Braintree is a medium-sized coastal city (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Massachusetts. With a population of 38,822 people and nine constituent neighborhoods, Braintree is the 42nd largest community in Massachusetts.

Housing costs in Braintree are among some of the highest in the nation, although real estate prices here don't compare to real estate prices in the most expensive communities in Massachusetts.

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

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 12.47% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. 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.

Because of many things, Braintree is a very good place for families to consider. With an enviable combination of good schools, low crime, college-educated neighbors who tend to support education because of their own experiences, and a high rate of home ownership in predominantly single-family properties, Braintree really has some of the features that families look for when choosing a good community to raise children. Is Braintree perfect? Of course not, and if you like frenetic nightlife, it will be far from your cup of tea. But overall this is a solid community, with many things to recommend it as a family-friendly place to live.

One of the nice things about Braintree 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.

One downside of living in Braintree is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In Braintree, the average commute to work is 32.95 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average. On the other hand, local public transit is widely used in the city, so leaving the car at home and taking transit is often a viable alternative.

Like elsewhere in America, most people in Braintree use a private automobile to get to work. But notably, a substantial number of Braintree‘s citizens do make use of public transit in their daily commute, primarily riding the subway. This helps more people get to work with less air pollution, and require fewer highways to get them there.

The citizens of Braintree are among the most well-educated in the nation: 46.26% of adults in Braintree have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree, whereas the average US city has 21.84% holding at least a bachelor's degree.

The per capita income in Braintree in 2018 was $53,208, which is upper middle income relative to Massachusetts, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $212,832 for a family of four.

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

Foreign born people are also an important part of Braintree's cultural character, accounting for 19.25% of the city’s population.

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