Research Publications

A presentation on historical trends in Boston’s neighborhoods between 1950 and 2020, with a focus on population, housing, age distribution, race & ethnicity, nativity, educational attainment, and labor force participation.

Boston's Economy 2023 covers trends in employment, wages, housing prices, and real estate.

A look at Boston's neighborhood through Decennial Census Data from 1950-2020.

This Historical Boston in Context document compares how Boston, Boston’s neighborhoods, Massachusetts, and the United States changed demographically between 1950 and 2021. It uses data from the United States Census Bureau’s Decennial Censuses and American Community Surveys.

This presentation recounts the history of redlining and the interlocking set of housing policies that helped create contemporary patterns of wealth and segregation. It assesses the impacts of these policies on people and places in Boston using contemporary and historical data. Our focus is on the connections between Black people and place in Boston and how policy’s focus has impacted those connections over time.

A profile of poverty in Boston.

2017-2021 American Community Survey

This presentation looks at the young adult demographic in Boston across the generations. How have the demographics of the population changed between 1980, 2000 and 2020?

Young Adults 18-34 make up 39% of Boston’s population, but only 23% of the U.S. Population. This presentation looks at how Boston's young adult population compares to the rest of the country.

Boston's migration patterns are marked by net positive international migration and net negative regional migration. This presentation profiles residents who move to Boston and those residents who leave Boston to live elsewhere.