What is the population of Cambridge, Massachusetts?

Cambridge has a population of approximately 118,796 according to the latest available open data.

Where is Cambridge, Massachusetts located?

Cambridge is located in Massachusetts, United States, at approximate coordinates 42.3760°, -71.1187°.

What is the median household income in Cambridge?

The median household income in Cambridge is approximately $130,748 based on the most recent open data.

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Cambridge

Massachusettscity

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Cambridge

Total population

118,796

Median home value

$1,092,100

80.8%

Bachelor's+

Median income

$130,748

Cambridge$131k

National$74k

Founded

1630

Air quality index

52Moderate

Elevation12 m

Land area18.42 km²

Weather68°F · Chance Rain Showers

Coordinates42.38°, -71.12°

Demographic figures from US Census Bureau · ACS 5-year estimates. Overview below cites Wikipedia and may reference a different year.

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CensusWikipediaWeatherPlacesPeopleEnvironmentHealth & SchoolsRelatedGeography & CultureLive MonitoringEvents & Gallery

City facts

Founded

1630

Elevation

12 m

Area

18.42 km²

head of government

Denise Simmons

Official website

www.cambridgema.gov

Sister cities

Facts from Wikidata (CC0).

Overview

Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located in the Greater Boston metropolitan area directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the most populous city in the county, the fourth-largest in Massachusetts behind Boston, Worcester, and Springfield, and ninth-most populous in New England. The city was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England, which was an important center of the Puritan theology that was embraced by the town's founders.

History & geography

History

Native Americans inhabited the Charles River basin for thousands of years prior to European colonization of the Americas, as confirmed by archaeological remains in neighboring Watertown and Boston. At the time of European contact, the area was inhabited by Naumkeag of the Pawtucket Confederacy to the north and Massachusett to the south. The contact period introduced a number of European infectious diseases which would decimate native populations in virgin soil epidemics, significantly depopulating the Charles River basin upon the arrival of large groups of English settlers in the 1630s. and a smallpox epidemic in 1633 killed large portions of her tribe, including two of her sons. Some sources list Cambridge as the English toponym for Anmoughcawgen, meaning 'fishing weir' or 'beaver dam' in Natick, however this misconception arises from John Smith's 1617 Description of New England, in this case to a location on the Kennebec River in Maine, while the Charles River (also named by Smith) was known as the Quinobequin. Official Massachusetts records show the name rendered as Newe Towne by 1632, and as Newtowne by 1638. Located at the first convenient Charles River crossing west of Boston, Newtowne was one of several towns, including Boston, Dorchester, Watertown, and Weymouth, founded by the 700 original Puritan colonists of the Massachusetts Bay Colony who arrived on the Winthrop Fleet. Its first preacher was Thomas Hooker, who led many of its original inhabitants west in 1636 to found Hartford and the Connecticut Colony; before leaving, they sold their plots to more recent immigrants from England. The original village site is now within Harvard Square. The marketplace where farmers sold crops from surrounding towns at the edge of a salt marsh (since filled) remains…

Read full article on Wikipedia

Excerpted from the corresponding Wikipedia article (CC BY-SA).

Demographics & economy

Median age

30.4

Median home value

$1,092,100

Housing units

54,840

Poverty rate

12.8%

Unemployment

3.4%

Race & ethnicity

White

55.7%

Black

10.5%

Asian

20.4%

Hispanic

8.8%

Source: US Census Bureau — American Community Survey, 5-year estimates.

Geography

Latitude

42.3760

Longitude

-71.1187

Water area

0.71 mi²

View on OpenStreetMap

Coordinates & boundaries from the US Census TIGER/Line shapefiles.

Climate

Avg high

60.3°F

Avg low

44.3°F

Annual precipitation

47.1 in

10-year averages from ERA5 reanalysis (Open-Meteo).

Current forecast

This Afternoon

68°F

Chance Rain Showers

Tonight

47°F

Patchy Fog

Saturday

52°F

Slight Chance Rain Showers then Partly Sunny

Saturday Night

33°F

Mostly Clear then Patchy Frost

Sunday

55°F

Patchy Frost then Sunny

Sunday Night

39°F

Mostly Clear

Forecast for Cambridge, MA from NOAA NWS API.

Air quality

US AQI — Moderate

PM2.5 (µg/m³)

PM10 (µg/m³)

21.3

Ozone (µg/m³)

NO₂ (µg/m³)

22.3

Current readings from Open-Meteo Air Quality API (Copernicus CAMS European reanalysis).

Industrial & pollution facilities

Natural hazard risk

Health (adults)

High blood pressure

26.2%

Diabetes

7.9%

Adult obesity

24.1%

Binge drinking

16.5%

Adult smoking

No leisure activity

17%

Age-adjusted prevalence estimates from CDC PLACES (latest release).

Walkability

Amenities nearby

Wildlife & biodiversity

Observations (last 5 yrs, 10 mi)

4,538,304

Distinct species (top 10)

Most-observed species

American Robin
Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
172,899
Blue Jay
Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
159,153
Northern Cardinal
Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
143,428
Black-capped Chickadee
Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
134,134
Mourning Dove
Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
131,587
House Sparrow
Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
130,475
Song Sparrow
Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
127,608
Downy Woodpecker
Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
112,352

Citizen-science & research observations from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF).

Schools

Total

172

Elementary

109

Middle

High

Other

Largest nearby schools

Lexington High
High · Lexington · 2,303 students · 12.3:1 ratio
Everett High
High · Everett · 2,231 students · 13.4:1 ratio
Newton North High
High · Newtonville · 2,099 students · 10.9:1 ratio
Cambridge Rindge and Latin
High · Cambridge · 1,867 students · 8.7:1 ratio
Malden High
High · Malden · 1,856 students · 16:1 ratio
Newton South High
High · Newton Centre · 1,837 students · 11.8:1 ratio
Waltham Sr High
High · Waltham · 1,751 students · 10.9:1 ratio
Mystic Valley Regional Charter School
Other · Malden · 1,608 students · 16.8:1 ratio

Public K–12 schools within ~10 mi from Urban Institute Education Data Portal (NCES Common Core of Data, 2022).

Earthquake history

Quakes ≥ 2.5 (25 yrs, 62 mi)

Largest magnitude

3.8

Largest event

2025-01-27

Most recent

M 3.8 — 2025-01-27
9 km SE of York Harbor, Maine
M 2.7 — 2023-12-23
5 km SW of Chichester, New Hampshire
M 3.6 — 2020-11-08
10 km S of Bliss Corner, Massachusetts
M 2.7 — 2018-02-15
0 km SE of East Kingston, New Hampshire
M 2.6 — 2015-01-13
2 km E of Wauregan, Connecticut
M 3.3 — 2015-01-12
0 km NE of Wauregan, Connecticut

Events from the USGS Earthquake Catalog (global) (FDSN Event Web Service).

Photos

Sights & places nearby

Notable people from here

Nearby places in Massachusetts

Browse all places in Massachusetts →

Geography & sun

Elevation

36 ft (11 m)

Avg solar (kWh/m²/day)

3.81

Annual solar (kWh/m²)

1,392

Elevation, sunrise/sunset and daylight from Open-Meteo. Solar climatology from NASA POWER.

Nearby airports

Public attention

Wikipedia views (last 30 days)

29,473

Avg daily Wikipedia views

982

Attention level

Modest

Pageview totals from the Wikimedia Pageviews API.

Books about Cambridge

Biographical sketches of graduates of Harvard university, in Cambridge, Massachusetts

John Langdon Sibley · 1873

History of Cambridge, Massachusetts. 1630-1877

Lucius R. Paige · 1877

History of Cambridge, Massachusetts 1630-1877

Lucius Robinson Paige · 1877

Self-fitting dress chart patterns

SPIE · 1984

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Mary L. Martin · 2008

Zoning Ordinance, City of Cambridge, Massachusetts

Cambridge (Mass.) · 1990

Celebrations

Minor White · 1974

History of Cambridge Massachusetts

Mary Gozzaldi · 1986

Search results from Open Library.

Recent natural events nearby

Ground air-quality sensors

Recently spotted species

Reddish-brown Stag Beetle

Odocoileus virginianus

Research-grade observations from iNaturalist (within ~15 mi).

Nearest stream gauge

Site

CHARLES RIVER AT FIRST ST AT CAMBRIDGE, MA

Distance

2.3 mi

Gage height

107.27 ft

Live readings from USGS NWIS · measured 2026-09-17 16:30 UTC.

Events

Notable, recurring, and historical events associated with Cambridge, sourced from Wikidata.

What Good Can Architecture Do?
planned event
public lecture by Reinhold Martin and Jeffrey Kipnis in 2010
Nov 16, 2010
NOW? The Architecture of Natural Patterns. L. Mahadevan in Conversation with Mohsen Mostafavi
planned event
discussion at the Harvard Graduate School of Design
Sep 27, 2010
NOW? Material Computation. Achim Menges in Conversation with Mohsen Mostafavi.
planned event
discussion at the Harvard Graduate School of Design
Sep 7, 2010
Color is Not a Decoration
planned event
lecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design
Apr 7, 2010
Form
planned event
lecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design
Apr 6, 2010
NOW? Territories and Territoriality: Martha Rosler in Conversation with Mohsen Mostafavi
planned event
discussion at the Harvard Graduate School of Design
Apr 6, 2010
Can We Leave the Bauxite in the Mountain? Field Notes on Democracy
planned event
lecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design
Apr 1, 2010
Ecology. Design. Synergy.
planned event
lecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design
Sep 17, 2007
in between
planned event
lecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design
Apr 25, 2007
Wikimania 2006
recurring event edition
held 4-6 August 2006 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Aug 4, 2006
AUTOeMOTIVE: The Design Work of J Mays
planned event
lecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design
Feb 20, 2002
The Favela-Bairro Project
planned event
lecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design
Dec 6, 2000
Olmsted and Contemporary Practice: Legacy or Lethargy
planned event
lecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design
Oct 8, 1997
Rafael Vinoly lecture
planned event
1996 lecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design
Feb 21, 1996
147th National Puzzlers' League convention
recurring event edition
Jul 1, 1986
Vericon
recurring event
science fiction convention at Harvard University

Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Gallery

Geotagged photos within ~6 miles of Cambridge, from Wikimedia Commons contributors.

Photos via Wikimedia Commons — see each image page for license & attribution.

Sources

• Wikipedia
• US Census Bureau (ACS 5-year estimates)
• Open-Meteo (ERA5 reanalysis)
• NOAA National Weather Service
• Wikimedia Commons
• Wikidata
• Open-Meteo Air Quality (CAMS)
• USGS Earthquake Catalog (global feed)
• USGS NWIS (water data)
• NCES via Urban Institute Education Data Portal
• GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility)
• iNaturalist
• CDC PLACES
• Open-Elevation
• Open-Meteo / sunrise-sunset.org
• Wikipedia Pageviews API
• Open Library
• Wikidata SPARQL (CC0) — population, area, elevation, inception, head of government, Commons image