Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)[edit]
Historical population
Census
Pop.
Note
%±
1850
650,357
—
1860
830,998
27.8%
1870
978,346
17.7%
1880
1,205,439
23.2%
1890
1,515,684
25.7%
1900
1,890,122
24.7%
1910
2,260,762
19.6%
1920
2,563,123
13.4%
1930
2,866,567
11.8%
1940
2,926,650
2.1%
1950
3,186,970
8.9%
1960
3,516,435
10.3%
1970
3,918,092
11.4%
1980
3,938,585
0.5%
1990
4,133,895
5.0%
2000
4,391,344
6.2%
2010
4,552,402
3.7%
2020
4,941,632
8.5%
2022 (est.)
4,900,550
−0.8%
US Decennial Census
An alternative definition defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget, using counties as building blocks instead of towns, is the Boston–Cambridge–Newton, MA–NH Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is further subdivided into three metropolitan divisions. The metropolitan statistical area had a total population of 4,941,632 as of the 2020 census and is the tenth-largest in the United States. The components of the metropolitan area are listed below.
Boston–Cambridge–Newton, MA–NH Metropolitan Statistical Area
Boston, MA Metropolitan Division
Norfolk County, Massachusetts
Plymouth County, Massachusetts
Suffolk County, Massachusetts
Cambridge–Newton–Framingham, MA Metropolitan Division
Essex County, Massachusetts
Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Rockingham County–Strafford County, NH Metropolitan Division
Rockingham County, New Hampshire
Strafford County, New Hampshire