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Data on this report is based on areas within the legal city boundary, outlined in black on the map. Any additional neighborhoods shown on the map are associated with the city by name and are included for reference only.

Cambridge, MA
Real Estate & Demographic Data






Cambridge profile


Living in Cambridge



Cambridge is a larger medium-sized city located in the state of Massachusetts. With a population of 118,488 people and 33 constituent neighborhoods, Cambridge is the fourth largest community in Massachusetts. Cambridge has a large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic cities in the country.

Cambridge home prices are not only among the most expensive in Massachusetts, but Cambridge real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.

And if you like science, one thing you'll find is that Cambridge has lots of scientists living in town - whether they be life scientists, physical scientists (like astronomers), or social scientists (like geographers!). So, if you're scientific-minded, you might like it here too.

Also of interest is that Cambridge has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

Of important note, Cambridge is also a city of artists. Cambridge has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Cambridge’s character.

A relatively large number of people in Cambridge telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 20.34% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Cambridge is a nice balance between life in a moderately big city and the interesting diversions and culture that come from having a big college student population. The thousands of students who arrive on campus every fall will find that Cambridge has plenty of amenities and opportunities for them, while residents of Cambridge enjoy the lectures, music, art, and economic trickle-down that colleges typically provide. "Town and Gown" complement each other in Cambridge.

Not only is Cambridge 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 Cambridge 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 Cambridge a pretty good place for young, educated career starters looking to find many people like themselves, with good opportunities for friendships, socializing, romance, and fun.

Although the majority of commuting trips in the city are by private automobile, Cambridge is somewhat unusual for a city of its size for having a substantial number of people who use public transportation. For a lot of people, the subway helps to get to and from their jobs every morning, which benefits everyone in the Cambridge area by reducing both traffic and air pollution.

Do you like to read, write and learn? If you move to Cambridge, you'll likely find that many of your neighbors like to as well. Cambridge is one of the more educated communities in America, with a full 79.98% of its adults having a college degree or even advanced degree, compared to a national average across all communities of 21.84%.

The per capita income in Cambridge in 2018 was $65,494, which is wealthy relative to Massachusetts and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $261,976 for a family of four. However, Cambridge contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Cambridge is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Cambridge home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Cambridge residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Cambridge include Irish, German, English, Italian, and Polish.

Cambridge also has a high percentage of its population that was born in another country: 29.15%.

The most common language spoken in Cambridge is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Chinese.