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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.

Watertown, MA
Real Estate & Demographic Data






Watertown profile


Living in Watertown



Watertown is a medium-sized city located in the state of Massachusetts. With a population of 35,022 people and ten constituent neighborhoods, Watertown is the 48th largest community in Massachusetts. Watertown has a large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic cities in the country.

Housing costs in Watertown 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 Watertown has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

And if you like science, one thing you'll find is that Watertown 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.

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

A relatively large number of people in Watertown telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 16.98% 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.

Watertown, while not large, also appears to be attractive to some younger, educated professionals, who help shape the character of the city.

For the size of the city, public transportation in Watertown is quite heavily used. Mostly, people who use it for their daily commute are taking the bus. For Watertown, the benefits are reduced air pollution and congestion on the highways.

If knowledge is power, Watertown is a pretty powerful place. 65.72% of the adults in Watertown have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns.

The per capita income in Watertown in 2018 was $62,772, which is upper middle income relative to Massachusetts, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $251,088 for a family of four.

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

In addition, Watertown has a lot of people living here who were born outside of the US (24.69%).

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