many people and sites significant to

American culture The culture of the United States encompasses various social behaviors, institutions, and Social norm, norms, including forms of Languages of the United States, speech, American literature, literature, Music of the United States, music, Visual a ...

and history, particularly

American literature American literature is literature written or produced in the United States of America and in the British colonies that preceded it. The American literary tradition is part of the broader tradition of English-language literature, but also ...

politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

, and the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

was the site of the first colony in New England, founded in 1620 by the Pilgrims, passengers of the ''

Mayflower ''Mayflower'' was an English sailing ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, reac ...

''. In 1692, the town of Salem and surrounding areas experienced one of America's most infamous cases of

mass hysteria Mass psychogenic illness (MPI), also called mass sociogenic illness, mass psychogenic disorder, epidemic hysteria or mass hysteria, involves the spread of illness symptoms through a population where there is no infectious agent responsible for c ...

, the

Salem witch trials The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in Province of Massachusetts Bay, colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than 200 people were accused. Not everyone wh ...

. In the late 18th century, Boston became known as the "Cradle of Liberty" for the agitation there that led to the

. The Greater Boston region has played a powerful scientific, commercial, and cultural role in the history of the United States. Before the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, the region was a center for the

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

, temperance, and transcendentalist movements. In 2004, Massachusetts became the first U.S. state to legally recognize

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

as a result of the decision of the

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Although the claim is disputed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the SJC claims the distinction of being the oldest continuously fu ...

in Boston. Many prominent American political dynasties have hailed from the Boston region, including the Adams and Kennedy families.

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States, founded in 1636, with the largest

financial endowment A financial endowment is a legal structure for managing, and in many cases indefinitely perpetuating, a pool of Financial instrument, financial, real estate, or other investments for a specific purpose according to Donor intent, the will of its fo ...

of any university, and whose

Law School A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for b ...

has spawned a contemporaneous majority of

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

Justices ''Justice'' (abbreviation: ame ''J.'' and other variations) is an honorific style and title traditionally used to describe a jurist who is currently serving or has served on a supreme court or some equal position. In some countries, a justice ma ...

. Kendall Square in Cambridge has been called "the most innovative square mile on the planet", in reference to the high concentration of

entrepreneurial Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entrepreneu ...

start-ups and quality of innovation which have emerged in the vicinity of the square since 2010. Both Harvard University and the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

, also in Cambridge, have been ranked among the most highly regarded

academic institution An academic institution is an educational institution dedicated to education and research, which grants academic degrees. See also academy and university. Types * Primary schools – (from French ''école primaire'') institutions where childre ...

s in the world.

Geography

Boundary definitions

Metropolitan Area

The most restrictive definition of the Greater Boston area is the region administered by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council. The MAPC is a regional planning organization created by the Massachusetts legislature to oversee transportation infrastructure and economic development concerns in the Boston area. The MAPC includes 101 cities and towns that are grouped into eight subregions. These include most of the area within the region's outer circumferential highway, I-495. In 2013, the population of the MAPC district was 3.2 million, which was 48% of the total population of Massachusetts, in an area of , of which 39% is forested and an additional 11% is water, wetland, or other open space. The cities and towns included in this definition are:

New England City and Town Area

Two definitions are used by the

United States Census The United States census (plural censuses or census) is a census that is legally mandated by the Constitution of the United States. It takes place every ten years. The first census after the American Revolution was taken in 1790 United States ce ...

to define the Boston–Cambridge–Newton, MA–NH Metro Area or Boston–Cambridge–Newton, MA–NH Metropolitan NECTA, which is defined as a New England City and Town Area. The metro area definition is based on counties, while the NECTA definition is based on city and town boundaries. Counties included in the county-based definition include: * Essex County, Massachusetts * Middlesex County, Massachusetts * Norfolk County, Massachusetts * Plymouth County, Massachusetts * Suffolk County, Massachusetts * Rockingham County, New Hampshire * Strafford County, New Hampshire The NECTA definition includes all of the communities from the MAPC definition, as well as the Merrimack Valley communities, parts of southern

(northward to Milford and Hampton, and the

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...

area.

Combined Statistical Area

The widest definition of the metropolitan area based on commuting patterns, is defined by the U.S. Census as the Boston–Worcester–Providence combined statistical area. This area consists of the following counties in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire: Downtown_Providence_Rhode_Island_2008

*Connecticut **

Windham County, Connecticut Windham County ( ) is one of the eight counties in the U.S. state of Connecticut, located in its northeastern corner. As of the 2020 census, the population was 116,418, making it the least populous county in Connecticut. It forms the core o ...

*Massachusetts **

Barnstable County, Massachusetts Barnstable County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 228,996. The county seat is Barnstable, Massachusetts, Barnstable. The county consists ...

Bristol County, Massachusetts Bristol County is a county in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 579,200. The shire town is Taunton. Some governmental functions are performed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, othe ...

Essex County, Massachusetts Essex County is a County (United States), county in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the total population was 809,829, making it the third-most populous county in the stat ...

Middlesex County, Massachusetts Middlesex County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,632,002, making it the most populous county in both Massachusetts and New England and the 22nd most populou ...

** Norfolk County, Massachusetts ** Plymouth County, Massachusetts **

Suffolk County, Massachusetts Suffolk County ( ) is located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 797,936, making it the fourth-most populous county in Massachusetts. The county comprises the cities of Boston ...

Worcester County, Massachusetts Worcester County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 862,111, making it the second-most populous county in Massachusetts. Being 1,510.6 ...

*New Hampshire ** Belknap County, New Hampshire **

Hillsborough County, New Hampshire Hillsborough County is the most populous County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 422,937, almost one-third the population of the entire state. Its c ...

Merrimack County, New Hampshire Merrimack County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census, the population was 153,808, making it the third most populous county in New Hampshire. Its county seat ...

Rockingham County, New Hampshire Rockingham County is a county in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. As of the 2020 census, the population was 314,176, making it New Hampshire's second-most populous county. The county seat is Brentwood. Rockingham County is part of the Boston ...

** Strafford County, New Hampshire *Rhode Island ** Bristol County, Rhode Island **

Kent County, Rhode Island Kent County is a county located in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. As of the 2020 census, the population was 170,363, making it the second-most populous county in Rhode Island. The county was formed in 1750 from the southern third of Provide ...

** Newport County, Rhode Island ** Providence County, Rhode Island **

Washington County, Rhode Island Washington County, known locally as South County, is a county located in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. As of the 2020 census, the population was 129,839. Rhode Island counties have no governmental functions other than as court administrat ...

The total population for the extended region was estimated at 8,466,186 at the 2020 census.

Subregions

*Massachusetts ** Central Massachusetts *** Montachusett-North County *** South County ***

Blackstone River Valley The Blackstone Valley or Blackstone River Valley is a region of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It was a major factor in the American Industrial Revolution. It makes up part of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor and Blackst ...

*** North Shore *** Cape Ann ** Merrimack Valley ** MetroWest ** Southeastern Massachusetts ***

** South Coast ** South Shore *New Hampshire ** Lakes Region ** Seacoast *Rhode Island ** Blackstone Valley **

East Bay The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Wi ...

Climate

The Boston area has

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

s (''Dfa'' and ''Dfb'' under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system), with high

humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation (meteorology), precipitation, dew, or fog t ...

and

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...

year-round.

Demographics

Greater Boston has a sizable Jewish community, estimated at between 210,000 people, and 261,000 or 5–6% of the Greater Boston metro population, compared with about 2% for the nation as a whole. Contrary to national trends, the number of Jews in Greater Boston has been growing, fueled by the fact that 60% of children in Jewish mixed-faith families are raised Jewish, compared with roughly one in three nationally. The 2020 PRRI Atlas found that 35% of the Boston metro area identified as Protestant while 26% identified as Catholic. The City of Boston also has one of the largest

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

populations per capita. It ranks fifth of all major cities in the country (behind

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, and slightly behind

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, and

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

), with 12.3% of the city identifying as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. The 40 most diverse Census tracts in the Boston CSA: The 40 census tracts in the Boston CSA with the highest percentage of residents who identify as Hispanic or Latino: Census tracts in the Boston CSA with the highest percentage of residents who identify as Black American: Census tracts in the Boston CSA with the highest percentage of residents who identify as Asian American: Census tracts in the Boston CSA with the highest percentage of residents who identify as Irish American: Census tracts in the Boston CSA with the highest percentage of residents who identify as Italian American: Census tracts in the Boston CSA with the highest percentage of residents who identify as Portuguese American: Census tracts in the Boston CSA with French or French Canadian listed as first ancestry:

Largest cities and towns

Cities and towns with a population over 50,000 as of the 2020 census include:

Education

A long established center of higher education, the area includes many community colleges, two-year schools, and internationally prominent undergraduate and graduate institutions. The graduate schools include highly regarded schools of law, medicine, business, technology, international relations, public health, education, and religion. Greater Boston contains seven R1 Research Institutions as per the

Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, or simply the Carnegie Classification, is a framework for classifying colleges and universities in the United States. It was created in 1970 by the Carnegie Foundation for the Ad ...

. This is, by far, the highest number of such institutions in a single Metropolitan Statistical Area in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Economy

Major companies

References: *

Abbott Laboratories Abbott Laboratories is an American multinational medical devices and health care company with headquarters in Abbott Park, Illinois, in the United States. The company was founded by Chicago physician Wallace Calvin Abbott in 1888 to formulate k ...

, in Worcester (pharmaceutical laboratory) * Advanced Cell Technology, in Worcester (research laboratory) *

AMD Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California and maintains significant operations in Austin, Texas. AMD is a hardware and fabless company that de ...

, in Boxborough *

Analog Devices Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI), also known simply as Analog, is an American multinational corporation, multinational semiconductor company specializing in data conversion, signal processing, and power management technology, headquartered in Wilming ...

, in Norwood * Atlantic Broadband, in Quincy * Atlantic Tele-Network, in Beverly * Avid Technology, Inc, in Burlington (headquarters) * Azimuth Systems, in Acton * Bain & Company, in Boston (headquarters) *

Bain Capital Bain Capital, LP is an American Investment company, private investment firm based in Boston, Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts, with around $185 billion of assets under management. It specializes in private equity, venture capital, credit, p ...

, in Boston (headquarters) * Bertucci's Corporation, in Northborough (headquarters) * BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc., in Westborough (headquarters) * Bose Corporation, in Framingham (headquarters) * Boston Properties, Inc., in Boston (headquarters) * Boston Scientific Corporation, in Marlborough (headquarters) * Charles River Laboratories, in Wilmington (headquarters) *

Cisco Systems Cisco Systems, Inc. (using the trademark Cisco) is an American multinational corporation, multinational digital communications technology conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, m ...

, in Boxborough * David Clark Company, in Worcester (manufacturer of space suits) * Diebold, in Marlborough (regional headquarters) * Dell Technologies, in Hopkinton (headquarters) * Evergreen Solar, in Marlborough (headquarters) *

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company. It was founded by Bill Hewlett and David Packard in 1939 in a one-car garage in Palo Alto, California ...

, in Marlborough (regional headquarters) * Schneider Electric, in

Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was Settler, settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in ''Encyclopedia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ed. ...

* HourlyNerd, in Boston * Innerscope Research, in Boston (headquarters) *

Intel Corporation Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer components such as central processing ...

, in Hudson * Kronos Incorporated, in

Chelmsford, Massachusetts Chelmsford () is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Chelmsford was incorporated in May 1655 by an act of the Massachusetts General Court. When Chelmsford was incorporated, its local economy was fueled by lumber mills, ...

(headquarters) * Marshalls, Inc, in Framingham (headquarters) *

The MathWorks The MathWorks, Inc. is an American privately held corporation that specializes in mathematical computing software. Its major products include MATLAB and Simulink, which support data analysis and simulation. History MATLAB was created in the 1 ...

, in Natick *

MITRE Corporation The Mitre Corporation (stylized as The MITRE Corporation and MITRE) is an American not-for-profit organization with dual headquarters in Bedford, Massachusetts, and McLean, Virginia. It manages federally funded research and development centers ...

, in Bedford (headquarters) *

National Amusements National Amusements, Inc. is an American privately owned movie theater operator and mass media holding company incorporated in Maryland and based in Norwood, Massachusetts. The company owned 69 theaters and 667 screens throughout the United Stat ...

, in Norwood (headquarters) *

Novartis Novartis AG is a Swiss multinational corporation, multinational pharmaceutical company, pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland. Novartis is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world and was the eighth largest by re ...

, in

(US headquarters) * OutStart, Inc., in Boston (headquarters) * Philips Electronics North America, in Andover (regional headquarters) * Philips Healthcare, in Andover (global headquarters) and Framingham *

Red Hat Red Hat, Inc. (formerly Red Hat Software, Inc.) is an American software company that provides open source software products to enterprises and is a subsidiary of IBM. Founded in 1993, Red Hat has its corporate headquarters in Raleigh, North ...

, in Westford (engineering headquarters) * Reed & Barton in

(factory and headquarters) * Saint-Gobain, in Worcester * Sepracor, Inc., in Marlborough (headquarters) * Staples, Inc., in Framingham (headquarters) * Stop & Shop, in Quincy (headquarters) * TJX Corporation, in Framingham (headquarters) * UniFirst, in Wilmington (headquarters) * WB Mason, in Brockton (headquarters) * Wyman-Gordon, in Grafton (complex metal components and products) *

Akamai Technologies Akamai Technologies, Inc. is an American company specialized in content delivery networkJ. Dilley, B. Maggs, J. Parikh, H. Prokop, R. Sitaraman, and B. Weihl. (CDN), cybersecurity, DDoS mitigation, and cloud services. It is headquartered in ...

, in

(headquarters) * Athenahealth, in

Watertown, Massachusetts Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, part of Greater Boston. The population was 35,329 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Its neighborhoods include Bemis, Coolidge Square, East Watertown, Watertown Sq ...

(headquarters) *

AstraZeneca AstraZeneca plc () (AZ) is a British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with its headquarters at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in Cambridge, UK. It has a portfolio of products for major diseases in areas includi ...

, in Waltham (R&D) *

BBN Technologies Raytheon BBN (originally Bolt, Beranek and Newman, Inc.) is an American research and development company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1966, the Franklin Institute awarded the firm the Frank P. Brown Medal, in 1999 BBN received the ...

, in Cambridge (headquarters) * Biocell Center, in Medford (North American headquarters) *

Biogen Idec Biogen Inc. is an American multinational biotechnology company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States specializing in the discovery, development, and delivery of the treatment of neurological diseases to patients worldwide. Biogen ope ...

, in

Weston Weston may refer to: Places Australia * Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Weston, New South Wales * Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra * Weston Park, Canberra, a park Canada * Weston, Nova Scotia * W ...

(North American headquarters) * Carl Zeiss SMT, in Peabody (North American headquarters) * Constant Contact, in Waltham * Dunkin' Brands, in Canton (headquarters) *

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

, in Cambridge * General Electric Aviation, in Lynn * Global Partners, in Waltham (headquarters) * Google Inc., in Cambridge * Haemonetics, in Braintree *

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

, in Waltham, Cambridge and Littleton * InterSystems Corporation, in Cambridge (headquarters) * iRobot Corporation, in Burlington (headquarters) *

Keurig Keurig () is a beverage brewing system for home and commercial use. The North American company Keurig Dr Pepper manufactures the machines. The main Keurig products are K-Cup pods, which are single-serve coffee containers; other beverage pods; an ...

, in Burlington (headquarters) * Lionbridge, in Waltham (US headquarters) * Meditech, in Westwood (headquarters) *

Microsoft Corporation Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

, in Cambridge * Millennium Pharmaceuticals, in Cambridge *

Moderna Moderna, Inc. ( ) is an American pharmaceutical and biotechnology company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that focuses on RNA therapeutics, primarily mRNA vaccines. These vaccines use a copy of a molecule called messenger RNA (mRNA) to carry inst ...

, in Cambridge (headquarters) * Motorola Solutions, Inc., in Somerville *

, in Dedham (headquarters) * National Grid, in Waltham (US headquarters) * NetApp Inc, in Waltham *

Nokia Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, originally established as a pulp mill in 1 ...

, in Burlington * Novartis AG, Inc, in Cambridge (research headquarters) * Novell, Inc., in Waltham * Nuance Communications, in Burlington *

Oracle Corporation Oracle Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational computer technology company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Co-founded in 1977 in Santa Clara, California, by Larry Ellison, who remains executive chairman, Oracle was ...

in Burlington * Osram Sylvania in Danvers (headquarters) * Philips Lighting in Burlington *

Progress Software Progress Software Corporation is an American public company that produces software for creating and deploying business applications. Founded in Burlington, Massachusetts with offices in 16 countries, the company posted revenues of $531.3 mill ...

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

(headquarters) *

Raytheon Raytheon is a business unit of RTX Corporation and is a major U.S. defense contractor and industrial corporation with manufacturing concentrations in weapons and military and commercial electronics. Founded in 1922, it merged in 2020 with Unite ...

, in Waltham (headquarters) * SharkNinja, in Needham (headquarters) * SunSetter Products, LP, in Malden (headquarters) *

Teradyne Teradyne, Inc. is an American automatic test equipment (ATE) designer and manufacturer based in North Reading, Massachusetts. Its high-profile customers include Samsung, Qualcomm, Intel, Analog Devices, Texas Instruments and IBM. History T ...

, in North Reading (headquarters) *

Thermo Fisher Scientific Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is an American life science and clinical research company. It is a global supplier of analytical instruments, clinical development solutions, specialty diagnostics, laboratory, pharmaceutical and biotechnology s ...

, in Waltham (headquarters) * TripAdvisor, LLC, in Needham (headquarters) *

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

, in Cambridge * Vistaprint, in Lexington (North American headquarters) *

Wolverine World Wide Wolverine World Wide, Inc. or Wolverine Worldwide, is a publicly traded American footwear manufacturer based in Rockford, Michigan. The shoemaker is known for its eponymous brand, Wolverine Boots and Shoes, as well as other brands, such as Hush ...

, in

Waltham, Massachusetts Waltham ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, and was an early center for the labor movement as well as a major contributor to the Technological and industrial history of the United States, American Industrial Revoluti ...

(headquarters for Keds, Saucony,

Sperry Top-Sider Sperry or Sperry Top-Sider is an American brand of Boat shoes, boat shoe designed in 1935 by Paul A. Sperry. Sperrys, or Top-Siders, were the first boat shoes introduced into the boating and footwear markets. Until January 2024, the Sperry brand ...

, and Stride Rite) * American Tower (headquarters) * Au Bon Pain (headquarters) * Bain & Company (headquarters) * Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (headquarters) *

Boston Consulting Group Boston Consulting Group, Inc. (BCG) is an American global management consulting firm founded in 1963 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the "Big Three (management consultancies), Big Three" (or MBB, the world's three large ...

(headquarters) * Converse (headquarters) *

Fidelity Investments Fidelity Investments, formerly known as Fidelity Management & Research (FMR), owned by FMR LLC and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, provides financial services. Established in 1946, the company is one of the largest asset managers in the ...

(headquarters) *

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

(headquarters) * The Gillette Company, now owned by

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/con ...

(headquarters) *

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Company ( ; HMH) is an American publisher of textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, and reference works. The company is based in the Financial District, Boston, Boston Financial District. It was fo ...

(headquarters) * John Hancock Financial Services, Inc, now the United States division of Canada's Manulife Financial *

Liberty Mutual Liberty Mutual Insurance Company is an American diversified global insurer and the sixth-largest Property insurance, property and Casualty insurance, casualty insurer in the world. It ranks 87th on the Fortune 100, ''Fortune'' 100 list of larges ...

(headquarters) *

LogMeIn GoTo Technologies USA, Inc., formerly LogMeIn Inc., is a software as a service (Software as a service, SaaS) company that provides unified communication and IT management software. The company was founded in 2003, and is based in Boston, Mass ...

(headquarters) * LPL Financial (headquarters) * New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc. (headquarters) * Partners HealthCare (moving to Assembly Row, Somerville) * PTC (headquarters) * Puma (North American headquarters, moving to Assembly Row, Somerville) *

Putnam Investments Putnam Investments is an investment management firm founded in 1937 by George Putnam, who established one of the first balanced mutual funds, The George Putnam Fund of Boston. Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, it has offices in London, To ...

(headquarters) * Rapid7 * Reebok (US headquarters) *

Roku Roku ( ) is a brand of consumer electronics that includes streaming players, smart TVs (and their operating systems), as well as a free TV streaming service. The brand is owned by Roku, Inc., an American company. As of 2024, Roku is the U ...

* Sapient Corporation (headquarters) * Sonesta International Hotels Corp. (headquarters) * State Street Corporation (headquarters) * Steward Health Care System (headquarters) * Toast, Inc. (headquarters) * Threat Stack (headquarters) * Vertex Pharmaceuticals (headquarters) *

Wayfair Wayfair Inc. is an American e-commerce company based in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts that sells furniture and home goods online. Formerly known as CSN Stores, it was founded in 2002, and currently offers 14 million items from more than 11,000 gl ...

(headquarters) *

Wellington Management Company Wellington Management Company is a private, independent investment management firm with client assets under management totaling over US$1 trillion based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The firm serves as an investment advisor A fi ...

(headquarters) *

Zipcar Zipcar is an American car sharing, car-sharing company and a subsidiary of Avis Budget Group. Zipcar provides vehicle reservations to its members, billable by the minute, hour or day; members may have to pay a monthly or annual membership fee i ...

(headquarters)

Transportation

Interstates

* * * * * * * * * *

U.S. Routes

* * * * *

State Highways

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Bridges and tunnels

* Boston University Bridge, carrying Route 2 * Callahan Tunnel, carrying Route 1A Northbound * Charles M. Braga Jr. Memorial Bridge, carrying Interstate 195 * Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge, carrying Route 138 * Fore River Bridge, carrying Massachusetts Route 3A * Harvard Bridge, carrying Route 2A * Longfellow Bridge, carrying Massachusetts Route 3, US Route 3, and the MBTA Red Line * North Washington Street Bridge, carrying Route 99 * Sumner Tunnel, carrying Route 1A Southbound * Ted Williams Tunnel, carrying

I-90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain states, Mountain West, Great Pla ...

* Thomas P. O'Neill Jr. Tunnel, carrying I-93 and Routes 1 and 3 concurrently * Tobin Bridge, carrying Route 1 * Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge, carrying Interstate 93, Route 1 and Route 3 concurrently

Airports

* Logan International Airport in Boston, northeast of downtown Boston, New England's largest transportation center * Manchester–Boston Regional Airport in

* T. F. Green Airport in

Warwick, Rhode Island Warwick ( or ) is a city in Kent County, Rhode Island, United States, and is the third-largest city in the state, with a population of 82,823 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Warwick is located approximately south of downtown Pr ...

* Hanscom Field in

* Norwood Memorial Airport * Worcester Regional Airport * Beverly Regional Airport * Lawrence Municipal Airport

Rail and bus

MBTA Commuter Rail and funding district map

The

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...

(MBTA) is the primary operator of transit in Greater Boston. It operates the MBTA subway system and the MBTA bus network in Boston and inner suburbs, as well as the

MBTA Commuter Rail The MBTA Commuter Rail system serves as the commuter rail arm of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's (MBTA's) transportation coverage of Greater Boston in the United States. Trains run over of track on 12 lines to 142 stations. It ...

system and the MBTA boat network serving Greater Boston. Other public transit includes

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

intercity rail service, Logan Express service to Logan International Airport, and privately-operated intercity bus and ferry systems. A number of regional transit authorities operate local bus service: * Brockton Area Transit Authority * Cape Ann Transportation Authority * Greater Attleboro Taunton Regional Transit Authority * Lowell Regional Transit Authority *

Merrimack Valley Regional Transit Authority Merrimack Valley Transit, formerly known as Merrimack Valley Regional Transit Authority is a public, non-profit organization in Massachusetts, United States, charged with providing public transportation to an area consisting of the cities and town ...

* MetroWest Regional Transit Authority * Montachusett Regional Transit Authority * Rhode Island Public Transit Authority * Worcester Regional Transit Authority

Ocean transportation

Port of Boston The Port of Boston (Automated Manifest System, AMS Seaport Code: 0401, UN/LOCODE: US BOS) is a major seaport located in Boston Harbor and adjacent to the Boston, Massachusetts, City of Boston. It is the largest port in Massachusetts and one of th ...

( Massport) * Cape Cod Canal

Sports

Annual sporting events include: * The Boston Marathon, which follows a course from Hopkinton to Boston * The Head of the Charles Regatta * The Lenox Industrial Tools 301, Sylvania 300 and New Hampshire Indy 225 auto races at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway oval track. The Greater Boston League, a high school athletic conference in Massachusetts.

Geography

Boundary definitions

Metropolitan Area

New England City and Town Area

Combined Statistical Area

Subregions

Climate

Demographics

Largest cities and towns

Education

Economy

Major companies

Transportation

Interstates

U.S. Routes

State Highways

Bridges and tunnels

Airports

Rail and bus

Ocean transportation

Sports

Notes

References

Further reading