What is the population of Boston?
Boston has a city population of 653,833. That is the population within the city's own boundary, not its wider metropolitan area. City population, GeoNames.
City profile · United States · North America
Boston
City population
653,833
#28
in United States
#1
in Massachusetts
#850
worldwide
42.358, -71.060 · 634 km from Washington
About Boston
Boston has a metropolitan population of 4,941,000 and a city-proper population of 653,833, with an annual growth rate of 0.5%. The city sits at an elevation of 14 m and maintains a density of 1,078 people per km². Founded in 1630, Boston is led by mayor Michelle Wu.
The city is served by multiple airports, including Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), as well as Laurence G Hanscom Field (BED), Worcester Regional Airport (ORH), and Manchester-Boston Regional Airport (MHT) in the surrounding region.
This summary is AI-generated from the figures on this page. The figures themselves come from the sources cited beside each value.
Metro population
4,941,000
0.060% of world population
Archive estimateAnnual growth
+0.45%
Archive estimateDensity
1,078/km²
4,584 km² metro area
Key Facts
Country
Region
Rank in region
#1of 128
Founded
1630
Leadership
Michelle Wu
Coordinates
42.358, -71.060
Record updated
14 April 2026
Entry edited, not measured
City population, GeoNames. GeoNames publishes no year for its population figures, so “record updated” is when the entry was last edited — not the date the population was measured.
Nearby Cities
All 3,112 in United StatesClosest listed cities by great-circle distance from the city centre.
Compared with the World's Largest Cities
City-proper population against the fifteen largest cities in the dataset.
| Name | City population |
|---|---|
| Shanghai | 24.9M |
| Beijing | 19M |
| Shenzhen | 17.5M |
| Guangzhou | 16.1M |
| Kinshasa | 16M |
| Istanbul | 15.7M |
| Lagos | 15.4M |
| Ho Chi Minh City | 14M |
| Chengdu | 13.6M |
| Lahore | 13M |
| Mumbai | 12.7M |
| São Paulo | 12.4M |
| Mexico City | 12.3M |
| Karachi | 11.6M |
| Tianjin | 11.1M |
| Boston | 654K |
Airports
Scheduled-service airports within 100 km, nearest first.
- Boston Logan International AirportBOS
4 km from the city centre
- Laurence G Hanscom FieldBED
23 km from the city centre
- Worcester Regional AirportORH
68 km from the city centre
- Manchester-Boston Regional AirportMHT
71 km from the city centre
Source: OurAirports, matched by distance.
Population Trend in United States
No free source publishes city population back to 1950, so the parent country's series is shown instead.
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1950 | 154,202,680 |
| 1960 | 180,274,555 |
| 1970 | 207,796,339 |
| 1980 | 229,858,655 |
| 1990 | 253,373,387 |
| 2000 | 281,484,131 |
| 2010 | 311,062,790 |
| 2020 | 339,436,159 |
| 2030 | 355,649,881 |
| 2040 | 370,209,316 |
| 2050 | 380,846,910 |
| 2060 | 388,918,394 |
| 2070 | 398,218,088 |
| 2080 | 407,079,816 |
| 2090 | 414,457,640 |
| 2100 | 421,278,889 |
Boston Population FAQ
Where is Boston?
Boston is in Massachusetts, United States, 634 km from the capital, Washington. Its coordinates are 42.358, -71.060.
How big is Boston compared with other cities in United States?
It is the 28th largest of the 3,112 cities listed in United States, holding 0.2% of the national population.