Suffolk County, Massachusetts
Suffolk County is a county in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in the United States. As of 2019, the population was 803,907 making it the fourth-most populous county in Massachusetts. The county comprises the cities of Boston, Chelsea, Revere and Winthrop.
The traditional county seat is Boston, the state capital and the largest city in Massachusetts. The county government was abolished in late 1999, and so Suffolk County today functions only as an administrative subdivision of state government and a set of communities grouped together for some statistical purposes. Suffolk County constitutes the core of the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the greater Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH-CT Combined Statistical Area.
History
The county was created by the Massachusetts General Court on May 10, 1643, when it was ordered "that the whole plantation within this jurisdiction be divided into four shires". Suffolk initially contained Boston, Roxbury, Dorchester, Dedham, Braintree, Weymouth, and Hingham. The county was named after Suffolk, England, which means "southern folk."In 1731, the extreme western portions of Suffolk County, which included Uxbridge, were split off to become part of Worcester County. In 1793, most of the original Suffolk County except for Boston, Chelsea, Hingham, and Hull split off and became Norfolk County. Hingham and Hull would leave Suffolk County and join Plymouth County in 1803. Revere was set off from Chelsea and incorporated in 1846 and Winthrop was set off from Revere and incorporated in 1852. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, Boston annexed several adjacent cities and towns including Hyde Park, Roxbury, West Roxbury, and Dorchester from Norfolk County and Charlestown and Brighton from Middlesex County, resulting in an enlargement of Suffolk County.
Government and politics
Like an increasing number of Massachusetts counties, Suffolk County exists today only as a historical geographic region, and has no county government. All former county functions were assumed by state agencies in 1999. The sheriff, district attorney, and some other regional officials with specific duties are still elected locally to perform duties within the county region, but there is no county council, executives or commissioners. Immediately prior to the abolition of county government, the authority of the Suffolk County Commission had for many years been exercised by the Boston City Council, even though three communities in the county are not part of the city. However, communities are now granted the right to form their own regional compacts for sharing services.Politically speaking, Suffolk County supports the Democratic Party overwhelmingly. No Republican presidential candidate has won there since Calvin Coolidge in 1924. In 2012 Barack Obama received 77.4% of the vote, compared to 20.8% for former governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney. In the 2014 gubernatorial election, Martha Coakley carried the county by a 32.4% margin, while losing the election statewide by 48.4 to 46.5%.
| Voter registration and party enrollment as of October 17, 2018 | Voter registration and party enrollment as of October 17, 2018 | Voter registration and party enrollment as of October 17, 2018 | Voter registration and party enrollment as of October 17, 2018 | Voter registration and party enrollment as of October 17, 2018 | Voter registration and party enrollment as of October 17, 2018 |
| Party | Party | Number of voters | Percentage | - | - |
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water. It is the second-smallest county in Massachusetts by land area and smallest by total area.Adjacent counties
- Essex County
- Norfolk County
- Middlesex County
National protected areas
- Boston African American National Historic Site
- Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
- Boston National Historical Park
Major highways
Demographics
Of the 292,767 households, 24.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 27.1% were married couples living together, 16.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 52.0% were non-families, and 36.3% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 3.11. The median age was 31.5 years.The median income for a household in the county was $50,597 and the median income for a family was $58,127. Males had a median income of $48,887 versus $43,658 for females. The per capita income for the county was $30,720. About 15.7% of families and 20.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.1% of those under age 18 and 19.1% of those age 65 or over.
| Race | Percentage of Suffolk County population | Percentage of Massachusetts population | Percentage of United States population | County-to-State Difference | County-to-USA Difference |
| White | 61.7% | 81.3% | 76.6% | –19.6% | –14.9% |
| White | 45.4% | 72.1% | 60.7% | –26.7% | –15.3% |
| Black | 24.9% | 8.8% | 13.4% | +16.1% | +11.5% |
| Hispanic | 22.9% | 11.9% | 18.1% | +11.0% | +4.8% |
| Asian | 9.1% | 6.9% | 5.8% | +2.2% | +3.3% |
| Native Americans/Hawaiians | 0.9% | 0.6% | 1.5% | +0.3% | –0.6% |
| Two or more races | 3.4% | 2.4% | 2.7% | +1.0% | +0.7% |
Ancestry
According to the 2012-2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, the largest ancestry groups in Suffolk County, Massachusetts are:| Ancestry | Percentage of Suffolk County population | Percentage of Massachusetts population | Percentage of United States population | County-to-State Difference | County-to-USA Difference |
| Irish | 13.73% | 21.16% | 10.39% | –7.42% | +3.35% |
| Italian | 9.50% | 13.19% | 5.39% | –3.69% | +7.80% |
| West Indian | 6.05% | 1.96% | 0.90% | +4.09% | +1.05% |
| Puerto Rican | 5.32% | 4.52% | 1.66% | +0.80% | +3.66% |
| English | 4.32% | 9.77% | 7.67% | –5.45% | –3.35% |
| German | 4.21% | 6.00% | 14.40% | –1.79% | –10.19% |
| Chinese | 4.02% | 2.28% | 1.24% | +1.74% | +2.78% |
| American | 3.96% | 4.26% | 6.89% | –0.30% | –2.93% |
| Sub-Saharan African | 3.78% | 2.00% | 1.01% | +1.78% | +2.76% |
| Haitian | 3.13% | 1.15% | 0.31% | +1.98% | +2.82% |
| Polish | 2.41% | 4.67% | 2.93% | –2.26% | –0.53% |
| French | 2.01% | 6.82% | 2.56% | –4.81% | –0.55% |
| Cape Verdean | 1.99% | 0.97% | 0.03% | +1.02% | +1.96% |
| Vietnamese | 1.61% | 0.69% | 0.54% | +0.92% | +1.07% |
| Russian | 1.56% | 1.65% | 0.88% | –0.08% | +0.69% |
| Arab | 1.54% | 1.10% | 0.59% | +0.44% | +0.95% |
| Jamaican | 1.47% | 0.44% | 0.34% | +1.03% | +1.12% |
| Scottish | 1.27% | 2.28% | 1.71% | –1.02% | –0.45% |
| Asian Indian | 1.22% | 1.39% | 1.09% | –0.17% | +0.13% |
| Mexican | 1.18% | 0.67% | 11.96% | +0.51% | –10.78% |
| French Canadian | 1.19% | 3.91% | 0.65% | –2.72% | +0.53% |
Demographic breakdown by town
Income
Data is from the 2007-2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.| Rank | Town | Area | Per capita income | Median household income | Median family income | Population | Number of households | |
| 1 | Winthrop | City | 2.0 sq mi | $36,624 | $61,744 | $81,647 | 17,430 | 7,356 |
| Massachusetts | State | $35,051 | $65,981 | $83,371 | 6,512,227 | 2,522,409 | ||
| 2 | Boston | City | 48.42 sq mi | $33,158 | $51,739 | $61,035 | 609,942 | 247,621 |
| Suffolk County | County | $32,034 | $51,638 | $60,342 | 713,089 | 286,437 | ||
| United States | Country | $27,915 | $52,762 | $64,293 | 306,603,772 | 114,761,359 | ||
| 3 | Revere | City | 5.9 sq mi | $25,085 | $50,592 | $58,345 | 50,845 | 19,425 |
| 4 | Chelsea | City | 2.2 sq mi | $20,214 | $43,155 | $46,967 | 34,872 | 12,035 |
Communities
- Boston
- Chelsea
- Revere
- Winthrop