Suffolk County vs Worcester County

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

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

Worcester County has the higher population (861,664 vs 782,172 in Suffolk County). Worcester County has the higher median household income ($93,561 vs $92,859 in Suffolk County). Suffolk County has the higher median home value ($680,700 vs $390,700 in Worcester County).

Population, income & housing

	Suffolk County	Worcester County
Population	782,172	861,664
Median age	33.8 yrs	40.3 yrs
Median household income	$92,859	$93,561
Median home value	$680,700	$390,700
Median gross rent	$2,069	$1,347
Housing units	353,930	353,405
Homeownership rate	36.6%	65.7%
Bachelor's degree or higher	49.9%	39.0%
Unemployment rate	6.2%	5.3%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Suffolk County	Worcester County
Population	796,605 → 782,172 (-1.8%)	824,772 → 861,664 (+4.5%)
Median household income	$69,669 → $92,859 (+33.3%)	$74,679 → $93,561 (+25.3%)
Median home value	$496,500 → $680,700 (+37.1%)	$280,600 → $390,700 (+39.2%)
Median gross rent	$1,590 → $2,069 (+30.1%)	$1,060 → $1,347 (+27.1%)

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

Worcester County

Population

824,772861,664

Median household income

$74,679$93,561

Median home value

$280,600$390,700

Median gross rent

$1,060$1,347

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Suffolk County	Worcester County
Under 5	4.9%	5.2%
5 to 17	11.3%	15.6%
18 to 24	13.4%	9.3%
25 to 34	22.5%	13.0%
35 to 44	13.6%	12.8%
45 to 54	10.7%	13.2%
55 to 64	10.7%	14.4%
65 to 74	7.7%	10.0%
75 and over	5.3%	6.5%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Suffolk County	Worcester County
White (non-Hispanic)	44.1%	71.8%
Black or African American	17.9%	4.6%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.1%
Asian	8.9%	5.2%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.0%
Some other race	1.1%	1.0%
Two or more races	5.0%	4.0%
Hispanic or Latino	22.8%	13.3%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Suffolk County	Worcester County
No high school diploma	12.4%	8.7%
High school graduate	20.5%	26.5%
Some college or associate's	17.2%	25.8%
Bachelor's degree	26.8%	22.5%
Graduate or professional degree	23.1%	16.5%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Suffolk County	Worcester County
Drove alone	36.6%	71.8%
Carpooled	6.2%	7.8%
Public transit	23.6%	1.5%
Walked	12.3%	2.4%
Bicycle	1.9%	0.1%
Worked from home	17.5%	14.3%
Other means	1.9%	2.1%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Suffolk County	Worcester County
1-unit, detached	13.5%	57.0%
1-unit, attached	6.1%	6.2%
2 to 4 units	35.9%	19.4%
5 to 19 units	17.6%	9.0%
20 or more units	26.6%	7.6%
Mobile home & other	0.3%	0.8%

Poverty & households

	Suffolk County	Worcester County
Poverty rate	16.5%	10.3%
Average household size	2.29	2.50
Mean commute (minutes)	31	30
Median year structure built	1948	1966