Is population growing or shrinking?

Updated annually
It grew by 69,600 between 2023 and 2024. That’s more than the population of the city of Haverhill. Changes in population reflect birth and death rates, immigration patterns, regional shifts, and even the overall health of the economy. Massachusetts’s 0.98% annual increase was primarily driven by immigration to the state. In the decade between 2014 and 2024, Massachusetts’s population grew by 4.6%.

+69.6K

population change (2023 to 2024)

+0.98%

percent change in population (2023 to 2024)
Since 2000, Massachusetts' population increased in 21 of 24 years. The largest increase occurred between 2023 and 2024, when it gained 69,600 residents. The state's largest decline during the 21st century occurred between 2019 and 2020 when it lost 22,200 residents.

Massachusetts gained 69,600 residents between 2023 and 2024.

Annual population change

A state’s population is influenced by three factors:
  • Natural population change: If births outnumber deaths in a given year, natural population growth is positive. If deaths exceed births, it is negative. Between 2023 to 2024 natural population change was positive in Massachusetts, with births exceeding deaths by 6,700.
  • Immigration: international migration directly into or out of a state. If more people move in than move out, population change from immigration is positive. If more people move out than move in, it’s negative. Massachusetts’ population change from immigration was positive, with about 90,200 more people coming from another country to Massachusetts than leaving.
  • Domestic migration, moving between states:  Massachusetts’ population change from domestic migration was negative, with about 27,500 more people leaving for another state than moving in.

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Between 2023 and 2024, immigration was the primary driver of population growth in Massachusetts.

Components of population change

Among 14 county equivalents, Middlesex County had the largest population growth in Massachusetts, welcoming 24,024 new residents. Hampshire County lost the most, with a loss of 287 residents.
Suffolk County led Massachusetts in percent population increase between 2023 and 2024 at 1.5 percent. Hampshire County ranked last with a 0.17 percent decline.

Between 2023 and 2024, Suffolk County gained 1.5% in population, the largest increase in Massachusetts.

Population change

Between 2014 and 2024, Massachusetts’s population has increased by 4.6%. During that same period, the US population grew by 6.5%. Massachusetts ranks 27th among states in population growth over that decade.

Massachusetts ranked 27th in population growth between 2014 and 2024.

Percent change in population

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Methodology

USAFacts standardizes data, in areas such as time and demographics, to make it easier to understand and compare.

The analysis was generated with the help of AI and reviewed by USAFacts for accuracy.

Page sources

USAFacts endeavors to share the most up-to-date information available. We sourced the data on this page directly from government agencies; however, the intervals at which agencies publish updated data vary.