Plymouth County vs Suffolk County

A side-by-side comparison of Plymouth County and Suffolk County: population, income, housing, and more.

Plymouth County and Suffolk County are counties in Massachusetts. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Suffolk County has the higher population (782,172 vs 531,889 in Plymouth County). Plymouth County has the higher median household income ($109,698 vs $92,859 in Suffolk County). Suffolk County has the higher median home value ($680,700 vs $513,000 in Plymouth County).

Population, income & housing

	Plymouth County	Suffolk County
Population	531,889	782,172
Median age	42.9 yrs	33.8 yrs
Median household income	$109,698	$92,859
Median home value	$513,000	$680,700
Median gross rent	$1,655	$2,069
Housing units	216,654	353,930
Homeownership rate	77.6%	36.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher	41.2%	49.9%
Unemployment rate	5.1%	6.2%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Plymouth County	Suffolk County
Population	515,303 → 531,889 (+3.2%)	796,605 → 782,172 (-1.8%)
Median household income	$89,489 → $109,698 (+22.6%)	$69,669 → $92,859 (+33.3%)
Median home value	$370,300 → $513,000 (+38.5%)	$496,500 → $680,700 (+37.1%)
Median gross rent	$1,279 → $1,655 (+29.4%)	$1,590 → $2,069 (+30.1%)

Plymouth County

Population

515,303531,889

Median household income

$89,489$109,698

Median home value

$370,300$513,000

Median gross rent

$1,279$1,655

Suffolk County

Population

796,605782,172

Median household income

$69,669$92,859

Median home value

$496,500$680,700

Median gross rent

$1,590$2,069

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Plymouth County	Suffolk County
Under 5	5.1%	4.9%
5 to 17	15.8%	11.3%
18 to 24	8.3%	13.4%
25 to 34	11.1%	22.5%
35 to 44	12.0%	13.6%
45 to 54	13.3%	10.7%
55 to 64	15.1%	10.7%
65 to 74	11.5%	7.7%
75 and over	7.7%	5.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Plymouth County	Suffolk County
White (non-Hispanic)	76.8%	44.1%
Black or African American	8.4%	17.9%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.1%
Asian	1.7%	8.9%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.1%
Some other race	2.5%	1.1%
Two or more races	5.8%	5.0%
Hispanic or Latino	4.7%	22.8%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Plymouth County	Suffolk County
No high school diploma	6.8%	12.4%
High school graduate	26.5%	20.5%
Some college or associate's	25.6%	17.2%
Bachelor's degree	25.6%	26.8%
Graduate or professional degree	15.6%	23.1%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Plymouth County	Suffolk County
Drove alone	71.8%	36.6%
Carpooled	7.0%	6.2%
Public transit	3.3%	23.6%
Walked	1.6%	12.3%
Bicycle	0.2%	1.9%
Worked from home	14.7%	17.5%
Other means	1.4%	1.9%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Plymouth County	Suffolk County
1-unit, detached	70.0%	13.5%
1-unit, attached	5.0%	6.1%
2 to 4 units	11.0%	35.9%
5 to 19 units	6.2%	17.6%
20 or more units	5.5%	26.6%
Mobile home & other	2.3%	0.3%

Poverty & households

	Plymouth County	Suffolk County
Poverty rate	7.1%	16.5%
Average household size	2.59	2.29
Mean commute (minutes)	33	31
Median year structure built	1971	1948