In addition, Boston also has a very large population of students, making it a major college town. As often the case, having so many students around has a strong influence on the local culture. In fact, Boston is one of only a few big cities that are also major college towns, making it one of the nation's prominent intellectual centers. In addition, the presence of thousands of college students gives Boston a sophisticated style, and provides lots of diversions and entertainment for students. Being a big "college town" not only means that Boston has a burgeoning arts, music, and nightclub scene, but the innovation sector of the local economy receives a great boost from both the intellectual output of the faculty and the thousands of enthusiastic students who graduate every spring.
This makes Boston a good place to live for young professionals. With so many people in this demographic, Boston presents many opportunities for single professionals to enjoy themselves, socialize, and to create lasting relationships.
One of the nice things about Boston is that it is nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Because of this, visitors and locals will often go to these areas to take in the scenery or to enjoy waterfront activities.
In Boston, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 31.65 minutes each day getting to work, which is significantly higher than the national average. One bright side is that local public transit is widely used, so it may be an option to avoid the headache of driving in the heavy traffic by leaving the car at home and taking transit. In addition, the city is also quite pedestrian-friendly, because many neighborhoods are very dense and have amenities close enough together that people find it feasible to get around on foot.
Boston is a big city, and with that comes lots of benefits. One benefit is that most big cities have public transit, but Boston really shines when it comes to the extensiveness and use of its public transit system. More than most large American cities, Boston citizens use public transit daily to get to and from work. And while there are transportation options, most people in Boston ride the subway. Whereas in some cities one is destined to sit in traffic every morning to get to work and every evening to get home, in Boston a lot leave their cars at home (if they even choose to own one), and hop a ride on the subway.
Do you have a 4-year college degree or graduate degree? If so, you may feel right at home in Boston. 54.07% 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 $60,001, which is upper middle income relative to Massachusetts, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $240,004 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 18.94% 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 (27.51%).
The most common language spoken in Boston is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Chinese.
