In addition, Boston is a major college town. As is often the case in college towns, the many students that live in Boston have a strong influence on the local culture and music scene. In fact, Boston is one of only a few big cities that are also major college towns. This combination of big city status and thousands of college students gives Boston, on one hand, a sophisticated style, while on the other also providing lots of diversions and entertainment for students. In fact, Boston is one of the biggest "college towns" in America. This elevates both the status of the city and the knowledge sector of the local economy, which is sustained by a steady output of new college graduates every spring.
Not only is Boston a city with many college students, but it also retains many recent graduates who are looking to start new careers, creating a very large population of people who are young, single, educated, and upwardly-mobile. That’s because Boston is full of single people in their 20s and 30s and who have undergraduate or graduate degrees and are starting careers in professional occupations. This makes Boston a great place for young, educated career starters looking to find many people like themselves, with good opportunities for friendships, socializing, romance, and fun. In fact, Boston is one of the top larger cities in America for educated single professionals to flock.
Boston is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Such areas are often places that visitors and locals go for waterfront activities or taking in the scenery.
One downside of living in Boston, however, is that residents on average have to contend with a long commute, spending on average 31.99 minutes every day commuting to work. It is, however, a pedestrian-friendly city. Many of its neighborhoods are dense enough and have amenities close enough together that people find it feasible to get around on foot. In addition, local public transit is widely used. For those who would prefer to avoid driving entirely and leave their car at home, it may be an option to use the transit instead.
Boston, like many big cities in America, has a public transportation system, but the citizens of Boston are lucky because theirs is one of the most extensive and widely used. Many commuters choose to leave their cars at home and instead use the subway to get to and from work. In fact, for some people it is feasible to forgo car ownership entirely, avoiding the cost and headache of driving in heavy traffic. The benefits include reduced air pollution and load on the road network.
Do you have a 4-year college degree or graduate degree? If so, you may feel right at home in Boston. 53.37% of adults here have a 4-year degree or graduate degree, whereas the national average for all cities and towns is just 21.84%.
The per capita income in Boston in 2022 was $55,949, which is middle income relative to Massachusetts, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $223,796 for a family of four. However, Boston contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Boston is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Boston home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Boston residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Boston also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 19.57% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Boston include Irish, Italian, English, German, and Haitian.
In addition, Boston has a lot of people living here who were born outside of the US (28.06%).
The most common language spoken in Boston is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and French.
