# Massachusetts statistical areas

The United States Commonwealth of Massachusetts currently has 12 statistical areas that have been delineated by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). On July 21, 2023, the OMB delineated two combined statistical area, seven metropolitan statistical areas, and three micropolitan statistical area in Massachusetts. As of 2023, the largest of these is the Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH CSA, comprising the area around Massachusetts' capital and largest city of Boston.

## Background

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has designated more than 1,000 statistical areas for the United States and Puerto Rico. These statistical areas are important geographic delineations of population clusters used by the OMB, the United States Census Bureau, planning organizations, and federal, state, and local government entities.
The OMB defines a core-based statistical area (commonly referred to as a CBSA) as the county or counties (or county-equivalents) surrounding at least one densely-settled core of at least 10,000 population, "plus adjacent counties having a high degree of social and economic integration with the core as measured through commuting ties with the counties containing the core". The OMB further divides core-based statistical areas based on population into metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) for those with at least 50,000 and micropolitan statistical areas (μSAs) for those with 10,000 to 49,999 people.
The OMB defines a combined statistical area (CSA) as two or more adjacent core-based statistical areas where the employment interchange rate (% commuting from A to B plus % commuting from B to A) is at least 15%. The primary statistical areas (PSAs) include all combined statistical areas and any core-based statistical area that is not a constituent of a combined statistical area.

## Table

The 12 United States statistical areas and 14 counties of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts :
| Combined statistical area | 2023 population (est.) | Core-based statistical area | 2023 population (est.) | County | 2023 population (est.) | Metropolitan division | 2023 population (est.) |
| Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH CSA | 8,345,067 6,145,689 (MA) | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH MSA | 4,919,179 4,465,247 (MA) | Middlesex County, Massachusetts | 1,623,952 | Cambridge-Newton-Framingham, MA MD | 2,434,041 |
| Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH CSA | 8,345,067 6,145,689 (MA) | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH MSA | 4,919,179 4,465,247 (MA) | Essex County, Massachusetts | 810,089 | Cambridge-Newton-Framingham, MA MD | 2,434,041 |
| Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH CSA | 8,345,067 6,145,689 (MA) | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH MSA | 4,919,179 4,465,247 (MA) | Suffolk County, Massachusetts | 768,425 | Boston, MA MD | 2,031,206 |
| Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH CSA | 8,345,067 6,145,689 (MA) | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH MSA | 4,919,179 4,465,247 (MA) | Norfolk County, Massachusetts | 727,473 | Boston, MA MD | 2,031,206 |
| Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH CSA | 8,345,067 6,145,689 (MA) | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH MSA | 4,919,179 4,465,247 (MA) | Plymouth County, Massachusetts | 535,308 | Boston, MA MD | 2,031,206 |
| Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH CSA | 8,345,067 6,145,689 (MA) | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH MSA | 4,919,179 4,465,247 (MA) | Rockingham County, New Hampshire | 320,689 | Rockingham County-Strafford County, NH MD | 453,932 |
| Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH CSA | 8,345,067 6,145,689 (MA) | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH MSA | 4,919,179 4,465,247 (MA) | Strafford County, New Hampshire | 133,243 | Rockingham County-Strafford County, NH MD | 453,932 |
| Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH CSA | 8,345,067 6,145,689 (MA) | Providence-Warwick, RI-MA MSA | 1,677,803 581,841 (MA) | Providence County, Rhode Island | 660,615 | none | none |
| Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH CSA | 8,345,067 6,145,689 (MA) | Providence-Warwick, RI-MA MSA | 1,677,803 581,841 (MA) | Bristol County, Massachusetts | 581,841 | none | none |
| Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH CSA | 8,345,067 6,145,689 (MA) | Providence-Warwick, RI-MA MSA | 1,677,803 581,841 (MA) | Kent County, Rhode Island | 171,278 | none | none |
| Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH CSA | 8,345,067 6,145,689 (MA) | Providence-Warwick, RI-MA MSA | 1,677,803 581,841 (MA) | Washington County, Rhode Island | 129,982 | none | none |
| Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH CSA | 8,345,067 6,145,689 (MA) | Providence-Warwick, RI-MA MSA | 1,677,803 581,841 (MA) | Newport County, Rhode Island | 83,832 | none | none |
| Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH CSA | 8,345,067 6,145,689 (MA) | Providence-Warwick, RI-MA MSA | 1,677,803 581,841 (MA) | Bristol County, Rhode Island | 50,255 | none | none |
| Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH CSA | 8,345,067 6,145,689 (MA) | Worcester, MA MSA | 866,866 | Worcester County, Massachusetts | 866,866 | none | none |
| Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH CSA | 8,345,067 6,145,689 (MA) | Manchester-Nashua, NH MSA | 427,354 | Hillsborough County, New Hampshire | 427,354 | none | none |
| Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH CSA | 8,345,067 6,145,689 (MA) | Barnstable Town, MA MSA | 231,735 | Barnstable County, Massachusetts | 231,735 | none | none |
| Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH CSA | 8,345,067 6,145,689 (MA) | Concord, NH μSA | 157,103 | Merrimack County, New Hampshire | 157,103 | none | none |
| Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH CSA | 8,345,067 6,145,689 (MA) | Laconia, NH μSA | 65,027 | Belknap County, New Hampshire | 65,027 | none | none |
| Springfield-Amherst Town-Northampton, MA CSA | 693,629 | Springfield, MA MSA | 460,291 | Hampden County, Massachusetts | 460,291 | none | none |
| Springfield-Amherst Town-Northampton, MA CSA | 693,629 | Amherst Town-Northampton, MA MSA | 162,502 | Hampshire County, Massachusetts | 162,502 | none | none |
| Springfield-Amherst Town-Northampton, MA CSA | 693,629 | Greenfield, MA μSA | 70,836 | Franklin County, Massachusetts | 70,836 | none | none |
| none | none | Pittsfield, MA MSA | 126,818 | Berkshire County, Massachusetts | 126,818 | none | none |
| none | none | Vineyard Haven, MA μSA | 20,819 | Dukes County, Massachusetts | 20,819 | none | none |
| none | none | Nantucket, MA μSA | 14,444 | Nantucket County, Massachusetts | 14,444 | none | none |
| Commonwealth of Massachusetts | Commonwealth of Massachusetts | Commonwealth of Massachusetts | Commonwealth of Massachusetts | Commonwealth of Massachusetts | 7,001,399 | none | none |

## Core-based statistical areas

The following table provides the in-state population ranking of each CBSA along with its rate of population change over time.
The 10 core-based statistical areas of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts :
| 2023 rank | Core-based statistical area | Population | Population | Population | Population | Population |
| 2023 rank | Core-based statistical area | 2023 estimate | Change | 2020 Census | Change | 2010 Census |
| 1 | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH MSA (MA) | 4,465,247 | −0.70% | 4,496,567 | +8.77% | 4,134,036 |
| 2 | Worcester, MA MSA | 866,866 | +0.55% | 862,111 | +7.96% | 798,552 |
| 3 | Providence-Warwick, RI-MA MSA (MA) | 581,841 | +0.46% | 579,200 | +5.64% | 548,285 |
| 4 | Springfield, MA MSA | 460,291 | −1.19% | 465,825 | +0.50% | 463,490 |
| 5 | Barnstable Town, MA MSA | 231,735 | +1.20% | 228,996 | +6.07% | 215,888 |
| 6 | Amherst Town-Northampton, MA MSA | 162,502 | +0.12% | 162,308 | +2.67% | 158,080 |
| 7 | Pittsfield, MA MSA | 126,818 | −1.71% | 129,026 | −1.67% | 131,219 |
| 8 | Greenfield, MA μSA | 70,836 | −0.27% | 71,029 | −0.48% | 71,372 |
| 9 | Vineyard Haven, MA μSA | 20,819 | +1.06% | 20,600 | +24.58% | 16,535 |
| 10 | Nantucket, MA μSA | 14,444 | +1.33% | 14,255 | +40.14% | 10,172 |
| | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH MSA | 4,919,179 | −0.45% | 4,941,632 | +8.55% | 4,552,402 |
| | Providence-Warwick, RI-MA MSA | 1,677,803 | +0.07% | 1,676,579 | +4.73% | 1,600,852 |

## Combined statistical areas

The following table provides the in-state population ranking of each CSA along with its rate of population change over time.
The two combined statistical areas of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts :
| 2023 rank | Combined statistical area | Population | Population | Population | Population | Population |
| 2023 rank | Combined statistical area | 2023 estimate | Change | 2020 Census | Change | 2010 Census |
| 1 | Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH CSA (MA) | 6,145,689 | −0.34% | 6,166,874 | +8.25% | 5,696,761 |
| 2 | Springfield-Amherst Town-Northampton, MA CSA | 693,629 | −0.79% | 699,162 | +0.90% | 692,942 |
| | Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH CSA | 8,345,067 | −0.06% | 8,349,768 | +7.39% | 7,774,948 |