The local economy of Massachusetts and its counties, metro areas and cities, from official US government data, plus daily local gas prices for the state, its counties and metro areas.
Unemployment rate
4.3%
-0.2 ptsvs a year ago
Counties: lowest Nantucket County/town 2.7%, highest Hampden County 5.7%.
August 2026, seasonally adjusted, preliminary
Average weekly pay
$2,201
+4.8%vs a year ago
3,552,946 jobs at 296,429 business locations.
Q1 2026, all jobs
New homes permitted
13,778
+22.8%this year vs last year
Most in Middlesex County 2,876, Suffolk County 2,158.
Homes in the last 12 months, to August 2026
People moving in
-30,460
-5.5 per 1,000residents
119,934 moved in and 150,394 moved out. Most newcomers came from New York.
Net people, 2022 to 2023, the newest year published
Massachusetts gas price
$4.32
+$1.27vs a year ago
Counties: lowest Hampden County $4.11, highest Nantucket County $5.79. Counties and metro areas
Regular, per gallon, Massachusetts, October 10, 2026
Newest data: -. Not seasonally adjusted: compare with the same month a year earlier. Click a row for the history of that area.
The state, its counties and metro areas, updated daily. A separate series from the weekly survey prices above.
Business locations, employees and payroll by industry, 2023. Click an industry for its US report.
Business locations
184K
+0.5%vs 2022
2023, places with paid employees
Employees
3.49M
+2.7%vs 2022
Largest sector: Health Care and Social Assistance (17.7%).
2023, mid-March
Annual payroll
$301.8B
Wages and salaries paid during the year.
2023, all industries
Average pay
$86,550
Highest sector: Finance and Insurance $171,977.
Per employee per year
Share of Massachusetts's employees, 2023
| Industry | Employees | Average pay |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurants and Other Eating Places | 241,714 | $30,120 |
| General Medical and Surgical Hospitals | 181,308 | $83,667 |
| Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools | 162,904 | $59,205 |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises | 116,778 | $143,818 |
| Employment Services | 108,770 | $60,338 |
| Scientific Research and Development Services | 100,285 | $205,791 |
| Grocery Stores | 92,290 | $29,317 |
| Computer Systems Design and Related Services | 63,043 | $157,013 |
| Building Equipment Contractors | 59,728 | $93,114 |
| Offices of Physicians | 58,753 | $139,770 |
| Software Publishers | 57,916 | $192,597 |
| Insurance Carriers | 55,589 | $128,536 |
Most values are changed slightly to protect the privacy of single businesses; a few are withheld and shown as a range. Counties and metro areas have the same numbers in the area card above (Industries).
Offered pay in certified work-visa filings, fiscal year 2025 (October 2024 to September 2025). Click a company for its jobs and salaries.
In fiscal year 2025, employers offered a median of $122,000 a year in 18,573 certified H-1B filings for jobs in Massachusetts, up 6.9% from 2024 (US: $120,000). The largest job group was Software Developers. Fiscal year 2026 so far covers filings decided through Jun 30, 2026.
Median offered pay
$122,000
+6.9%vs 2024
Middle half: $92,500 to $150,000.
H-1B, fiscal year 2025
H-1B filings
18,573
+3.2%vs 2024
26,019 positions asked for.
Certified, full-time, fiscal year 2025
Top job group
$144,000
Software Developers, 4,077 filings.
Median offered pay of the largest job group
Green card jobs
$114,881
-4.2%vs 2024
4,492 PERM filings.
PERM median, fiscal year 2025
Median and middle half of the offers in Massachusetts, next to the US median. Hover a year for the numbers.
| Job group | Filings | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Software Developers | 4,077 | $144,000 |
| Data Scientists | 1,256 | $121,646 |
| Geographic Information Systems Technologists and Technicians | 1,093 | $119,319 |
| Molecular and Cellular Biologists | 895 | $85,842 |
| Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers | 636 | $119,912 |
| Accountants and Auditors | 463 | $90,000 |
| Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists | 447 | $89,535 |
| Industrial Engineers | 432 | $110,000 |
| Biochemists and Biophysicists | 413 | $100,500 |
| Computer and Information Systems Managers | 370 | $190,247 |
| Employer | Filings | Cities |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon.com Services LLC AMZN | 555 | 15 |
| Ernst & Young U.S. LLP | 388 | 46 |
| The MathWorks, Inc. | 322 | 2 |
| State Street Bank and Trust Company | 253 | 7 |
| General Hospital Corporation | 238 | 5 |
| Cognizant Technology Solutions US Corp. CTSH | 206 | 39 |
| Harvard University | 202 | 5 |
| Brigham and Women's Hospital | 184 | 4 |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 182 | 4 |
| Dana-Farber Cancer Institute | 176 | 3 |
| City | Filings | Median pay | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boston | 6,377 | $122,970 | $91,800 to $156,000 |
| Cambridge | 2,096 | $125,000 | $91,994 to $160,000 |
| Waltham | 835 | $126,880 | $103,022 to $152,520 |
| Burlington | 437 | $133,724 | $103,022 to $165,000 |
| Natick | 414 | $129,272 | $120,994 to $147,846 |
| Framingham | 388 | $124,066 | $98,093 to $146,407 |
| Quincy | 386 | $120,250 | $98,072 to $133,931 |
| Worcester | 309 | $90,376 | $73,000 to $119,974 |
| Marlborough | 289 | $122,433 | $97,000 to $148,000 |
| Westborough | 279 | $129,000 | $110,000 to $150,654 |
Yearly pay that employers offered in certified work-visa filings (H-1B, E-3 and PERM green card), from official public data. Pay is the lower end of the offered pay range, for full-time positions only. These are offered pay figures for positions in work-visa filings, not the pay of all employees. A filing is an offer for a position, not a hire, and one person can appear in several filings. Fiscal years run from October to September. Groups with fewer than 3 filings show counts only. Employers are ranked by filings in the cities of Massachusetts added up.
Declared disasters and flood insurance claims: what happened, from official public data.
Massachusetts has had 59 declared disasters and emergencies since 1953, 38 of them since 2000, most often Hurricane. Flood insurance has paid $441.4 million on 35,375 claims since 1978; the biggest year was 1991 ($126.1 million).
Declared disasters
38
20 major disasters. Most often Hurricane (12 since 1953).
Since 2000, all types; 59 since 1953
Flood claims paid
$82.4M
3,470 claims. Biggest year 1991 ($126.1M).
2016 to 2025, flood insurance
Policies in force
58,409
Average premium $1,157 a year.
2025, flood insurance policies
Most-declared county
26
Essex, latest Sep 15, 2023.
Declarations since 2000
Declarations for Massachusetts, 1953 to today
Claims paid in Massachusetts by the year of the flood, US dollars
Declarations since 1953
Declarations naming the county since 2000; statewide ones not counted
All years since 1978; policies are a yearly average. Top 14 of 14.
| # | County | Claims | Paid | Policies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plymouth County | 10,959 | $153.2M | 9,146 |
| 2 | Essex County | 5,456 | $94.1M | 8,486 |
| 3 | Barnstable County | 3,184 | $43.0M | 10,391 |
| 4 | Middlesex County | 3,752 | $36.4M | 6,933 |
| 5 | Suffolk County | 4,369 | $29.0M | 6,739 |
| 6 | Norfolk County | 3,262 | $25.9M | 5,970 |
| 7 | Nantucket County | 602 | $17.6M | 912 |
| 8 | Bristol County | 1,558 | $13.7M | 3,679 |
| 9 | Worcester County | 765 | $12.6M | 1,600 |
| 10 | Franklin County | 114 | $3.79M | 184 |
| 11 | Berkshire County | 388 | $3.07M | 779 |
| 12 | Hampden County | 279 | $2.72M | 960 |
| 13 | Hampshire County | 215 | $2.00M | 484 |
| 14 | Dukes County | 160 | $1.75M | 912 |
A declaration opens federal help after a disaster; it can name counties or the whole state. Flood insurance numbers count insured losses only (most homes have no flood insurance) and are not adjusted for inflation; the current year is data so far. For the flood-zone risk of a place, open the area on the real estate map.
Environmental compliance records, workplace safety inspections and greenhouse gas reports of facilities in Massachusetts, from official public data.
Official public data lists 5,386 facilities in Massachusetts with records since 2010, 5,352 of them with environmental compliance records. In 2022 to 2026, the largest penalties were at Bostomatic in Milford ($1,717,778). 109 large facilities reported 9.28 million metric tons of greenhouse gases in 2023, down 10.2% from 2022.
Facilities with records
5,386
5,352 with environmental records.
Since 2010
Largest penalties
$1.72M
Bostomatic, Milford.
One facility, 2022 to 2026
Greenhouse gases
9.28M t
-10.2%vs 2022
109 reporting facilities.
Metric tons CO2e, 2023
Largest emitter
1.22M t
Anp Bellingham Energy, Bellingham.
Metric tons CO2e, 2023
| Facility | Penalties | Violations |
|---|---|---|
| Bostomatic Milford | $1,717,778 | 7 |
| Nitto Denko Avecia Milford | $1,717,778 | 7 |
| Schnitzer Northeast Everett | $1,550,000 | 0 |
| Home Market Foods Meat Processing Facility Norwood | $1,110,500 | 1 |
| Abf Freight Systems INC West Bridgewater | $535,000 | 4 |
| Abf Freight System, INC. Worcester | $535,000 | 0 |
| Abf Freight System, INC. Salisbury | $535,000 | 0 |
| Abf Freight System, INC. Seekonk | $535,000 | 0 |
| Five Star Bus Chicopee | $325,000 | 0 |
| Five Star Transportation, INC - South Hadley South Hadley | $325,000 | 0 |
| Facility | Metric tons CO2e |
|---|---|
| Anp Bellingham Energy Bellingham | 1,217,538 |
| Blackstone Power Generation LLC Blackstone | 1,080,447 |
| Fore River Energy Station Weymouth | 886,337 |
| Kendall Green Energy LLC Cambridge, Town of | 788,060 |
| Mystic Station Everett, City of | 528,357 |
| Semass Resource Recovery Facility Rochester | 423,563 |
| Boston Gas Company Waltham | 343,375 |
| Masspower Cogeneration Facility Indian Orchard | 283,432 |
| Salem Harbor Station NGCC Salem | 278,894 |
| Medical Area Total Energy Plant Boston | 263,148 |
Large facilities in Massachusetts, metric tons of CO2 equivalent. Hover a year for the number.
Their facilities in Massachusetts, 2022 to 2026. Click a company for its Risk & Compliance tab.
| Company | Facilities | Penalties | CO2e (t) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ArcBest Corporation ARCB | 3 | $1.60M | - |
| Waste Connections, Inc. WCN | 1 | $170K | - |
| 3M Company MMM | 3 | $16K | - |
| Target Corporation TGT | 14 | $8,050 | - |
| Constellation Energy Corporation CEG | 3 | $0 | 637K |
Official public data on environmental compliance records, workplace safety inspections and greenhouse gas reports, summarized by facility and year since 2010. A record does not mean a site is unsafe today; penalties and violations vary a lot by industry and size. Penalties are the amounts assessed (after settlements), not amounts paid. Recent years can still change.
Cost, students and graduate earnings of the colleges in the state, from official public data.
The newest unemployment rate, pay, new home permits, moves and gas price for Massachusetts, updated as new official numbers come out.
Unemployment for Massachusetts is seasonally adjusted; for its counties, metro areas and cities it is not, so compare a month with the same month a year earlier. Pay covers all jobs that pay into unemployment insurance. Building permits count homes approved to be built, not homes sold. Moves count households by where they filed their tax returns in two years in a row. Daily gas prices are average pump prices for Massachusetts, its counties and metro areas on the day shown. The weekly gas prices in the explorer come from a separate weekly survey that publishes a price for only some states, so a state without one shows the price of its region there; the two series are never combined.
The unemployment rate in Massachusetts was 4.3% in August 2026 (seasonally adjusted, preliminary), compared with 4.5% a year earlier. 3,705,532 people were employed out of a labor force of 3,871,860. Among its counties, Nantucket County/town had the lowest rate (2.7%) and Hampden County the highest (5.7%, not seasonally adjusted).
Average weekly pay in Massachusetts was $2,201 in Q1 2026, up 4.8% from a year earlier, across 3,552,946 jobs at 296,429 business locations.
Building permits were issued for 1,207 new homes in Massachusetts in August 2026 (445 single-family and 697 in buildings with 5 or more units). From January to August the total was 9,280, up 22.8% from the same months last year, and 13,778 in the last 12 months. The most homes were permitted in Middlesex County (2,876), Suffolk County (2,158), Worcester County (1,826) over the last 12 months.
No, more people moved out than in. From 2022 to 2023, 119,934 people moved to Massachusetts and 150,394 moved away, a net loss of 30,460 (-5.5 per 1,000 residents). Most newcomers came from New York, Florida, New Hampshire, and most people who left went to Florida, New York, New Hampshire.
Regular gasoline in Massachusetts averaged $4.32 per gallon on October 10, 2026, up $1.27 from a year earlier. Diesel averaged $6.33. Among its counties, Hampden County had the lowest regular price ($4.11) and Nantucket County the highest ($5.79). In the weekly survey, Massachusetts averaged $4.30 in the week of October 5, 2026.
Health Care and Social Assistance (618,482 employees), Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (369,685 employees), Retail Trade (357,807 employees) were the largest sectors in Massachusetts in 2023. In all, 183,767 business locations employed 3,487,228 people at an average pay of $86,550 a year.
$122,000 a year was the median pay offered in 18,573 certified H-1B filings for jobs in Massachusetts in fiscal year 2025 (October 2024 to September 2025), up 6.9% from 2024. The middle half of the offers ranged from $92,500 to $150,000. The US median was $120,000. These are offered pay figures in work-visa filings, not the pay of all workers.
Amazon.com Services LLC (555), Ernst & Young U.S. LLP (388), The MathWorks, Inc. (322), State Street Bank and Trust Company (253), General Hospital Corporation (238) had the most certified H-1B filings for jobs in Massachusetts in fiscal year 2025 (October 2024 to September 2025).
Software Developers (4,077 filings, median $144,000), Data Scientists (1,256 filings, median $121,646), Geographic Information Systems Technologists and Technicians (1,093 filings, median $119,319) were the largest job groups in certified H-1B filings in Massachusetts in fiscal year 2025.
$133,724 was the median offered pay in Burlington, the highest among the Massachusetts cities with the most H-1B filings in fiscal year 2025 (437 filings).
$114,881 a year was the median pay offered in 4,492 certified PERM green card filings for jobs in Massachusetts in fiscal year 2025.
59 disasters and emergencies have been declared for Massachusetts since 1953, 38 of them since 2000 (20 major disasters). The most common type is Hurricane (12 declarations).
Essex, with 26 declarations since 2000, followed by Middlesex (26) and Norfolk (25). Statewide declarations are not counted for single counties.
$441.4 million on 35,375 flood insurance claims since 1978. The biggest year was 1991, with $126.1 million paid on 7,192 claims. Plymouth County received the most ($153.2 million).
$1,157 a year in 2025, across 58,409 flood insurance policies in Massachusetts. Most homes have no flood insurance; the premium depends on the home's flood risk and coverage.