Massachusetts#Taxation

The Massachusetts Bay Colony was named after the Indigenous population, the Massachusett or Muhsachuweesut, whose name likely derived from the Wôpanâak word muswachasut, segmented as mus(ây) "big" + wach "mountain" + -s "diminutive" + -ut "locative".{{cite thesis|url= http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/8740|title= Introduction to Wampanoag Grammar|last= Fermino|first= Jessie Little Doe|year= 2000|publisher= Massachusetts Institute of Technology|hdl= 1721.1/8740|type= Thesis}} This word has been translated as "near the great hill",{{cite book| first= William Wallace| last= Tooker| url= https://archive.org/details/jstor-533961| page= [https://archive.org/details/jstor-533961/page/n5 175]| title= Algonquian Names of some Mountains and Hills| publisher= American Folk-lore Society| year= 1904| access-date= June 10, 2015}} "by the blue hills", "at the little big hill", or "at the range of hills", in reference to the Blue Hills—namely, the Great Blue Hill, located on the boundary of Milton and Canton.Salwen, Bert, 1978. Indians of Southern New England and Long Island: Early Period. In "Northeast", ed. Bruce G. Trigger. Vol. 15 of "Handbook of North American Indians", ed. William C. Sturtevant, pp. 160–76. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution. Quoted in: Campbell, Lyle. 1997. American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 401Bright, William (2004). Native American Place Names of the United States. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, p. 270 Massachusett has also been represented as Moswetuset. This comes from the name of the Moswetuset Hummock (meaning "hill shaped like an arrowhead") in Quincy, where Plymouth Colony commander Myles Standish (a hired English military officer) and Squanto (a member of the Patuxet band of the Wamponoag people, who have since died off due to contagious diseases brought by colonists) met Chief Chickatawbut in 1621.{{cite web |url= http://thomascranelibrary.org/htm/436.htm |title= East Squantum Street (Moswetuset Hummock) |year= 1986 |website= Quincy, Mass. Historical and Architectural Survey |publisher= Thomas Crane Public Library |access-date= June 24, 2009 |archive-date= June 26, 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090626232221/http://thomascranelibrary.org/htm/436.htm }}{{cite book |last= Neal |first= Daniel |title= The history of New-England |publisher= A. Ward |location= London |year= 1747 |edition= 2 |volume= 2 |page= 216 |chapter= XIV: The Present State of New England |oclc= 8616817 |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=u3opAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA216 |access-date= June 24, 2009}}

Although the designation "Commonwealth" forms part of the state's official name, it has no practical implications in modern times,{{cite web |title= Why is Massachusetts a Commonwealth? |date= January 2, 2009 |url= http://www.mass.gov/anf/research-and-tech/legal-and-legislative-resources/why-is-massachusetts-a-commonwealth.html |publisher= Commonwealth of Massachusetts |access-date= April 21, 2015 | quote = The term 'Commonwealth' does not describe or provide for any specific political status or legal relationship when used by a state. Those [U.S. states] that do use it are equal to those that do not. Legally, Massachusetts is a commonwealth because the term is contained in the Constitution.}} and Massachusetts has the same position and powers within the United States as other states.{{cite web |title= Kentucky as a Commonwealth |publisher= Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives |access-date= May 22, 2010 |url= http://kdla.ky.gov/resources/kycommonwealth.htm |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110131061313/http://kdla.ky.gov/resources/kycommonwealth.htm |archive-date= January 31, 2011}} John Adams may have chosen the word in 1779 for the second draft of what became the 1780 Massachusetts Constitution; unlike the word "state", the word "commonwealth" had the connotation of a republic at the time. This was in contrast to the monarchy the former colonies were fighting against during the American Revolutionary War. The name "State of Massachusetts Bay" appeared in the first draft, which was ultimately rejected. It was also chosen to include the "Cape Islands" in reference to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket—from 1780 to 1844, they were seen as additional and separate entities confined within the Commonwealth.

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• "A previous draft of the state constitution, proposed by the Legislature and rejected, had used the name 'State of Massachusetts Bay'.
  At the time, the word was used to mean 'republic', and there might have been some antimonarchical sentiment in using it, according to the [http://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cismaf/mf1a.htm Massachusetts secretary of state's website]."

{{Main|History of Massachusetts|Native American tribes in Massachusetts}}

Massachusetts was originally inhabited by tribes of the Algonquian language family, including the Wampanoag, Narragansett, Nipmuc, Pocomtuc, Mahican, and Massachusett.{{sfn|Brown|Tager|2000|pp=6–7}}{{cite web |title=Origin & Early Mohican History |publisher=Stockbridge-Munsee Community—Band of Mohican Indians |access-date=October 21, 2009 |url=http://mohican-nsn.gov/Departments/Library-Museum/Mohican_History/origin-and-early.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090912122346/http://mohican-nsn.gov/Departments/Library-Museum/Mohican_History/origin-and-early.htm |archive-date=September 12, 2009 }} While cultivation of crops like squash and corn were an important part of their diet, the people of these tribes hunted, fished, and searched the forest for most of their food.{{sfn|Brown|Tager|2000|pp=6–7}} Villagers lived in lodges called wigwams as well as longhouses. Tribes were led by male or female elders known as sachems.{{sfn|Brown|Tager|2000|p=7}}

{{Main|Mayflower Compact|Plymouth Colony|Massachusetts Bay Colony|New England Confederation|Dominion of New England|Province of Massachusetts Bay}}

File:Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor, by William Halsall.jpg in Plymouth Harbor by William Halsall (1882). The Pilgrims founded Plymouth in 1620.]]

In the early 1600s, European colonists caused virgin soil epidemics such as smallpox, measles, influenza, and perhaps leptospirosis in what is now known as the northeastern region of the United States.{{cite book |last=Hoxie |first=Frederick E |title=Encyclopedia of North American Indians |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |year=1996 |location=Boston |page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofno00hoxi/page/164 164] |isbn=978-0-395-66921-1 |oclc=34669430 |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofno00hoxi |url-access=registration |access-date=July 30, 2009}}{{cite journal |doi=10.3201/e0di1602.090276 |last1=Marr |first1=JS |last2=Cathey |first2=JT |title=New hypothesis for cause of an epidemic among Native Americans, New England, 1616–1619 |journal=Emerging Infectious Diseases |date=February 2010 |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=281–286|pmid=20113559 |pmc=2957993 |doi-access=free | issn=1080-6040}} Between 1617 and 1619, a disease that was most likely smallpox killed approximately 90% of the Massachusetts Bay Native Americans.{{Cite book|title=Smallpox: The Fight to Eradicate a Global Scourge|last=Kaplow|first=David|publisher=University of California Press|year=2003|isbn=978-0-520-24220-3|page=13}}

The first English colonists in Massachusetts Bay Colony landed with Richard Vines and spent the winter in Biddeford Pool near Cape Porpoise (after 1820 the State of Maine) in 1616. The Puritans arrived at Plymouth in 1620. This was the second permanent English colony in the part of North America that later became the United States, after the Jamestown Colony. The "First Thanksgiving" was celebrated by the Puritans after their first harvest in the "New World" and lasted for three days. They were soon followed by other Puritans, who colonized the Massachusetts Bay Colony—now known as Boston—in 1630.{{sfn|Goldfield|Abbott|Anderson|Argersinger|1998|p=30}}

The Puritans believed the Church of England needed to be further reformed along Protestant Calvinist lines, and experienced harassment due to the religious policies of King Charles I and high-ranking clergy such as William Laud, who would become Charles's Archbishop of Canterbury, whom they feared were re-introducing "Romish" elements to the national church.{{cite web |title=The New England Colonies |url=http://www.ushistory.org/us/3.asp |publisher=ushistory.org |access-date=April 24, 2015}} They decided to colonize to Massachusetts, intending to establish what they considered an "ideal" religious society.{{sfn|Goldfield|Abbott|Anderson|Argersinger|1998|p=29}} The Massachusetts Bay Colony was colonized under a royal charter, unlike the Plymouth colony, in 1629.{{cite web |title=Charter Of Massachusetts Bay 1629 |url=http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/documents/1600-1650/charter-of-massachusetts-bay-1629.php |publisher=let.rug.nl |access-date=April 24, 2015}} Both religious dissent and expansionism resulted in several new colonies being founded, shortly after Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay, elsewhere in New England. The Massachusetts Bay banished dissenters such as Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams due to religious and political conflict. In 1636, Williams colonized what is now known as Rhode Island, and Hutchinson joined him there several years later. Religious intolerance continued, and among those who objected to this later that century were the English Quaker preachers Alice and Thomas Curwen, who were publicly flogged and imprisoned in Boston in 1676.Michael Mullett: "Curwen, Thomas ({{circa|1610–1680}})", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford, UK: OUP, 2004) [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/6968 Retrieved 17 November 2015]{{sfn|Brown|Tager|2000|pp=30–32}}

File:Forge & Slitting Mill Saugus Iron Works Village 02.jpg established the Saugus Iron Works, which was the first integrated ironworks in North America. It included a blast furnace, forge, rolling mill, shear, slitter and a quarter-ton trip hammer, all of which has been restored and is now a museum.]]

By 1641, Massachusetts had expanded inland significantly. The Commonwealth acquired the Connecticut River Valley settlement of Springfield, which had recently disputed with—and defected from—its original administrators, the Connecticut Colony.{{cite book |last=Barrows |first=Charles Henry |title=The History of Springfield in Massachusetts for the Young: Being Also in Some Part the History of Other Towns and Cities in the County of Hampden |publisher=The Connecticut Valley Historical Society |year=1911 |pages=46–48 |id=US 13459.5.7}} This established Massachusetts's southern border in the west.[http://www.bio.umass.edu/biology/conn.river/pynchon.html William Pynchon] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921185345/http://www.bio.umass.edu/biology/conn.river/pynchon.html |date=September 21, 2013 }}. Bio.umass.edu. Retrieved September 7, 2013. However, this became disputed territory until 1803–04 due to surveying problems, leading to the modern Southwick Jog.{{cite web |title=Connecticut's "Southwick Jog" |url=http://www.ctstatelibrary.org/subjectguides/connecticuts-southwick-jog |publisher=Connecticut State Library |access-date=June 10, 2015}}

File:Eliot_Bible.jpg (cover page shown), also called the Eliot Indian Bible, is the first Bible to have been printed in British North America.]]

In 1652 the Massachusetts General Court authorized Boston silversmith John Hull to produce local coinage in shilling, sixpence and threepence denominations to address a coin shortage in the colony.{{Harvnb|Barth|2014|p=499}} Before that point, the colony's economy had been entirely dependent on barter and foreign currency, including English, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese and counterfeit coins.{{cite journal |last1=Clarke |first1=Hermann F. |year=1937 |title=John Hull: Mintmaster |journal=The New England Quarterly |volume=10 |issue=4 |pages=669;673 |doi=10.2307/359931 |jstor=359931}} In 1661, shortly after the restoration of the British monarchy, the British government considered the Boston mint to be treasonous.{{Harvnb|Barth|2014|p=500}} However, the colony ignored the English demands to cease operations until at least 1682, when Hull's contract as mintmaster expired, and the colony did not move to renew his contract or appoint a new mintmaster.{{Harvnb|Barth|2014|p=514}} The coinage was a contributing factor to the revocation of the Massachusetts Bay Colony charter in 1684.{{Harvnb|Barth|2014|p=520}}

In 1691, the colonies of Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth were united (along with present-day Maine, which had previously been divided between Massachusetts and New York) into the Province of Massachusetts Bay.{{sfn|Goldfield|Abbott|Anderson|Argersinger|1998|p=66}} Shortly after, the new province's first governor, William Phips, arrived. The Salem witch trials also took place, where a number of men and women were hanged for alleged witchcraft.{{sfn|Brown|Tager|2000|p=50}}

The most destructive earthquake known to date in New England occurred on November 18, 1755, causing considerable damage across Massachusetts.{{cite news|last=Perley |first=Sidney |agency=USGS |title=Historic Earthquakes |publisher=Earthquake Hazards Program |date=April 18, 2014 |url=https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/states/events/1755_11_18_hs.php |access-date=February 7, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111110190706/http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/states/events/1755_11_18_hs.php |archive-date=November 10, 2011 }}{{cite news |title=Memorandum |newspaper=Boston Gazette |date=November 24, 1755 |page=1}}

{{Main|American Revolutionary War|Boston campaign|Lee Resolution|United States Declaration of Independence|Northern theater of the American Revolutionary War after Saratoga|Articles of Confederation#Ratification|Treaty of Paris (1783)}}

File:The Battle of Lexington.jpg]]

Massachusetts was a center of the movement for independence from Great Britain. Colonists in Massachusetts had long had uneasy relations with the British monarchy, including open rebellion under the Dominion of New England in the 1680s.{{sfn|Goldfield|Abbott|Anderson|Argersinger|1998|p=66}} Protests against British attempts to tax the colonies after the French and Indian War ended in 1763 led to the Boston Massacre in 1770, and the 1773 Boston Tea Party escalated tensions.{{sfn|Brown|Tager|2000|pp=63–83}} In 1774, the Intolerable Acts targeted Massachusetts with punishments for the Boston Tea Party and further decreased local autonomy, increasing local dissent.{{cite web |title=The Intolerable Acts |url=http://www.ushistory.org/us/9g.asp |publisher=ushistory.org |access-date=April 24, 2015}} Anti-Parliamentary activity by men such as Samuel Adams and John Hancock, followed by reprisals by the British government, were a primary reason for the unity of the Thirteen Colonies and the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1775.{{sfn|Goldfield|Abbott|Anderson|Argersinger|1998|pp=88–90}}

File:Buckman Tavern Lexington.jpg were fired on Lexington Green in front of Buckman Tavern. The tavern is now a museum.]]

File:Official Presidential portrait of John Adams (by John Trumbull, circa 1792).jpg was 2nd President of the United States (1797–1801).]]

The Battles of Lexington and Concord were fought in Massachusetts in 1775, and initiated the American Revolutionary War.{{sfn|Goldfield|Abbott|Anderson|Argersinger|1998|pp=95–96}} George Washington, later the first president of the future country, took over what would become the Continental Army after the battle. His first victory was the siege of Boston in the winter of 1775–76, after which the British were forced to evacuate the city.{{sfn|Goldfield|Abbott|Anderson|Argersinger|1998|pp=96–97}} The event is still celebrated in Suffolk County only every March 17 as Evacuation Day.{{cite web |title=Massachusetts Legal Holidays |url=http://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cishol/holidx.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040627003406/https://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cishol/holidx.htm |archive-date=June 27, 2004 |access-date=May 22, 2010 |publisher=Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth}}

On the coast, Salem became a center for privateering. Although the documentation is incomplete, about 1,700 letters of marque, issued on a per-voyage basis, were granted during the American Revolution. Nearly 800 vessels were commissioned as privateers, which were credited with capturing or destroying about 600 British ships.{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/revwar/about_the_revolution/privateers.html |title=John Fraylor. Salem Maritime National Historic Park |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=September 3, 2012}}

File:Recto Massachusetts 5 shillings 1779 urn-3 HBS.Baker.AC 1086081.jpeg

{{Main|Constitutional Convention (United States)|Admission to the Union|List of U.S. states by date of admission to the Union}}

Bostonian John Adams, known as the "Atlas of Independence",{{cite web |title=The Declaration of Independence |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/adams/peopleevents/e_declaration.html |publisher=PBS |access-date=April 25, 2015}} was highly involved in both separation from Britain and the Constitution of Massachusetts, which effectively (the Elizabeth Freeman and Quock Walker cases as interpreted by William Cushing) made Massachusetts the first state to abolish slavery. David McCullough points out that an equally important feature was its placing for the first time the courts as a co-equal branch separate from the executive.{{cite book |last1=McCullough |first1=David |title=John Adams |date=September 3, 2002 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=978-0-7432-2313-3 |edition=1st}} (The Constitution of Vermont, adopted in 1777, represented the first partial ban on slavery among the states. Vermont became a state in 1791 but did not fully ban slavery until 1858 with the Vermont Personal Liberty Law. The Pennsylvania Gradual Abolition Act of 1780{{cite web |url=http://explorepahistory.com/odocument.php?docId=341 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004214250/http://explorepahistory.com/odocument.php?docId=341 |archive-date=October 4, 2013 |title=Pennsylvania's Gradual Abolition Act of 1780 |publisher=Explore PA history}} made Pennsylvania the first state to abolish slavery by statute - the second English colony to do so; the first having been the Colony of Georgia in 1735.) Later, Adams was active in early American foreign affairs and succeeded Washington as the second president of the United States. His son, John Quincy Adams, also from Massachusetts,{{cite web |last=Rettig |first=Polly M. |title=John Quincy Adams Birthplace |url={{NHLS url|id=66000128}} |website=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=April 24, 2015 |date=April 3, 1978}} would go on to become the nation's sixth president.

File:Friendship of Salem MA1.jpg in Salem, is a replica of an 18th-century East Indiaman. Salem was a major port and the spice trade was very lucrative, resulting in Salem having the highest per capita income in the United States in the early 1800s. The Friendship was owned by Jerathmeil Peirce and Aaron Waite. Peirce's mansion in Salem is preserved by the Peabody Essex Museum.]]

From 1786 to 1787, an armed uprising led by Revolutionary War veteran Daniel Shays, now known as Shays' Rebellion, wrought havoc throughout Massachusetts and ultimately attempted to seize the federal Springfield Armory. The rebellion was one of the major factors in the decision to draft a stronger national constitution to replace the Articles of Confederation. On February 6, 1788, Massachusetts became the sixth state to ratify the United States Constitution.{{cite web |title=The Ratification of the U.S. Constitution in Massachusetts |publisher=Massachusetts Historical Society |access-date=May 22, 2010 |url=http://www.masshist.org/objects/cabinet/february2003/february2003.htm}}

{{Main|Missouri Compromise|Massachusetts in the American Civil War}}

In 1820, Maine separated from Massachusetts and entered the Union as the 23rd state due to the ratification of the Missouri Compromise.{{cite web |title=On this day in 1820 |url=http://www.massmoments.org/moment.cfm?mid=81 |publisher=Massmoments.org |access-date=April 25, 2015}}

File:Visitor_Center,_Market_Mills,_Lowell_MA.jpg, such as the one depicted here in Lowell, made Massachusetts a leader in the Industrial Revolution.]]

During the 19th century, Massachusetts became a national leader in the American Industrial Revolution, with factories around cities such as Lowell and Boston producing textiles and shoes, and factories around Springfield producing tools, paper, and textiles.{{sfn|Brown|Tager|2000|p=129}}{{sfn|Brown|Tager|2000|p=211}} The state's economy transformed from one based primarily on agriculture to an industrial one, initially making use of water-power and later the steam engine to power factories. Canals and railroads were being used in the state for transporting raw materials and finished goods.{{sfn|Brown|Tager|2000|p=202}} At first, the new industries drew labor from Yankees on nearby subsistence farms, though they later relied upon immigrant labor from Europe and Canada.{{sfn|Brown|Tager|2000|pp=133–36}}{{sfn|Brown|Tager|2000|p=179}}

Although Massachusetts was the first slave-holding colony with slavery dating back to the early 1600s, the state became a center of progressivist and abolitionist (anti-slavery) activity in the years leading up to the American Civil War. Horace Mann made the state's school system a national model.{{sfn|Goldfield|Abbott|Anderson|Argersinger|1998|p=251}} Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, both philosophers and writers from the state, also made major contributions to American philosophy.{{sfn|Goldfield|Abbott|Anderson|Argersinger|1998|p=254}} Furthermore, members of the transcendentalist movement within the state emphasized the importance of the natural world and emotion to humanity.{{sfn|Goldfield|Abbott|Anderson|Argersinger|1998|p=254}}

Although significant opposition to abolitionism existed early on in Massachusetts, resulting in anti-abolitionist riots between 1835 and 1837,{{sfn|Brown|Tager|2000|p=185}} abolitionist views there gradually increased throughout the next few decades.{{sfn|Brown|Tager|2000|p=183}}{{sfn|Brown|Tager|2000|pp=187–93}} Abolitionists John Brown and Sojourner Truth lived in Springfield and Northampton, respectively, while Frederick Douglass lived in Boston and Susan B. Anthony in Adams. The works of such abolitionists contributed to Massachusetts's actions during the Civil War. Massachusetts was the first state to recruit, train, and arm a Black regiment with White officers, the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment.{{cite web |title=Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Regiment |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=October 19, 2009 |url=http://www.nps.gov/boaf/historyculture/shaw.htm}} In 1852, Massachusetts became the first state to pass compulsory education laws.{{cite web |title=State Compulsory School Attendance Laws |url=http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0112617.html |publisher=infoplease.com |access-date=May 5, 2015}}

Although the U.S. stock market had sustained steep losses the last week in October 1929, Tuesday, October 29 is remembered as the beginning of the Great Depression. The Boston Stock Exchange, drawn into the whirlpool of panic selling that beset the New York Stock Exchange, lost over 25 percent of its value in two days of frenzied trading. The BSE, nearly 100 years old at the time, had helped raise the capital that had funded many of the Commonwealth's factories, railroads, and businesses. "{{cite web |title=Stock Market Crash Heralds Great Depression |url=https://www.massmoments.org/moment-details/stock-market-crash-heralds-great-depression.html |website=massmoments.org |access-date=June 30, 2022}} Governor of Massachusetts Frank G. Allen appointed John C. Hull the first Securities Director of Massachusetts.{{cite web |url=https://www.mass.gov/files/department-of-public-utilities-history_0.pdf |title=Department of Public Utilities History |last=Osborne |first=Paul E. |date=March 2016 |publisher=Government of Massachusetts |access-date=June 30, 2022}}{{cite journal |url=https://digitalcommons.bowdoin.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1003&context=alumni-magazines |title=Bowdoin Alumnus Volume 4 (1929–1930) |journal=Bowdoin Alumnus Magazines |year=1930 |publisher=Bowdoin College |page=129}}{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/actsresolvespass1929mass/page/290/mode/2up?q=securities+division+ | title=Acts and resolves passed by the General Court | year=1663 }} Hull would assume office in January 1930, and his term would end in 1936.290 Acts, 1929. — Chap. 287. Chap. 2S7 An Act to provide for the more effective enforcement of the Sale of Securities Act. Identifier: actsresolvespass1929mass

"Section 1. Chapter twenty- five of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding thereto, under the heading, Securities Division, There shall be in the department, and under its general supervision and control, a securities division which shall be under the charge of a director." John C. Hull was the first Securities Director appointed January 1930. His term would end in 1936. Publication date 1927–1928. pg. 102

With the departure of several manufacturing companies, the state's industrial economy began to decline during the early 20th century. By the 1920s, competition from the American South and Midwest, followed by the Great Depression, led to the collapse of the three main industries in Massachusetts: textiles, shoemaking, and precision mechanics.{{sfn|Brown|Tager|2000|p=246}} This decline would continue into the latter half of the 20th century. Between 1950 and 1979, the number of Massachusetts residents involved in textile manufacturing declined from 264,000 to 63,000.{{sfn|Brown|Tager|2000|p=276}} The 1969 closure of the Springfield Armory, in particular, spurred an exodus of high-paying jobs from Western Massachusetts, which suffered greatly as it de-industrialized during the century's last 40 years.{{cite web |publisher=University of Massachusetts Lowell |url=http://www.uml.edu/com/cita/05paperforrantmuckensturm.pdf |title=Job Loss, Shrinking Revenues, and Grinding Decline in Springfield, Massachusetts: Is A Finance Control Board the Answer? |access-date=June 10, 2015 |archive-date=October 18, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131018103402/http://www.uml.edu/com/cita/05paperforrantmuckensturm.pdf }}

Massachusetts manufactured 3.4 percent of total United States military armaments produced during World War II, ranking tenth among the 48 states.{{cite journal |last1=Peck |first1=Merton J. |last2=Scherer |first2=Frederic M. |title=The weapons acquisition process: An economic analysis |journal=IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management |date=March 1964 |volume=EM-11 |issue=1 |pages=51–52 |doi=10.1109/TEM.1964.6446393 |url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6446393 |access-date=October 28, 2022 |issn=1558-0040}} After the world war, the economy of eastern Massachusetts transformed from one based on heavy industry into a service-based economy.{{sfn|Brown|Tager|2000|pp=275–83}} Government contracts, private investment, and research facilities led to a new and improved industrial climate, with reduced unemployment and increased per capita income. Suburbanization flourished, and by the 1970s, the Route 128/Interstate 95 corridor was dotted with high-tech companies who recruited graduates of the area's many elite institutions of higher education.{{sfn|Brown|Tager|2000|p=284}}

In 1987, the state received federal funding for the Central Artery/Tunnel Project. Commonly known as "the Big Dig", it was, at the time, the biggest federal highway project ever approved.Grunwald, Michael. Dig the Big Dig [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/04/AR2006080401755.html] The Washington Post. August 6, 2006. Retrieved May 31, 2010. The project included making the Central Artery, part of Interstate 93, into a tunnel under downtown Boston, in addition to the re-routing of several other major highways.{{cite web |title=The Central Artery/Tunnel Project—The Big Dig |url=http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/highway/TheBigDig.aspx |publisher=Massachusetts Department of Transportation—Highway Division |access-date=April 26, 2015 |archive-date=August 30, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180830060735/http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/highway/TheBigDig.aspx }}{{failed verification|date=September 2019}} The project was often controversial, with numerous claims of graft and mismanagement, and with its initial cost of {{US$|2.5 billion|long=no}} finalized at over {{US$|15 billion|long=no}}. Nonetheless, the Big Dig changed the face of Downtown Boston and connected areas that were once divided by elevated highway. Much of the raised old Central Artery was replaced with the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway. The project also improved traffic conditions along several routes.

File:John F. Kennedy, White House color photo portrait.jpg was a Massachusetts native, and 35th President of the United States from 1961 to 1963.]]

The Kennedy family was prominent in 20th-century Massachusetts politics. The children of businessman and ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. included John F. Kennedy, who was a senator and U.S. president before his assassination in 1963; Ted Kennedy, a senator from 1962 until his death in 2009;{{cite web |title=Biography: Edward Moore Kennedy |website=American Experience |access-date=May 28, 2010 |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/kennedys-bio-edward-kennedy/}} and Eunice Kennedy Shriver, a co-founder of the Special Olympics.{{cite web |title=The Kennedys: A Family Tree |newspaper=St. Petersburg Times |access-date=May 28, 2010 |url=http://www.sptimes.com/News/111199/JFK/family-tree.shtml}} In 1966, Massachusetts became the first state to directly elect an African American to the U.S. senate with Edward Brooke.{{cite web |title=Brooke, Edward William, III |url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=b000871 |website=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=April 25, 2015}} George H. W. Bush, 41st President of the United States (1989–1993) was born in Milton in 1924.{{cite web |title=George H.W. Bush Biography |url=http://www.biography.com/people/george-hw-bush-38066 |publisher=biography.com |access-date=April 26, 2015}}

Other Massachusetts politicians on the national level included Joseph W. Martin Jr., Speaker of the House (from 1947 to 1949 and 1953 to 1955) and leader of House Republicans from 1939 to 1959 (where he was the only Republican to serve as Speaker between 1931 and 1995),James J. Kenneally, A Compassionate Conservative: A Political Biography of Joseph W. Martin Jr., Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives (2003) John W. McCormack, Speaker of the House in the 1960s, and Tip O'Neill, whose service as Speaker of the House from 1977 to 1987 was the longest continuous tenure in United States history.{{cite web |title=Tip O'Neill {{!}} Donegal Diaspora |url=https://www.donegaldiaspora.ie/people/tip-oneill |website=www.donegaldiaspora.ie |access-date=December 3, 2022 |archive-date=December 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221203121544/https://www.donegaldiaspora.ie/people/tip-oneill }}

On May 17, 2004, Massachusetts became the first state in the U.S. to legalize same-sex marriage. This followed the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's decision in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health in November 2003, which determined that the exclusion of same-sex couples from the right to a civil marriage was unconstitutional.

In 2004, Massachusetts senator John Kerry, who had won the Democratic nomination for President of the United States, lost to incumbent George W. Bush. Eight years later, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney (the Republican nominee) lost to incumbent Barack Obama in 2012. Another eight years later, Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren became a frontrunner in the Democratic primaries for the 2020 presidential election. However, she later suspended her campaign and endorsed presumptive nominee Joe Biden.{{cite news |last1=McCammond |first1=Alexi |title=Elizabeth Warren endorses Joe Biden in 2020 presidential race |url=https://www.axios.com/2020/04/15/elizabeth-warren-endorses-joe-biden-president |access-date=December 3, 2022 |work=Axios |date=April 15, 2020 |language=en}}

File:1st Boston Marathon blast seen from 2nd floor and a half block away.jpg

Two pressure cooker bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013, at around 2:49 pm local time (EDT). The explosions killed three people and injured an estimated 264 others.{{cite news |title=Police narrow in on two suspects in Boston Marathon bombings |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/injury-toll-rises-marathon-massacre-article-1.1319080 |access-date=December 3, 2022 |work=Daily News|location=New York}} The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) later identified the suspects as brothers Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev. The ensuing manhunt ended on April 19 when thousands of law enforcement officers searched a 20-block area of nearby Watertown. Dzhokhar later said he was motivated by extremist Islamic beliefs and learned to build explosive devices from Inspire, the online magazine of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.{{cite news |last1=Cooper |first1=Michael |last2=Schmidt |first2=Michael S. |last3=Schmitt |first3=Eric |title=Boston Suspects Are Seen as Self-Taught and Fueled by Web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/24/us/boston-marathon-bombing-developments.html |access-date=December 3, 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=April 23, 2013}}

On November 8, 2016, Massachusetts voted in favor of the Massachusetts Marijuana Legalization Initiative, also known as Question 4.{{cite web|url=http://www.courant.com/politics/elections/hc-legal-marijuana-referendums-20161108-story.html|title=Recreational Marijuana Passes In Massachusetts|first=Russell|last=Blair|date=November 9, 2016 }}

{{Main|Geography of Massachusetts|Geology of New England}}

File:East_South_East_View,_Mt_Sugarloaf,_South_Deerfield_MA.jpg is in South Deerfield.]]

Massachusetts is the seventh-smallest state in the United States.{{cite book | last=Hogan | first=Sean O. | title=The Judicial Branch of State Government | publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing | page=313 | publication-place=Santa Barbara, Calif. | date=August 23, 2006 | isbn=978-1-85109-756-2 }} It is located in the New England region of the Northeastern United States.{{cite book | last=Werner | first=Robert G. | title=Freshwater Fishes of the Northeastern United States | publisher=Syracuse University Press | date=February 25, 2015 | isbn=978-0-8156-3057-9 | page=5}} It has an area of {{convert|10555|sqmi|km2}},{{cite web | last=Barnes | first=Susan B. | title=Denali National Park: 10 tips to make the most of your visit | website=USA Today| date=September 19, 2016 | url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/experience/america/national-parks/2016/09/19/denali-national-park-tips-visit/90516692/ | access-date=September 30, 2024}} 25.7% of which is water.{{cite journal | last1=Ma | first1=Yaxiong | last2=Gopal | first2=Sucharita | title=Geographically Weighted Regression Models in Estimating Median Home Prices in Towns of Massachusetts Based on an Urban Sustainability Framework | journal=Sustainability | publisher=MDPI AG | volume=10 | issue=4 | date=March 30, 2018 | issn=2071-1050 | doi=10.3390/su10041026 | doi-access=free | page=1026| bibcode=2018Sust...10.1026M | hdl=2144/40855 | hdl-access=free }} Several large bays distinctly shape its coast, giving it the nickname "the Bay State".{{cite web | last=Lambert | first=Bryan | title=The Bay State's best beach towns: New ranking names the Top 25 places to summer in Massachusetts | website=Yahoo! News | date=June 29, 2023 | url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/bay-state-best-beach-towns-160402103.html | access-date=September 30, 2024}} Boston is its largest city.{{cite web | title=About Boston – Boston Municipal Research Bureau | publisher=Boston Municipal Research Bureau | date=September 27, 2024 | url=https://www.bmrb.org/about-boston/ | access-date=September 30, 2024}}

Despite its small size, Massachusetts features numerous topographically distinctive regions. The large coastal plain of the Atlantic Ocean in the eastern section of the state contains Greater Boston, along with most of the state's population, as well as the distinctive Cape Cod peninsula. To the west lies the hilly, rural region of Central Massachusetts, and beyond that, the Connecticut River Valley. Along the western border of Western Massachusetts lies the highest elevated part of the state, the Berkshires, forming a portion of the northern terminus of the Appalachian Mountains.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}

The U.S. National Park Service administers a number of natural and historical sites in Massachusetts.{{cite web |title=Massachusetts |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=May 26, 2010 |url=http://www.nps.gov/state/MA/}} Along with twelve national historic sites, areas, and corridors, the National Park Service also manages the Cape Cod National Seashore and the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. In addition, the Department of Conservation and Recreation maintains a number of parks, trails, and beaches throughout Massachusetts.{{cite web |title=Mission |date=May 17, 2013 |url=http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr/inside-our-agency/mission/ |publisher=Commonwealth of Massachusetts |access-date=April 22, 2015 |archive-date=April 22, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150422101501/http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr/inside-our-agency/mission/ }}

The primary biome of inland Massachusetts is temperate deciduous forest.{{cite book |last1=Ricklefs |first1=Robert |title=The Economy of Nature |date=December 17, 2008 |publisher=W. H. Freeman |isbn=978-0-7167-8697-9 |page=96 |edition=6th |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nqFLjZLwKxIC&pg=PA96 |access-date=April 22, 2015}}

Although much of Massachusetts had been cleared for agriculture, leaving only traces of old-growth forest in isolated pockets, secondary growth has regenerated in many rural areas as farms have been abandoned.{{cite news |last=Stocker |first=Carol |title=Old growth, grand specimens drive big-tree hunters |url=http://www.boston.com/yourlife/home/articles/2005/11/17/old_growth_grand_specimens_drive_big_tree_hunters/ |newspaper=The Boston Globe |date=November 17, 2005 |access-date=October 17, 2009}} Forests cover around 62% of Massachusetts.{{cite web |title=Current Research—Working Landscapes |publisher=The Center for Rural Massachusetts—The University of Massachusetts Amherst |access-date=March 19, 2009 |url=http://www.umass.edu/ruralmass/currentresearch.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090226064502/http://umass.edu/ruralmass/currentresearch.html |archive-date=February 26, 2009 }} The areas most affected by human development include the Greater Boston area in the east and the Springfield metropolitan area in the west, although the latter includes agricultural areas throughout the Connecticut River Valley.{{cite web |title=Northeastern Coastal Zone—Ecoregion Description |publisher=United States Geological Survey |access-date=October 17, 2009 |url=http://landcovertrends.usgs.gov/east/eco59Report.html}} There are 219 endangered species in Massachusetts.{{cite web |title=MESA List Overview |date=February 7, 2013 |url=http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dfg/dfw/natural-heritage/species-information-and-conservation/mesa-list/ |publisher=Department of Energy and Environmental Affairs |access-date=April 22, 2015 |archive-date=April 23, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150423090320/http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dfg/dfw/natural-heritage/species-information-and-conservation/mesa-list/ }}

A number of species are doing well in the increasingly urbanized Massachusetts. Peregrine falcons utilize office towers in larger cities as nesting areas,{{cite web |title=Peregrine Falcon |url=http://www.mass.gov/eea/docs/dfg/nhesp/species-and-conservation/nhfacts/falco-peregrinus.pdf |publisher=Commonwealth of Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife |access-date=May 9, 2015}} and the population of coyotes, whose diet may include garbage and roadkill, has been increasing in recent decades.{{cite web |title=Eastern Coyote |date=February 13, 2013 |url=http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dfg/dfw/fish-wildlife-plants/mammals/eastern-coyote-in-massachusetts.html |publisher=Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs |access-date=May 9, 2015}} White-tailed deer, raccoons, wild turkeys, and eastern gray squirrels are also found throughout Massachusetts. In more rural areas in the western part of Massachusetts, larger mammals such as moose and black bears have returned, largely due to reforestation following the regional decline in agriculture.{{cite news |title=Forests lure moose to Massachusetts |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0214/p13s02-sten.html |work=The Christian Science Monitor |access-date=April 22, 2015}}

Massachusetts is located along the Atlantic Flyway, a major route for migratory waterfowl along the eastern coast.{{cite news |title=Atlantic Flyway |newspaper=Audubon |date=November 13, 2014 |url=http://www.audubon.org/atlantic-flyway |publisher=National Audubon Society |access-date=May 9, 2015}} Lakes in central Massachusetts provide habitat for many species of fish and waterfowl, but some species such as the common loon are becoming rare.{{cite web |title=Chasing loons: Banding the elusive birds at night on the Quabbin Reservoir |date=July 28, 2014 |url=http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2014/07/chasing_loons_banding_the_elus.html |publisher=masslive.com |access-date=April 23, 2015}} A significant population of long-tailed ducks winter off Nantucket. Small offshore islands and beaches are home to roseate terns and are important breeding areas for the locally threatened piping plover.{{cite web |title=Coastal Waterbird Program |publisher=Mass Audubon |access-date=May 28, 2010 |url=http://www.massaudubon.org/cwp/}} Protected areas such as the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge provide critical breeding habitat for shorebirds and a variety of marine wildlife including a large population of grey seals. Since 2009, there has been a significant increase in the number of Great white sharks spotted and tagged in the coastal waters off of Cape Cod.{{cite web |title=It was a record-breaking year for shark research off Cape Cod |work=The Boston Globe |access-date=March 30, 2020 |url=https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2019/11/18/review-2019-great-white-shark-season-cape-cod}}{{cite web |title=Sharks have multiplied off Cape Cod beaches, devouring gray seals and putting swimmers on edge |work=USA Today |access-date=March 30, 2020 |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/08/20/sharks-cape-cod-beach-seals-ocean-new-england/1953956001/}}{{cite web |title=Map: Where great white sharks roam off Cape Cod |publisher=capecodtimes.com |access-date=March 30, 2020 |url=https://www.capecodtimes.com/great-white-sharks-map |archive-date=June 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200629014700/https://www.capecodtimes.com/great-white-sharks-map }}

Freshwater fish species in Massachusetts include bass, carp, catfish, and trout, while saltwater species such as Atlantic cod, haddock, and American lobster populate offshore waters.{{cite web |title=Commonly Caught Species |url=http://www.eregulations.com/massachusetts/fishing/saltwater/commonly-caught-species/ |website=eregulations.com |publisher=The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries |access-date=May 9, 2015}} Other marine species include Harbor seals, the endangered North Atlantic right whales, as well as humpback whales, fin whales, minke whales, and Atlantic white-sided dolphins.{{cite web |title=Mammals in Massachusetts {{!}} Mass.gov |url=https://www.mass.gov/service-details/mammals-in-massachusetts |website=www.mass.gov |access-date=December 4, 2022 |language=en}}

The European corn borer, a significant agricultural pest, was first found in North America near Boston, Massachusetts in 1917.{{Cite book|title=Details—A progress report on the investigations of the European corn borer—Biodiversity Heritage Library|last1=Caffrey|first1=D. J.|last2=Worthley|first2=L. H.|doi=10.5962/bhl.title.108390|year = 1927|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/108390}}

{{main|Climate of Massachusetts}}Most of Massachusetts has a humid continental climate, with cold winters and warm summers. Far southeast coastal areas are the broad transition zone to Humid Subtropical climates. The warm to hot summers render the oceanic climate rare in this transition, only applying to exposed coastal areas such as on the peninsula of Barnstable County. The climate of Boston is quite representative for the commonwealth, characterized by summer highs of around {{convert|81|F|C}} and winter highs of {{convert|35|F|C}}, and is quite wet. Frosts are frequent all winter, even in coastal areas due to prevailing inland winds. Boston has a relatively sunny climate for a coastal city at its latitude, averaging over 2,600 hours of sunshine a year.

File:Köppen Climate Types Massachusetts.png]]

{{Main|Climate change in Massachusetts}}

Climate change in Massachusetts will affect both urban and rural environments, including forestry, fisheries, agriculture, and coastal development.{{cite web|

title=What climate change means for Massachusetts|author=EPA|url=https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-09/documents/climate-change-ma.pdf}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.massaudubon.org/our-conservation-work/climate-change/effects-of-climate-change|title=Effects of Climate Change in Massachusetts|website=Mass Audubon|access-date=April 23, 2020|archive-date=July 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200703180806/https://www.massaudubon.org/our-conservation-work/climate-change/effects-of-climate-change}}{{cite report|title=Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States: Fourth National Climate Assessment, Volume II|author1=Dupigny-Giroux, L.A.|author2=E.L. Mecray|publisher=U.S. Global Change Research Program|doi=10.7930/NCA4.2018.CH18|pages=669–742|author3=M.D. Lemcke-Stampone|author4=G.A. Hodgkins|author5=E.E. Lentz|author6=K.E. Mills|author7=E.D. Lane|author8=R. Miller|author9=D.Y. Hollinger|doi-access=free|author14=C. Caldwell|chapter=Northeast|author13=A.B. MacDonald|editor1=Reidmiller, D.R.|editor2=C.W. Avery|editor3=D.R. Easterling|editor4=K.E. Kunkel|editor5=K.L.M. Lewis|editor6=T.K. Maycock|editor7=B.C. Stewart|author12=P.E. Sheffield|place=Washington, DC, US|author11=G.A. Wellenius|author10=W.D. Solecki|year=2018}} The Northeast is projected to warm faster than global average temperatures; by 2035, according to the U. S. Global Change Research Program, the Northeast is "projected to be more than 3.6°F (2°C) warmer on average than during the preindustrial era".{{Update after|2035}} As of August 2016, the EPA reports that Massachusetts has warmed by over two degrees Fahrenheit, or 1.1 degrees Celsius.{{cite report|url=https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-09/documents/climate-change-ma.pdf|title=What Climate Change Means for Massachusetts|publisher=United States Environmental Protection Agency|date=August 2016|format=PDF file|access-date=December 16, 2020}}

Shifting temperatures also result in the shifting of rainfall patterns and the intensification of precipitation events. To that end, average precipitation in the Northeast United States has risen by ten percent from 1895 to 2011, and the number of heavy precipitation events has increased by seventy percent during that time. These increased precipitation patterns are focused in the winter and spring. Increasing temperatures coupled with increasing precipitation will result in earlier snow melts and subsequent drier soil in the summer months.{{cite web |title=Climate Change Made Summer Hotter and Drier Worldwide, Study Finds |url=https://www.carilec.org/climate-change-made-summer-hotter-and-drier-worldwide-study-finds/ |website=CARILEC |date=October 5, 2022 |access-date=December 4, 2022}}

The shifting climate in Massachusetts will result in a significant change to the state's built environment and ecosystems. In Boston alone, costs of climate change-related storms will result in $5 to $100 billion in damage.

Warmer temperatures will also disrupt bird migration and flora blooming. With these changes, deer populations are expected to increase, resulting in a decrease in underbrush which smaller fauna use as camouflage. Additionally, rising temperatures will increase the number of reported Lyme disease cases in the state. Ticks can transmit the disease once temperatures reach 45 degrees, so shorter winters will increase the window of transmission. These warmer temperatures will also increase the prevalence of Asian tiger mosquitoes, which often carry the West Nile virus.

To fight this change, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs has outlined a path to decarbonize the state's economy. On April 22, 2020, Kathleen A. Theoharides, the state's Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs, released a Determination of Statewide Emissions limits for 2050. In her letter, Theoharides stresses that as of 2020, the Commonwealth has experienced property damage attributable to climate change of more than $60 billion. To ensure that the Commonwealth experiences warming no more than 1.5 °C of pre-industrialization levels, the state will work towards two goals by 2050: to achieve net-zero emissions, and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 85 percent overall.{{cite web |last1=Theoharides |first1=Kathleen |last2=Polito |first2=Karyn |last3=Baker |first3=Charles |title=Determination of Statewide Emissions Limit for 2050 |url=https://www.mass.gov/doc/final-signed-letter-of-determination-for-2050-emissions-limit/download |website=Official websites of Massachusetts |access-date=May 20, 2022}}

{{main|Solar power in Massachusetts|Wind power in Massachusetts}}

{{see also|Plug-in electric vehicles in Massachusetts}}

The State of Massachusetts has developed a plethora of incentives to encourage the implementation of renewable energy and efficient appliances and home facilities. The Mass Save program, formed in conjunction with the State by several companies that provide power and gas in Massachusetts, provides homeowners and renters with monetary incentives to retrofit their homes with efficient HVAC equipment and other household appliances. Appliances such as water heaters, air conditioners, washers and driers, and heat pumps are eligible for rebates in order to incentivize change.{{cite web |title=Massachusetts Energy-Saving Rebates |url=https://www.masssave.com/rebates |website=MASS SAVE |access-date=May 20, 2022}}

The concept of MassSave was created in 2008 by the passing of the Green Communities Act of 2008, during Deval Patrick's tenure as governor. The main goal of the Green Communities Act was to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels in the State and to encourage new, more efficient technologies. Among others, one result of this act was a requirement for Program Administrators of utilities to invest in saving energy, as opposed to purchasing and generating additional energy where economically feasible. In Massachusetts, eleven Program Administrators, including Eversource, National Grid, Western Massachusetts Electric, Cape Light Compact, Until, and Berkshire Gas, jointly own the rights to this program, in conjunction with the Department of Energy Resources (DOER) and the Energy Efficiency Advisory Council (EEAC).{{cite web |title=MassSave: A New Model for Statewide Energy Efficiency Programs |url=https://www.aceee.org/files/proceedings/2012/data/papers/0193-000169.pdf |access-date=May 21, 2022}}

The State Revenue Service provides incentives for the installation of solar panels. In addition to the Federal Residential Renewable energy credit, Massachusetts residents may be eligible for a tax credit of up to 15 percent of the project.{{cite web |title=830 CMR 62.6.1: Residential Energy Credit |url=https://www.mass.gov/regulations/830-CMR-6261-residential-energy-credit |website=Mass.gov |access-date=May 21, 2022}} Once installed, arrays are eligible for net metering.{{cite web |title=Net Metering Guide |url=https://www.mass.gov/guides/net-metering-guide |website=Mass.gov |access-date=May 21, 2022}} Certain municipalities will offer up to $1.20 per watt, up to 50 percent of the system's cost on PV arrays 25 kW or less.{{cite web |title=Municipal Light Plant Solar Rebate Program |url=https://www.mass.gov/guides/municipal-light-plant-solar-rebate-program |website=Mass.gov |access-date=May 21, 2022 |archive-date=June 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220611213114/https://www.mass.gov/guides/municipal-light-plant-solar-rebate-program }} The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources also offered low-interest, fixed-rate financing with loan support for low-income residents until December 31, 2020.{{cite web |title=Mass Solar Loan |url=https://www.masssolarloan.com/ |website=Mass Solar Loan |access-date=May 21, 2022}}

As a part of the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources' effort to incentivize the usage of renewable energy, the Massachusetts Offers Rebates for Electric Vehicles (MOR-EV) initiative was created. With this incentive, residents may qualify for a state-provided incentive of up to $2,500 for the purchase or lease of an electric vehicle, or $1,500 for the purchase or lease of a plug-in hybrid vehicle.{{cite web |title=MOR-EV IS A Massachusetts Program That Issues Rebates to Electric Vehicle Drivers |url=https://mor-ev.org/ |website=MOR-EV |access-date=May 26, 2022}} This rebate is available in addition to the tax credits offered by the United States Department of Energy for the purchase of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.{{cite web |title=State and Federal Electric Vehicle Funding Programs |url=https://www.mass.gov/service-details/state-and-federal-electric-vehicle-funding-programs |website=MASS.GOV |access-date=May 26, 2022}}

For income-eligible residents, Mass Save has partnered with Massachusetts Community Action Program Agencies and Low-Income Energy Affordability Network (LEAN) to offer residents assistance with upgrades to their homes that will result in more efficient energy usage. Residents may qualify for a replacement of their heating system, insulation installation, appliances, and thermostats if they meet the income qualifications provided on Mass Save's website. For residents of 5+ family residential buildings, there are additional income-restricted benefits available through LEAN. If at least 50 percent of the residents of the building qualify as low income, energy efficiency improvements like those available through Mass Save are available. Residential structures operated by non-profit organizations, for profit operations, or housing authorities may take advantage of these programs."Income Eligible Programs." Mass Save, www.masssave.com/saving/income-based-offers/income-eligible-programs.

In late 2020, the administration of Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker released a decarbonization roadmap to aim for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The plan calls for major investments in offshore wind and solar energy. It would also require all new cars sold in the state to be zero-emissions (electric or hydrogen powered) by 2035.{{cite news|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/12/30/science/mass-require-all-new-cars-sold-be-electric-by-2035-part-climate-change-measures/|title=Mass. to require all new cars sold to be electric by 2035 as part of climate-change measures|first=Naomi |last=Martin|work=The Boston Globe|date= December 30, 2020}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.mass.gov/doc/ma-2050-decarbonization-roadmap|title=MA2050DecarbonizationRoadmap_FINAL.pdf | Mass.gov|website=mass.gov}}

{{Main|Demographics of Massachusetts|List of people from Massachusetts}}

File:Massachusetts population density 2020.png, respectively.]]

{{US Census population

| 1790= 378787

| 1800= 422845

| 1810= 472040

| 1820= 523287

| 1830= 610408

| 1840= 737699

| 1850= 994514

| 1860= 1231066

| 1870= 1457351

| 1880= 1783085

| 1890= 2238947

| 1900= 2805346

| 1910= 3366416

| 1920= 3852356

| 1930= 4249614

| 1940= 4316721

| 1950= 4690514

| 1960= 5148578

| 1970= 5689170

| 1980= 5737037

| 1990= 6016425

| 2000= 6349097

| 2010= 6547629

| 2020= 7029917

| estimate = 7136171

| estyear = 2024

| align-fn = center

|footnote={{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/population/censusdata/table-16.pdf|title=Population: 1790 to 1990|publisher=United States Census Bureau|location=US|access-date=June 10, 2015}}{{cite web |title=Historical Population Change Data (1910–2020) |url=https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/dec/popchange-data-text.html |website=Census.gov |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=May 1, 2021 |archive-date=April 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210429012609/https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/dec/popchange-data-text.html}}}}

At the 2020 U.S. census, Massachusetts had a population of over 7 million, a 7.4% increase since the 2010 United States Census.{{Cite web|title=Massachusetts Population Surpasses 7 Million In 2020 Census|url=https://boston.cbslocal.com/video/5525988-massachusetts-population-surpasses-7-million-in-2020-census/|access-date=April 27, 2021}}{{cite web |title=2020 Census Apportionment Results |url=https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2020/dec/2020-apportionment-data.html |website=census.gov |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=April 30, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210426210008/https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2020/dec/2020-apportionment-data.html |archive-date=April 26, 2021 |url-status=live }} As of 2015, Massachusetts was estimated to be the third-most densely populated U.S. state, with 871.0 people per square mile,{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/popest/data/state/totals/2015/tables/NST-EST2015-01.csv|format=CSV|title=Table 1. Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for the United States, Regions, States, and Puerto Rico: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2015|date=December 23, 2015|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=January 24, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151223235718/http://www.census.gov/popest/data/state/totals/2015/tables/NST-EST2015-01.csv|archive-date=December 23, 2015}} behind New Jersey and Rhode Island. In 2014, Massachusetts had 1,011,811 foreign-born residents or 15% of the population. As of July 2024, the state's population was estimated to have grown to 7,136,171.

Most Massachusetts residents live within the Boston metropolitan area, also known as Greater Boston, which includes Boston and its proximate surroundings but also extending to Greater Lowell and to Worcester. The Springfield metropolitan area, also known as Greater Springfield, is also a major center of population. Demographically, the center of population of Massachusetts is located in the town of Natick.{{cite web |title=Centers of Population |url=http://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/reference/cenpop2010/CenPop2010_Mean_ST.txt |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=April 26, 2015}}{{cite web |title=State Centers of Population |date=February 5, 2012 |url=http://www.howderfamily.com/blog/state-centers-population/ |publisher=howderfamily.com |access-date=April 26, 2015|quote=I'll{{spaces}}... examine some individual state centers of population.}}

Like the rest of the Northeastern United States, the population of Massachusetts has continued to grow in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Massachusetts is the fastest-growing state in New England and the 25th fastest-growing state in the United States.{{cite web |last1=Miller |first1=Joshua |title=Mass. population growth is tops in N.E |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/01/01/massachusetts-population-growth-rate-ahead-other-new-england-states-but-still-slow/r7PLcdbKnD9HZY3fm97XGP/story.html |newspaper=The Boston Globe |access-date=April 26, 2015}} Population growth has been driven primarily by the relatively high quality of life and a large higher education system.

Foreign immigration is also a factor in the state's population growth, causing the state's population to continue to grow as of the 2010 census (particularly in Massachusetts gateway cities where costs of living are lower).{{cite news |last=Mishra |first=Raja |title=State's population growth on stagnant course |url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/12/22/states_population_growth_on_stagnant_course/ |newspaper=The Boston Globe |date=December 22, 2006 |access-date=June 5, 2010}}{{cite news |last=Bayles |first=Fred |title=Minorities account for state population growth |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/census/ma.htm |work=USA Today |date=March 21, 2001 |access-date=June 5, 2010}} Forty percent of foreign immigrants were from Central or South America, according to a 2005 Census Bureau study, with many of the remainder from Asia. Many residents who have settled in Greater Springfield claim Puerto Rican descent. Many areas of Massachusetts showed relatively stable population trends between 2000 and 2010. Exurban Boston and coastal areas grew the most rapidly, while Berkshire County in far Western Massachusetts and Barnstable County on Cape Cod were the only counties to lose population as of the 2010 census. In 2018, The top countries of origin for Massachusetts' immigrants were China, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, India and Haiti.{{Cite web|url=https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/sites/default/files/research/immigrants_in_massachusetts.pdf|title=Immigrants in Massachusetts}}

By sex, 48.4% were male, and 51.6% were female in 2014. In terms of age, 79.2% were over 18 and 14.8% were over 65.

According to HUD's 2022 Annual Homeless Assessment Report, there were an estimated 15,507 homeless people in Massachusetts.{{Cite web |title=2007-2022 PIT Counts by State |url=https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.huduser.gov%2Fportal%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fxls%2F2007-2022-PIT-Counts-by-State.xlsx&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK}}{{Cite web |title=The 2022 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress |url=https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/2022-AHAR-Part-1.pdf}}

The state's most populous ethnic group, non-Hispanic white, has declined from 95.4% in 1970 to 67.6% in 2020.{{cite web |url=http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/25000.html |title=Massachusetts QuickFacts |location=US |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=June 10, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150821061951/http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/25000.html |archive-date=August 21, 2015 }}

File:Ethnic Origins in Massachusetts.png

As of 2011, non-Hispanic whites were involved in 63.6% of all the births,{{cite news |url=http://www.cleveland.com/datacentral/index.ssf/2012/06/americas_under_age_1_populatio.html |title=Americans under age 1 now mostly minorities, but not in Ohio: Statistical Snapshot |last=Exner |first=Rich |date=June 3, 2012 |work=The Plain Dealer}} while 36.4% of the population of Massachusetts younger than age{{spaces}}1 was minorities (at least one parent who was not non-Hispanic white).{{cite web|last1=Exner|first1=Rich|title=Americans under age 1 now mostly minorities, but not in Ohio: Statistical Snapshot|url=http://www.cleveland.com/datacentral/index.ssf/2012/06/americas_under_age_1_populatio.html |website=The Plain Dealer|date=June 3, 2012|publisher=Advance Ohio|access-date=August 2, 2016|ref=June 3, 2012}} One major reason for this is that non-Hispanic whites in Massachusetts recorded a total fertility rate of 1.36 in 2017, the second-lowest in the country after neighboring Rhode Island.{{cite web|url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr68/nvsr68_01-508.pdf |title=CDC data |publisher=Centres for Disease Control and Prevention |access-date=May 13, 2020}}

As late as 1795, the population of Massachusetts was nearly 95% of English ancestry.{{sfn|Brown|Tager|2000|p=173}} During the early and mid-19th century, immigrant groups began arriving in Massachusetts in large numbers; first from Ireland in the 1840s;{{sfn|Brown|Tager|2000|pp=173–79}} today the Irish and part-Irish are the largest ancestry group in the state at nearly 25% of the total population. Others arrived later from Quebec as well as places in Europe such as Italy, Portugal, and Poland.{{sfn|Brown|Tager|2000|p=203}} In the early 20th century, a large percentage of black immigrants were from the Caribbean island of Barbados, and mostly settled in Cambridge and Boston's South End. In the Great Migration of 1910 to 1970, African Americans migrated to Massachusetts, although in somewhat fewer numbers than many other northern states.{{sfn|Brown|Tager|2000|p=301}} Later in the 20th century, immigration from Latin America increased considerably. More than 156,000 Chinese Americans made their home in Massachusetts in 2014,{{cite web|url=http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/14_1YR/S0201/0400000US25/popgroup~016|title=Selected Population Profile in the United States – 2014 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates—Chinese alone, Massachusetts|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=May 8, 2016|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200214001946/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/14_1YR/S0201/0400000US25/popgroup~016|archive-date=February 14, 2020}} and Boston hosts a growing Chinatown accommodating heavily traveled Chinese-owned bus lines to and from Chinatown, Manhattan in New York City. Massachusetts also has large Dominican, Puerto Rican, Haitian, Cape Verdean and Brazilian populations.{{cite web |title=Hispanic or Latino by Type: 2010 Census Summary File 1: Massachusetts (QT-P10) |url=https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/QTP10/0400000US25 |work=American Factfinder |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |access-date=March 14, 2018 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200213010024/https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/QTP10/0400000US25 |archive-date=February 13, 2020 }} Boston's South End and Jamaica Plain are both gay villages, as is nearby Provincetown, Massachusetts on Cape Cod.{{cite news |title=Same-Sex Couples Since 1990 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/08/25/us/same-sex-couples-since-1990.html?ref=us |access-date=December 4, 2022 |work=The New York Times}}

File:Boston Chinatown Paifang.jpg has a paifang entrance gate, and is home to many Chinese and Vietnamese people.]]

File:Party_goers_and_dancers_at_Back_Bay_Block_Party.jpg march is held annually in June. In 2004, Massachusetts became the first U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage.]]

The largest ancestry group in Massachusetts are the Irish, at 22.5% of the population, who live in significant numbers throughout the state but form more than 40% of the population along the South Shore in Norfolk and Plymouth counties. File:St. Patrick Day's Parade, Scituate MA.jpg has a Saint Patrick's Day parade, as the municipality with the highest percentage identifying Irish ancestry in the United States, at 47.5% in 2010.{{cite web|url=http://www.irishcentral.com/news/the-most-irish-town-in-america-is-named-133427563-237789381.html|title=The most Irish town in America is named using US census data|first=Jane|last=Walsh|publisher=IrishCentral|date=November 25, 2015|access-date=May 8, 2016}} Irish Americans constitute the largest ethnicity in Massachusetts.]]In both counties overall, Irish-Americans comprise more than 30% of the population). Italians form the second-largest ethnic group in the state (13.5%), but form a plurality in some suburbs north of Boston and in a few towns in the Berkshires. English Americans, the third-largest (11.4%) group, form a plurality in some western towns. French and French Canadians also form a significant part (10.7%),{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|title=People Reporting Ancestry – 2012–2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|access-date=August 25, 2018}} with sizable populations in Bristol, Hampden, and Worcester Counties, along with Middlesex county especially concentrated in the areas surrounding Lowell and Lawrence.{{cite web |title=Massachusetts—Ethnic groups |url=http://www.city-data.com/states/Massachusetts-Ethnic-groups.html |publisher=City-Data.com |access-date=April 26, 2015}}For Bristol County see {{cite web

|url=http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_5YR/DP02/0500000US25005

|title=DP02 Selected Social Characteristics in the United States—2006–2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates

|access-date=January 12, 2016

|publisher=United States Census Bureau

|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200213025726/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_5YR/DP02/0500000US25005

|archive-date=February 13, 2020

}}

:* For Hampden County see {{cite web |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_5YR/DP02/0500000US25013 |title=DP02 Selected Social Characteristics in the United States—2006–2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates |access-date=January 12, 2016 |publisher=United States Census Bureau |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200213010213/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_5YR/DP02/0500000US25013 |archive-date=February 13, 2020 }}

:* For Worcester County see {{cite web

|url=http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_5YR/DP02/0500000US25027

|title=DP02 Selected Social Characteristics in the United States—2006–2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates

|access-date=January 12, 2016

|publisher=United States Census Bureau

|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200213020310/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_5YR/DP02/0500000US25027

|archive-date=February 13, 2020

}} Lowell is home to the second-largest Cambodian community of the nation.{{cite news |last=Schweitzer |first=Sarah |title=Lowell hopes to put 'Little Cambodia' on the map |url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/02/15/lowell_hopes_to_put_little_cambodia_on_the_map/ |newspaper=The Boston Globe |date=February 15, 2010 |access-date=May 31, 2010}} Massachusetts is home to a small community of Greek Americans as well, which according to the American Community Survey there are 83,701 of them scattered along the state (1.2% of the total state population).{{cite web |title=2011–2015 American Community Survey Selected Population Tables |url=https://www.census.gov |access-date=August 10, 2018}} There are also several populations of Native Americans in Massachusetts. The Wampanoag tribe maintains reservations at Aquinnah on Martha's Vineyard and at Mashpee on Cape Cod—with an ongoing native language revival project underway since 1993, while the Nipmuc maintain two state-recognized reservations in the central part of the state, including one at Grafton.{{cite web |title=Indian Reservations in the Continental United States |url=http://www.nps.gov/nagpra/DOCUMENTS/ResMAP.HTM |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=May 7, 2015}}

Massachusetts has avoided many forms of racial strife seen elsewhere in the US, but examples such as the successful electoral showings of the nativist (mainly anti-Catholic) Know Nothings in the 1850s,{{sfn|Brown|Tager|2000|pp=180–82}} the controversial Sacco and Vanzetti executions in the 1920s,{{sfn|Brown|Tager|2000|pp=257–58}} and Boston's opposition to desegregation busing in the 1970s.{{sfn|Brown|Tager|2000|pp=300–4}}

The US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race, and "NH" means "Non-Hispanic".

The most common varieties of American English spoken in Massachusetts, other than General American, are the cot-caught distinct, rhotic, western Massachusetts dialect and the cot-caught merged, non-rhotic, eastern Massachusetts dialect which is popularly known as a "Boston accent".{{cite web |last1=Irwin |first1=Patricia |last2=Nagy |first2=Naomi |title=Bostonians /r/ Speaking: A Quantitative Look at (R) in Boston |url=http://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1009&context=pwpl |publisher=University of Pennsylvania |access-date=April 26, 2015}}

As of 2010, 78.93% (4,823,127) of Massachusetts residents{{spaces}}5 and older spoke English at home as a first language, while 7.50% (458,256) spoke Spanish, 2.97% (181,437) Portuguese, 1.59% (96,690) Chinese (which includes Cantonese and Mandarin), 1.11% (67,788) French, 0.89% (54,456) French Creole, 0.72% (43,798) Italian, 0.62% (37,865) Russian, and Vietnamese was spoken as a primary language by 0.58% (35,283) of the population over{{spaces}}5. In total, 21.07% (1,287,419) of Massachusetts's population{{spaces}}5 and older spoke a first language other than English.{{cite web |url=http://www.mla.org/map_data |title=Massachusetts |publisher=Modern Language Association |access-date=August 21, 2013}}

{{Pie chart

| thumb = right

| caption = Religious self-identification, per Public Religion Research Institute's 2022 American Values Survey{{Cite web |last=Staff |date=February 24, 2023 |title=PRRI – American Values Atlas: Religious Tradition in Massachusetts|url=https://ava.prri.org/#religious/2022/States/religion/m/US-MA|access-date=April 3, 2023 |website=Public Religion Research Institute}}

| label1 = Unaffiliated

| value1 = 34

| color1 = White

| label2 = Catholicism

| value2 = 34

| color2 = Purple

| label3 = Protestantism

| value3 = 22

| color3 = Blue

| label4 = Eastern Orthodoxy

| value4 = 1

| color4 = Lightblue

| label5 = Unitarian/Universalist

| value5 = 1

| color5 = Teal

| label6 = Judaism

| value6 = 3

| color6 = Pink

| label7 = Hinduism

| value7 = 2

| color7 = Orange

| label8 = Buddhism

| value8 = 1

| color8 = Yellow

| label9 = New Age

| value9 = 1

| color9 = Red

| label10 = Other

| value10 = 1

| color10 = Black

}}

Massachusetts was founded and settled by Brownist Puritans in 1620, and soon after by other groups of Separatists/Dissenters, Nonconformists and Independents from 17th century England.{{sfn|Goldfield|Abbott|Anderson|Argersinger|1998|pp=29–30}} A majority of people in Massachusetts today remain Christians. The descendants of the Puritans belong to many different churches; in the direct line of inheritance are the various Congregational churches, the United Church of Christ and congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association. The headquarters of the Unitarian Universalist Association, long located on Beacon Hill, is now located in South Boston.{{cite web |url=http://www.uua.org/headquarters |title=Headquarters of the Unitarian Universalist Association |publisher=Unitarian Universalist Association |access-date=April 27, 2015}}{{cite web |url=http://www.uua.org/news/press-release/uua-sell-its-beacon-hill-properties-move-innovation-district |title=The UUA to Sell its Beacon Hill Properties, Move to Innovation District |date=March 15, 2013 |publisher=Unitarian Universalist Association |access-date=April 10, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150417012851/http://www.uua.org/news/press-release/uua-sell-its-beacon-hill-properties-move-innovation-district |archive-date=April 17, 2015 }} Many Puritan descendants also dispersed to other Protestant denominations. Some disaffiliated along with Roman Catholics and other Christian groups in the wake of modern secularization.{{cite thesis |last1=Pellegrino |first1=Nicholas |title=Reviving a Spirit of Controversy: Roman Catholics and the Pursuit of Religious Freedom in Early America |date=May 2015 |type=PhD dissertation |publisher=University of Nevada, Las Vegas |doi=10.34917/7646017 |url=https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations/2410/ |access-date=December 4, 2022}}

As of the 2014 Pew study, Christians made up 57% of the state's population, with Protestants making up 21% of them. Roman Catholics made up 34% and now predominate because of massive immigration from primarily Catholic countries and regions—chiefly Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Quebec, and Latin America. Both Protestant and Roman Catholic communities have been in decline since the late 20th century, due to the rise of irreligion in New England. It is the most irreligious region of the country, along with the Western United States; for comparison and contrast however, in 2020, the Public Religion Research Institute determined 67% of the population were Christian reflecting a slight increase of religiosity.{{Cite web |title=PRRI – American Values Atlas |url=https://ava.prri.org/#religious/2020/States/religion/m/US-MA |access-date=September 17, 2022 |website=ava.prri.org}} A significant Jewish population immigrated to the Boston and Springfield areas between 1880 and 1920. Jews make up 3% of the population. Mary Baker Eddy made the Boston Mother Church of Christian Science serve as the world headquarters of this new religious movement. Buddhists, Pagans, Hindus, Seventh-day Adventists, Muslims, and Mormons may also be found. The Satanic Temple has its headquarters in Salem. Kripalu Center in Stockbridge, the Shaolin Meditation Temple in Springfield, and the Insight Meditation Center in Barre are examples of non-Abrahamic religious centers in Massachusetts. According to 2010 data from The Association of Religion Data Archives, (ARDA) the largest single denominations are the Catholic Church with 2,940,199 adherents; the United Church of Christ with 86,639 adherents; and the Episcopal Church with 81,999 adherents.{{cite web |url=http://www.thearda.com/rcms2010/r/s/25/rcms2010_25_state_family_2010.asp |title=The Association of Religion Data Archives | State Membership Report |publisher=Association of Religion Data Archives |access-date=November 22, 2013 |archive-date=December 2, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202235450/http://www.thearda.com/rcms2010/r/s/25/rcms2010_25_state_family_2010.asp }}

In 2014, 32% of the population identified as having no religion;{{cite web |url=http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/state/massachusetts/ |title=Adults in Massachusetts |date=May 11, 2015 |publisher=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project}} in a separate 2020 study, 23% of the population identified as irreligious, and 67% of the population identified as Christians (including 26% as white Protestants and 20% as white Catholics). As of 2022, a plurality of Massachusettsans were irreligious, and the state is considered to be a part of the Unchurched Belt.{{Cite web |last=Lin |first=Joanna |date=March 16, 2009 |title=New England surpasses West Coast as least religious region in America, study finds |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-mar-16-me-beliefs16-story.html |access-date=April 11, 2023 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}

What became Massachusetts was originally inhabited by the Wampanoag, the Nipmuc, the Massachusett, the Pocumtuc, the Nauset, the Pennacook, and a few other tribes.{{Cite web |title=Massachusetts Indian Tribes and Languages (Massachuset) |url=https://www.native-languages.org/massachusetts.htm |access-date=September 2, 2024 |website=www.native-languages.org}}{{Cite web |title=Indigenous American Nations, c.16th Century (1st edition) |url=https://indigamerica.blogspot.com/ |access-date=September 2, 2024 |website=Indigenous America Maps}} Some of these tribes are still represented among the population of the state.

The largest Native American tribes in Massachusetts according to the 2010 census are listed in this table.{{Cite web |title=American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes in the United States and Puerto Rico: 2010 |url=https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/dec/cph-series/cph-t/cph-t-6.html}}

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{{Further|Education in Massachusetts|History of education in Massachusetts|}}

File:MA Public High School District SAT by town.png

In 2018, Massachusetts's overall educational system was ranked the top among all fifty U.S. states by U.S. News & World Report.{{cite web|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/slideshows/10-best-states-for-education?int=undefined-rec&slide=10|title=The 10 Best U.S. States for Education—2. New Jersey|work=U.S. News & World Report|date=February 27, 2018|access-date=May 5, 2018}} Massachusetts was the first state in North America to require municipalities to appoint a teacher or establish a grammar school with the passage of the Massachusetts Education Law of 1647,{{sfn|Dejnozka|Gifford|Kapel|Kapel|1982|p=313}} and 19th century reforms pushed by Horace Mann laid much of the groundwork for contemporary universal public education{{sfn|Dejnozka|Gifford|Kapel|Kapel|1982|p=311}}{{sfn|Goldfield|Abbott|Anderson|Argersinger|1998|pp=251–52}} which was established in 1852. Massachusetts is home to the oldest school in continuous existence in North America (The Roxbury Latin School, founded in 1645), as well as the country's oldest public elementary school (The Mather School, founded in 1639),{{cite web |title=Mather Elementary School |url=http://www.bostonpublicschools.org/school/mather-elementary-school |publisher=Boston Public Schools |access-date=May 5, 2015}} its oldest high school (Boston Latin School, founded in 1635),{{cite news|last=Ramírez |first=Eddy |title=The First Class State |url=https://www.usnews.com/articles/education/high-schools/2007/11/29/the-first-class-state.html |newspaper=U.S. News & World Report |date=November 29, 2007 |access-date=June 5, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219191828/http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/high-schools/2007/11/29/the-first-class-state.html |archive-date=December 19, 2008 }} its oldest continuously operating boarding school (The Governor's Academy, founded in 1763),{{cite web |title=#26 The Governors Academy, Byfield, Mass |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/most-expensive-private-schools-2011-4#26-the-governors-academy-byfield-mass-3 |website=Business Insider |access-date=May 5, 2015}} its oldest college (Harvard University, founded in 1636),{{cite news |last1=Rimer |first1=Sara |last2=Finder |first2=Alan |title=Harvard Plans to Name First Female President |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/10/education/10harvard.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=February 10, 2007 |access-date=June 5, 2010}} and its oldest women's college (Mount Holyoke College, founded in 1837).{{cite web |url=http://www.studypoint.com/admissions/mount-holyoke/ |title=Mount Holyoke Admissions Information |publisher=StudyPoint |access-date=June 10, 2015}} Massachusetts is also home to the highest ranked private high school in the United States, Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, which was founded in 1778.{{Cite web|last=Dangremond|first=Sam|date=August 1, 2018|title=These Are the Best Private High Schools in America, According to a New Ranking|url=https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/news/a8639/best-private-high-schools-in-america/|access-date=July 21, 2010|website=Town and Country}}

Massachusetts's per-student public expenditure for elementary and secondary schools was eighth in the nation in 2012, at $14,844.{{cite web|last1=Bidwell |first1=Allie |title=How States Are Spending Money in Education |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2015/01/29/how-states-are-spending-money-in-education |website=U.S. News & World Report |access-date=May 5, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150505044339/http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2015/01/29/how-states-are-spending-money-in-education |archive-date=May 5, 2015 }} In 2013, Massachusetts scored highest of all the states in math and third-highest in reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress.{{cite web |title=Are the nation's twelfth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading? |url=http://www.nationsreportcard.gov/reading_math_g12_2013/#/ |publisher=National Assessment of Educational Progress |access-date=May 5, 2015}} The state's public school students are in the top tier of global academic performance.{{cite web |url=http://www.doe.mass.edu/news/news.aspx?id=24050 |url-status=live |title=Massachusetts Students Score among World Leaders on PISA Reading, Science and Math Tests |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191204051502/http://www.doe.mass.edu/news/news.aspx?id=24050 |archive-date=December 4, 2019 |access-date=January 14, 2020}} In 2022, Massachusetts was first or second in the reading and mathematics average scores and proficiency percentages of the evaluated 4th and 8th graders.{{cite web |title=NAEP state comparisons |url=https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/profiles/stateprofile/overview/MA?cti=PgTab_ScoreComparisons&sub=MAT&chort=1&st=MN&sfj=NP&sj=MA&year=2022R3 |website=NAEP State Profiles - Massachusetts |access-date=January 6, 2025}}

Massachusetts hosts 121 institutions of higher education.{{cite web |url=http://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/ciswel/weltomas.htm#edu |title=A Practical Guide to Living in the State—Education |publisher=Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth |location=MA, US |access-date=June 2, 2010}} Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, both located in Cambridge, consistently rank among the world's best private universities and universities in general.{{cite web |title=World's Best Universities:Top 400 |website=U.S. News & World Report |access-date=May 25, 2010 |date=February 25, 2010 |url=https://www.usnews.com/articles/education/worlds-best-universities/2010/02/25/worlds-best-universities-top-400.html}} In addition to Harvard and MIT, several other Massachusetts universities rank in the top 50 at the undergraduate level nationally in the widely cited rankings of U.S. News & World Report: Tufts University (#27), Boston College (#32), Brandeis University (#34), Boston University (#37) and Northeastern University (#40). Massachusetts is also home to three of the top five U.S. News & World Report{{'}}s best Liberal Arts Colleges: Williams College (#1), Amherst College (#2), and Wellesley College (#4).{{cite web|title=National Liberal Arts Colleges Rankings |url=http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges |website=U.S. News & World Report |access-date=May 10, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821213346/http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges |archive-date=August 21, 2016 }} It is also home to the oldest Catholic liberal arts college, College of the Holy Cross (#33).{{Cite web |title=College of the Holy Cross Rankings |url=https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/holy-cross-2141/overall-rankings |access-date=May 28, 2023 |website=U.S. News & World Report}} Boston Architectural College is New England's largest private college of spatial design. The public University of Massachusetts (nicknamed UMass) features five campuses in the state, with its flagship campus in Amherst, which enrolls more than 25,000.{{cite web |url=http://www.massachusetts.edu/system/about.html |title=The UMass System |publisher=University of Massachusetts Amherst |access-date=May 25, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130830061248/http://www.massachusetts.edu/system/about.html |archive-date=August 30, 2013 }}{{cite web |url=http://media.umassp.edu/massedu/ir/facts2009-10.pdf |title=UMass—Facts 2009–2010 |publisher=University of Massachusetts Amherst |access-date=May 25, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720090725/http://media.umassp.edu/massedu/ir/facts2009-10.pdf |archive-date=July 20, 2011 }}

As of 2021, Massachusetts has the highest percentage of adults over the age of 25 with a bachelor's degree (46.62%) and a graduate degree (21.27%) of any state in the country.

{{See also|List of Massachusetts locations by per capita income|Category:Economy of Massachusetts}}

The United States Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that the Massachusetts gross state product in 2020 was $584{{spaces}}billion.{{cite web |url=https://www.bea.gov/iTable/iTable.cfm?reqid=70&step=10&isuri=1&7003=200&7035=-1&7004=sic&7005=1&7006=xx&7036=-1&7001=1200&7002=1&7090=70&7007=-1&7093=levels#reqid=70&step=10&isuri=1&7003=200&7035=-1&7004=naics&7005=1&7006=xx&7036=-1&7001=1200&7002=1&7090=70&7007=-1&7093=levels |title=Apps Test | U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) |publisher=Bea.gov |access-date=July 31, 2021 |archive-date=August 31, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170831043848/https://www.bea.gov/iTable/iTable.cfm?reqid=70&step=10&isuri=1&7003=200&7035=-1&7004=sic&7005=1&7006=xx&7036=-1&7001=1200&7002=1&7090=70&7007=-1&7093=levels#reqid=70&step=10&isuri=1&7003=200&7035=-1&7004=naics&7005=1&7006=xx&7036=-1&7001=1200&7002=1&7090=70&7007=-1&7093=levels }} The per capita personal income in 2012 was $53,221, making it the third-highest state in the nation.{{cite web |url=https://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/regional/spi/2009/pdf/spi0309.pdf |title=State Personal Income 2008 |publisher=Bureau of Economic Analysis |access-date=June 8, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100412133925/http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/regional/spi/2009/pdf/spi0309.pdf |archive-date=April 12, 2010 }} As of January 2023, Massachusetts state general minimum wage is $15.00 per hour while the minimum wage for tipped workers is $6.75 an hour, with a guarantee that employers will pay the difference should a tipped employee's hourly wage not meet or exceed the general minimum wage.{{cite news |url=https://www.mass.gov/info-details/massachusetts-law-about-minimum-wage |title=Massachusetts law about minimum wage |publisher=Commonwealth of Massachusetts |date=December 31, 2020 |access-date=January 11, 2020}} These minimum wage levels came about in January 2023, as part of a series of minimum wage amendments passed in 2018 that saw the minimum wage increase slowly every January up to 2023.{{Cite web |title=Session Law – Acts of 2018 Chapter 121 |url=https://malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2018/Chapter121 |access-date=April 21, 2022 |website=malegislature.gov}}

In 2015, twelve Fortune 500 companies were located in Massachusetts: Liberty Mutual, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, TJX Companies, General Electric, Raytheon, American Tower, Global Partners, Thermo Fisher Scientific, State Street Corporation, Biogen, Eversource Energy, and Boston Scientific.{{Cite web|url=https://www.geographyrealm.com/map-and-list-of-fortune-1000-companies-for-2018/|title=Map and List of Fortune 1000 Companies for 2018|date=November 13, 2018}} CNBC's list of "Top States for Business for 2023" has recognized Massachusetts as the 15th-best state in the nation for business,{{cite web |title=America's Top States For Business |date=July 11, 2023 |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/11/americas-top-states-for-business-2023-the-full-rankings.html |publisher=CNBC |access-date=September 18, 2023}} and for the second year in a row in 2016 the state was ranked by Bloomberg as the most innovative state in America.{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-22/here-are-the-most-innovative-states-in-america-in-2016|title=Here are the Most Innovative States in America in 2016|newspaper=Bloomberg.com|date=December 22, 2016}} According to a 2013 study by Phoenix Marketing International, Massachusetts had the sixth-largest number of millionaires per capita in the United States, with a ratio of 6.73 percent.{{cite web |last=Frank |first=Robert |title=Top states for millionaires per capita |date=January 15, 2014 |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2014/01/15/top-states-for-millionaires-per-capita.html |publisher=CNBC |access-date=January 25, 2014}} Billionaires living in the state include past and present leaders (and related family) of local companies such as Fidelity Investments, New Balance, Kraft Group, Boston Scientific, and the former Continental Cablevision.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2016/06/10/here-new-list-richest-people-mass/OaNMT5TILihKuLoyLNBwbL/story.html|title=Here's a new list of the richest people in Mass.|website=The Boston Globe}}

Massachusetts has three foreign-trade zones, the Massachusetts Port Authority of Boston, the Port of New Bedford, and the City of Holyoke.{{cite web|url=https://enforcement.trade.gov/ftzpage/letters/ftzlist-map.html|title=List of Foreign-Trade Zones by State|author=United States Department of Commerce . International Trade Administration . Enforcement and Compliance|website=enforcement.trade.gov|access-date=March 16, 2018|archive-date=October 30, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131030233822/https://enforcement.trade.gov/ftzpage/letters/ftzlist-map.html}} Boston-Logan International Airport is the busiest airport in New England, serving 33.4{{spaces}}million total passengers in 2015, and witnessing rapid growth in international air traffic since 2010.{{cite web |url=https://www.massport.com/media/378708/1215-avstats-airport-traffic-summary.pdf |title=Monthly Airport Traffic Summary—December 2015 |access-date=February 6, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160207054448/https://www.massport.com/media/378708/1215-avstats-airport-traffic-summary.pdf |archive-date=February 7, 2016 }} Accessed May 8, 2016.

Sectors vital to the Massachusetts economy include higher education, biotechnology, information technology, finance, health care, tourism, manufacturing, and defense. The Route 128 corridor and Greater Boston continue to be a major center for venture capital investment,{{cite web |url=http://nvca.org/research/venture-investment/ |title=Venture Investment—Regional Aggregate Data |publisher=National Venture Capital Association |access-date=January 17, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160408104240/http://nvca.org/research/venture-investment/ |archive-date=April 8, 2016 }} and high technology remains an important sector. In recent years tourism has played an ever-important role in the state's economy, with Boston and Cape Cod being the leading destinations.{{cite web|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2016/06/10/where-massachusetts-tourists-come-from/M7IXI2wbqxj0p0RFAxxhKO/story.html|date=June 11, 2016|title=Where do Massachusetts tourists come from?|first=Corlyn|last=Voorhees|website=The Boston Globe}} Other popular tourist destinations include Salem, Plymouth, and the Berkshires. Massachusetts is the sixth-most popular tourist destination for foreign travelers.{{cite web |title=Tourism Statistics |url=http://www.statisticbrain.com/tourism-statistics/ |publisher=Statisticsbrain.com |access-date=April 27, 2015 |archive-date=March 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150324153143/http://www.statisticbrain.com/tourism-statistics/ }} In 2010, the Great Places in Massachusetts Commission published '1,000 Great Places in Massachusetts' that identified 1,000 sites across the commonwealth to highlight the diverse historic, cultural, and natural attractions.{{cite web|url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/07/12/1000_places_to_visit/|title=1,000 places to visit in Massachusetts|website=The Boston Globe}}

File:Sunset on Cape Cod Bay.jpg, on Cape Cod Bay.]]

While manufacturing comprised less than 10% of Massachusetts's gross state product in 2016, the Commonwealth ranked 16th in the nation in total manufacturing output in the United States.{{cite web|title=State Profiles Data Sheet|date=October 2017|publisher=National Association of Manufacturers|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181003142946/http://www.nam.org/Data-and-Reports/State-Manufacturing-Data/State-Manufacturing-Data/April-2017/2017-State-Manufacturing-Data-Table/|archive-date=October 3, 2018|url=http://www.nam.org/Data-and-Reports/State-Manufacturing-Data/State-Manufacturing-Data/April-2017/2017-State-Manufacturing-Data-Table/}} This includes a diverse array of manufactured goods such as medical devices, paper goods, specialty chemicals and plastics, telecommunications and electronics equipment, and machined components.{{cite report|title=Massachusetts Manufacturing Facts|publisher=National Association of Manufacturers|access-date=December 28, 2018|archive-date=December 26, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226224516/http://www.nam.org/Data-and-Reports/State-Manufacturing-Data/2014-State-Manufacturing-Data/Manufacturing-Facts--Massachusetts/|url=http://www.nam.org/Data-and-Reports/State-Manufacturing-Data/2014-State-Manufacturing-Data/Manufacturing-Facts--Massachusetts/}}{{cite web|title=MassMEDIC|publisher=Massachusetts Medical Device Industry Council|url=https://www.massmedic.com/|access-date=December 28, 2018}}

The more than 33,000 nonprofits in Massachusetts employ one-sixth of the state's workforce.{{Cite news|url=http://waltham.wickedlocal.com/news/20170620/waltham-nonprofit-watch-cdc-recognized-at-statehouse|title=Waltham nonprofit WATCH CDC recognized at Statehouse|work=Wicked Local Waltham|access-date=June 21, 2017|archive-date=June 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620162454/http://waltham.wickedlocal.com/news/20170620/waltham-nonprofit-watch-cdc-recognized-at-statehouse}} In 2007, Governor Deval Patrick signed into law a state holiday, Nonprofit Awareness Day.{{cite web |title=Groups celebrate Nonprofit Awareness Day - Massachusetts Nonprofit Network |url=http://massnonprofitnet.org/blog/groups-celebrate-nonprofit-awareness-day/ |website=massnonprofitnet.org |access-date=December 4, 2022}}

In February 2017, U.S. News & World Report ranked Massachusetts the best state in the United States based upon 60 metrics including healthcare, education, crime, infrastructure, opportunity, economy, and government. Massachusetts ranked number one in education, number two in healthcare, and number five in the handling of the economy.{{cite web |title=Best States Overall Ranking |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings |access-date=December 29, 2017 |work=U.S. News & World Report}}

{{ Main | Agriculture in Massachusetts }}

As of 2012, there were 7,755 farms in Massachusetts encompassing a total of {{convert|523,517|acre|km2|-1}}, averaging {{convert|67.5|acre|hectare}} apiece.{{cite web |title=Number of Farms Numbers Continue Slight Rise in 2012 |url=https://ag.umass.edu/ma-agricultural-data/number-of-farms/numbers-continue-slight-rise-in-2012 |publisher=University of Massachusetts Amherst Center for Agriculture, Food, and the environment |access-date=April 27, 2015}} Greenhouse, floriculture, and sod products {{endash}} including the ornamental market {{endash}} make up more than one third of the state's agricultural output.{{cite web | access-date=July 29, 2022 |year=2017 | title=National Agricultural Statistics Service - 2017 Census of Agriculture - Volume 1, Chapter 1: State Level Data | website=USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service | url=https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2017/Full_Report/Volume_1,_Chapter_1_State_Level/Massachusetts/}} Particular agricultural products of note also include cranberries, sweet corn and apples are also large sectors of production.{{cite web | access-date=September 30, 2022 | website=Massachusetts Government | url=https://www.mass.gov/info-details/agricultural-resources-facts-and-statistics | title=Agricultural Resources Facts and Statistics}} Fruit cultivation is an important part of the state's agricultural revenues,{{cite web | title=UMass Extension Fruit Program | website=UMass Extension Fruit Program | date=February 26, 2015 | url=http://ag.umass.edu/fruit | access-date=June 27, 2022}} and Massachusetts is the second-largest cranberry-producing state after Wisconsin.{{cite web |date=January 26, 2007 |url=http://www.nass.usda.gov/nh/jan07cran.pdf |title=Massachusetts Cranberries |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture |access-date=May 23, 2010}}

Depending on how it is calculated, state and local tax burden in Massachusetts has been estimated among U.S. states and Washington D.C. as 21st-highest (11.44% or $6,163 per year for a household with nationwide median income){{cite web|url=https://wallethub.com/edu/best-worst-states-to-be-a-taxpayer/2416/#complete-rankings.|title=2016's States with the Highest & Lowest Tax Rates|access-date=June 18, 2016}} or 25th-highest overall with below-average corporate taxes (39th-highest), above-average personal income taxes, (13th-highest), above-average sales tax (18th-highest), and below-average property taxes (46th-highest).{{cite web|url=http://taxfoundation.org/article/2016-state-business-tax-climate-index|title=2016 State Business Tax Climate Index|access-date=June 18, 2016|archive-date=June 21, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160621014424/http://taxfoundation.org/article/2016-state-business-tax-climate-index}} In the 1970s, the Commonwealth ranked as a relatively high-tax state, gaining the pejorative nickname "Taxachusetts". This was followed by a round of tax limitations during the 1980s—a conservative period in American politics—including Proposition 2½.{{cite web|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/03/28/taxachussetts-misnomer-least-for-now/JwFnatLJTZ2eoGxDYzT82J/story.html|title='Taxachusetts' is a misnomer, at least for now|website=Boston Globe|first=Tom|last=Keane|date=March 28, 2014}}

As of January 1, 2020, Massachusetts has a flat-rate personal income tax of 5.00%,{{cite web |title=Taxes & Rates Income |publisher=Massachusetts Department of Revenue |access-date=October 16, 2021 |url=https://www.mass.gov/guides/personal-income-tax-for-residents}} after a 2002 voter referendum to eventually lower the rate to 5.0%{{cite web |title=Massachusetts Implements Reduction in Personal Income Tax Rates |publisher=The Tax Foundation |access-date=May 10, 2012 |url=http://taxfoundation.org/blog/show/27852.html |archive-date=January 20, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120120200319/http://www.taxfoundation.org/blog/show/27852.html }} as amended by the legislature.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/12/31/income-tax-rate-fall-jan/0z4PxvHvtSxWOFja3EDZfO/story.html|title=Mass. tax rate takes slight dip|website=The Boston Globe}} There is a tax exemption for income below a threshold that varies from year to year. The corporate income tax rate is 8.8%,{{cite web |title=Massachusetts |publisher=The Tax Foundation |access-date=April 27, 2015 |url=http://taxfoundation.org/state-tax-climate/massachusetts |archive-date=May 5, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150505003342/http://taxfoundation.org/state-tax-climate/massachusetts }} and the short-term capital gains tax rate is 12%.{{cite web |title=Tax Rates |date=November 9, 2006 |publisher=Massachusetts Department of Revenue |access-date=April 27, 2015 |url=http://www.mass.gov/dor/individuals/filing-and-payment-information/guide-to-personal-income-tax/tax-rates.html |archive-date=April 22, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150422150419/http://www.mass.gov/dor/individuals/filing-and-payment-information/guide-to-personal-income-tax/tax-rates.html }} An unusual provision allows filers to voluntarily pay at the pre-referendum 5.85% income tax rate, which is done by between one and two thousand taxpayers per year.{{cite web|url=http://cltg.org/cltg/clt2005/05-04-15.htm#Globe1|title=CLT Update: Apr 15, 2005, "We didn't need or want a tax cut—but it's ours now!"|website=cltg.org}}

The state imposes a 6.25% sales tax on retail sales of tangible personal property—except for groceries, clothing (up to $175.00), and periodicals.{{cite web |title=Sales and Use Tax |location=MA, US |publisher=Massachusetts Department of Revenue |date = January 14, 2022 |url=http://www.mass.gov/dor/individuals/taxpayer-help-and-resources/tax-guides/salesuse-tax-guide.html}} The sales tax is charged on clothing that costs more than $175.00, for the amount exceeding $175.00. Massachusetts also charges a use tax when goods are bought from other states and the vendor does not remit Massachusetts sales tax; taxpayers report and pay this on their income tax forms or dedicated forms, though there are "safe harbor" amounts that can be paid without tallying up actual purchases (except for purchases over $1,000). There is no inheritance tax and limited Massachusetts estate tax related to federal estate tax collection.

{{Further|Solar power in Massachusetts|Wind power in Massachusetts|:Category:Energy in Massachusetts}}

Massachusetts's electricity generation market was made competitive in 1998, enabling retail customers to change suppliers without changing utility companies.{{cite web |url=http://www.goodenergy.com/Energy-Procurement/massachusetts |title=Massachusetts Electricity deregulation |date=June 2, 2020 |publisher=Good Energy}} In 2018, Massachusetts consumed 1,459{{spaces}}trillion BTU,{{cite web |title=State Profile and Energy Estimates |url=http://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=MA |publisher=Energy Information Administration |access-date=July 29, 2020}} making it the seventh-lowest state in terms of consumption of energy per capita, and 31 percent of that energy came from natural gas. In 2014 and 2015, Massachusetts was ranked as the most energy efficient state the United States{{cite web |title=State Scorecard Rank |url=http://database.aceee.org/state-scorecard-rank |publisher=American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy |access-date=June 13, 2015}}{{cite web |title=2015 State Scorecard Rank—Massachusetts |url=http://aceee.org/sites/default/files/pdf/state-sheet/2015/massachusetts.pdf |publisher=American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy |access-date=June 26, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604091938/http://aceee.org/sites/default/files/pdf/state-sheet/2015/massachusetts.pdf |archive-date=June 4, 2016 }} while Boston is the most efficient city,{{cite news |last1=Wood |first1=Elisa |title=Boston Takes Top Spot Again in City Energy Efficiency Scorecard |url=http://energyefficiencymarkets.com/whos-surprised-boston-takes-top-spot-again-in-city-energy-efficiency-scorecard/ |access-date=June 13, 2015 |publisher=Energy Efficiency Markets.com |date=May 26, 2015}} but it had the fourth-highest average residential retail electricity prices of any state. In 2018, renewable energy was about 7.2 percent of total energy consumed in the state, ranking 34th.

{{Main|Massachusetts Department of Transportation|Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority|Category:Transportation in Massachusetts}}

{{see also|Plug-in electric vehicles in Massachusetts}}

File:MBTA services sampling excluding trolleybus.jpg serves Greater Boston.]]

For federal funding purposes, Massachusetts has 10 regional metropolitan planning organizations and three non-metropolitan planning organizations covering the remainder of the state;{{cite web |title=Massachusetts Regional Planning Agencies |url=http://www.apa-ma.org/resources/massachusetts-regional-planning-agencies |publisher=American Planning Association |access-date=April 30, 2015}} statewide planning is handled by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Transportation is the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions by economic sector in Massachusetts.{{cite web |title=MassDEP Emissions Inventories |url=https://www.mass.gov/lists/massdep-emissions-inventories#greenhouse-gas-baseline,-inventory-&-projection- |publisher=Commonwealth of Massachusetts |access-date=February 11, 2019 }}

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), also known as "The{{spaces}}T",{{cite web |title=MBTA Website |url=http://www.mbta.com/index.asp |publisher=Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority |access-date=May 2, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418012818/http://www.mbta.com/index.asp |archive-date=April 18, 2015 }} operates public transportation in the form of subway,{{cite web |title=Subway Map |publisher=Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority |access-date=May 22, 2010 |url=http://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_maps/subway/}} bus,{{cite web |title=Bus Schedules & Maps |publisher=Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority |access-date=May 22, 2010 |url=http://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_maps/bus/}} and ferry{{cite web |title=Boat Map and Schedules |publisher=Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority |access-date=May 22, 2010 |url=http://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_maps/boats/}} systems in the Metro Boston area.

Fifteen other regional transit authorities provide public transportation in the form of bus services in the rest of the state.{{cite web |title=Your Transit Authorities |publisher=Massachusetts Association of Regional Transit Authorities |access-date=May 23, 2010 |url=http://www.matransit.com/}} Four heritage railways are also in operation:

• The Cape Cod Central Railroad, operating from Hyannis to Buzzards Bay{{cite web |title=Cape Cod Central Railroad |publisher=Cape Cod Central Railroad |access-date=May 23, 2010 |url=http://www.capetrain.com/}}
• The Berkshire Scenic Railway, operating from Lee to Great Barrington{{cite web |title=2010 Scenic Train Schedule |publisher=Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum |access-date=May 23, 2010 |url=http://berkshirescenicrailroad.org/schedules.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090828170559/http://www.berkshirescenicrailroad.org/schedules.php |archive-date=August 28, 2009 }}
• Edaville Railroad in Carver{{cite web |title=Edaville – The New England Classic Family Theme Park |url=https://edaville.com/ |access-date=December 4, 2022}}
• The Lowell National Historical Park Trolley Line in Lowell{{cite web |title=U.S. Streetcar Systems- Massachusetts – Lowell |url=https://www.railwaypreservation.com/vintagetrolley/lowell.htm |website=railwaypreservation.com |access-date=December 4, 2022 |date=November 25, 2022}}

Amtrak operates several inter-city rail lines in Massachusetts. Boston's South Station serves as the terminus for three lines, namely the high-speed Acela Express, which links to cities such as Providence, New Haven, New York City, and eventually Washington DC; the Northeast Regional, which follows the same route but includes many more stops, and also continues further south to Newport News in Virginia; and the Lake Shore Limited, which runs westward to Worcester, Springfield, and eventually Chicago.{{cite web|url=https://www.amtrak.com/northeast-train-routes|title=Northeast Train Routes|website=Amtrak|access-date=June 12, 2020}}{{cite web |website=Routes |title=Acela Express |publisher=Amtrak |access-date=May 22, 2010 |url=http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer/AM_Route_C/1241245664867/1237405732511 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100523233021/http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer/AM_Route_C/1241245664867/1237405732511 |archive-date=May 23, 2010 }} Boston's other major station, North Station, serves as the southern terminus for Amtrak's Downeaster, which connects to Portland and Brunswick in Maine.

Outside of Boston, Amtrak connects several cities across Massachusetts, along the aforementioned Acela, Northeast Regional, Lake Shore Limited, and Downeaster lines, as well as other routes in central and western Massachusetts. The Amtrak Hartford Line connects Springfield to New Haven, operated in conjunction with the Connecticut Department of Transportation, and the Valley Flyer runs a similar route but continues further north to Greenfield. Several stations in western Massachusetts are also served by the Vermonter, which connects St. Albans, Vermont to Washington DC.

Amtrak carries more passengers between Boston and New York than all airlines combined (about 54% of market share in 2012),{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/16/business/hassles-of-air-travel-push-passengers-to-amtrak.html|title=Air Travel's Hassles Drive Riders to Amtrak's Acela|first=Ron|last=Nixon|newspaper=The New York Times |date=August 15, 2012}} but service between other cities is less frequent. There, more frequent intercity service is provided by private bus carriers, including Peter Pan Bus Lines (headquartered in Springfield), Greyhound Lines, OurBus, BoltBus and Plymouth and Brockton Street Railway. Various Chinatown bus lines depart for New York from South Station in Boston.{{cite web |title=Chinatown Bus: Fung Wah Bus, Boston New York Bus |url=https://boston-tourism-made-easy.com/chinatown-bus/ |website=BOSTON TOURISM MADE EASY |access-date=December 4, 2022}}

MBTA Commuter Rail services run throughout the larger Greater Boston area, including service to Worcester, Fitchburg, Haverhill, Newburyport, Lowell, and Kingston.{{cite web |title=Commuter Rail Maps and Schedules |publisher=Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority |access-date=May 5, 2015 |url=http://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_maps/rail/}} This overlaps with the service areas of neighboring regional transportation authorities. As of the summer of 2013 the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority in collaboration with the MBTA and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) is operating the CapeFLYER providing passenger rail service between Boston and Cape Cod.{{cite web |title=CapeFlyer |access-date=July 29, 2013 |url=http://capeflyer.com/}}{{cite web |title=T announces summer Cape Cod train service |publisher=WCVB-TV |access-date=July 29, 2013 |url=http://www.wcvb.com/news/local/boston-south/T-announces-summer-Cape-Cod-train-service/-/9848842/19557134/-/f7pi02/-/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103130254/http://www.wcvb.com/news/local/boston-south/T-announces-summer-Cape-Cod-train-service/-/9848842/19557134/-/f7pi02/-/index.html |archive-date=November 3, 2013 }}

Most ports north of Cape Cod are served by Boston Harbor Cruises, which operates ferry services in and around Greater Boston under contract with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Several routes connect the downtown area with Hingham, Hull, Winthrop, Salem, Logan Airport, Charlestown, and some of the islands located within the harbor. The same company also operates seasonal service between Boston and Provincetown.{{cite web|url=https://www.mbta.com/schedules/ferry|title=Ferry Schedules and Maps|website=Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority|access-date=June 20, 2020}}

On the southern shore of the state, several different passenger ferry lines connect Martha's Vineyard to ports along the mainland, including Woods Hole, Hyannis, New Bedford, and Falmouth, all in Massachusetts, as well as North Kingstown in Rhode Island, Highlands in New Jersey, and New York City in New York.{{cite web|url=https://www.vineyardferries.com/|title=2020 Martha's Vineyard Ferry Schedules|website=Martha's Vineyard Ferries|access-date=July 23, 2020}} Similarly, several different lines connect Nantucket to ports including Hyannis, New Bedford, Harwich, and New York City.{{cite web|url=https://www.nantucketferries.com/|title=2020 Nantucket Ferry Schedules|website=Nantucket Ferries|access-date=July 23, 2020}} Service between the two islands is also offered. The dominant companies serving these routes include SeaStreak, Hy-Line Cruises, and The Steamship Authority, the latter of which regulates all passenger services in the region and is also the only company permitted to offer freight ferry services to the islands.{{cite web |url=http://www.steamshipauthority.com/ssa/about.cfm |title=Background |publisher=The Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority |access-date=May 24, 2010}}

Other ferry connections in the state include a water taxi connecting various points in Fall River,{{cite web|url=https://turnto10.com/news/local/fall-river-water-taxi-begins-service-at-citys-waterfront-taunton-river-marina-water-business-memorial-day-arpa-project-boats-pilot-program-may-27-2024|title=Fall River water taxi begins service at city's waterfront|website=NBC|author=Allegra Zamore|date=May 27, 2024|access-date=June 4, 2024}} seasonal ferry service connecting Plymouth to Provincetown,{{cite web|url=https://www.captjohn.com/fast-ferry-ptown/|title=Fast Ferry to Provincetown|website=Captain John Boats|access-date=June 20, 2020}} and a service between New Bedford and Cuttyhunk.{{cite web|url=https://www.cuttyhunkferryco.com/|title=New Bedford to Cuttyhunk Ferry Service|website=Cuttyhunk Ferry Co.|access-date=July 23, 2020}}

{{See also|List of Massachusetts railroads}}

As of 2018, a number of freight railroads were operating in Massachusetts, with Class I railroad CSX being the largest carrier, and another Class 1, Norfolk Southern serving the state via its Pan Am Southern joint partnership. Several regional and short line railroads also provide service and connect with other railroads.{{cite web |title=Massachusetts Passenger and Freight Rail |url=http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/planning/Main/MapsDataandReports/Maps/PassengerandFreightRail.aspx |publisher=Massachusetts Department of Transportation |access-date=May 2, 2015 |archive-date=April 20, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150420041125/http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/planning/Main/MapsDataandReports/Maps/PassengerandFreightRail.aspx }} Massachusetts has a total of {{convert|1,110|mi|km}} of freight trackage in operation.{{Cite web|url=https://www.mass.gov/doc/final-state-rail-plan-spring-2018/download|title=Massachusetts State Rail Plan, May 2018}}{{cite web |title=Massachusetts State Fact Sheet: Rail Fast Facts For 2017 |url=https://www.aar.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/AAR-Massachusetts-State-Fact-Sheet.pdf |publisher=Association of American Railroads |access-date=February 12, 2019 |archive-date=February 13, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190213183458/https://www.aar.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/AAR-Massachusetts-State-Fact-Sheet.pdf }}

{{Further|List of airports in Massachusetts}}

File:Logan_Airport_aerial_view.jpg in Boston is the largest passenger volume airport in New England.]]

Boston Logan International Airport served 33.5{{spaces}}million passengers in 2015 (up from 31.6{{spaces}}million in 2014) through 103 gates.{{cite web |title=About Logan |url=https://www.massport.com/logan-airport/about-logan/ |publisher=Massachusetts Port Authority |access-date=May 2, 2015}}{{cite web |title=About Massport |url=https://www.massport.com/about-massport/about-massport/ |publisher=Massachusetts Port Authority |access-date=May 2, 2015 |archive-date=July 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170707205904/http://www.massport.com/about-massport/about-massport/ }} Logan, Hanscom Field in Bedford, and Worcester Regional Airport are operated by Massport, an independent state transportation agency. Massachusetts has 39 public-use airfields{{cite web|url=https://www.mass.gov/public-use-airports/locations|title=Public Use Airports Locations | Mass.gov|website=mass.gov}} and more than 200 private landing spots.{{cite web |title=Mass Aeronautics |url=http://www.massaeronautics.org/default.asp?pgid=AeroAbout&sid=level2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080505120625/http://www.massaeronautics.org/default.asp?pgid=AeroAbout&sid=level2 |archive-date=May 5, 2008 }} Some airports receive funding from the Aeronautics Division of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration; the FAA is also the primary regulator of Massachusetts air travel.{{cite web |title=About FAA |url=https://www.faa.gov/about/ |publisher=Federal Aviation Administration |access-date=May 2, 2015}}

File:National-atlas-massachusetts.png

There are a total of {{convert|36,800|mi|km}} of interstates and other highways in Massachusetts.{{cite web |url=https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2019/03/27/2018-ri-ye-final.pdf |title=2018 Massachusetts Road Inventory Year End Report |publisher=Massachusetts Department of Transportation |access-date=October 6, 2019 |archive-date=December 12, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212162823/https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2019/03/27/2018-ri-ye-final.pdf }} Interstate{{spaces}}90 (I-90, also known as the Massachusetts Turnpike), is the longest interstate in Massachusetts. The route travels {{convert|136|mi|km|abbr=on}} generally west to east, entering Massachusetts at the New York state line in the town of West Stockbridge, and passes just north of Springfield, just south of Worcester and through Framingham before terminating near Logan International Airport in Boston.{{cite web |title=Interstate 90 |url=http://www.interstate-guide.com/i-090.html |website=interstate-guide.com |publisher=AARoads |access-date=June 10, 2015 |archive-date=January 25, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080125162913/http://www.interstate-guide.com/i-090.html }} Other major interstates include I-91, which travels generally north and south along the Connecticut River; I-93, which travels north and south through central Boston, then passes through Methuen before entering New Hampshire; and I-95, which connects Providence, Rhode Island with Greater Boston, forming a partial loop concurrent with Route{{spaces}}128 around the more urbanized areas before continuing north along the coast into New Hampshire.{{cite news |first1 = David |last1 = Montgomery |first2 = Josh |last2 = White |newspaper = The Washington Post |title = 128 Cars, Trucks Crash in Snow on I-95 |date = February 23, 2001 |page = A1 }}

I-495 forms a wide loop around the outer edge of Greater Boston. Other major interstates in Massachusetts include I-291, I-391, I-84, I-195, I-395, I-290, and I-190. Major non-interstate highways in Massachusetts include U.S. Routes 1, 3, 6, and 20, and state routes 2, 3, 9, 24, and 128. A great majority of interstates in Massachusetts were constructed during the mid-20th century, and at times were controversial, particularly the intent to route I-95 northeastwards from Providence, Rhode Island, directly through central Boston, first proposed in 1948. Opposition to continued construction grew, and in 1970 Governor Francis W. Sargent issued a general prohibition on most further freeway construction within the I-95/Route 128 loop in the Boston area.{{sfn|Brown|Tager|2000|pp=283–284}} A massive undertaking to bring I-93 underground in downtown Boston, called the Big Dig, brought the city's highway system under public scrutiny for its high cost and construction quality.

File:Boston_-Massachusetts_State_House_(48718911666).jpg is topped with a golden dome, and faces Boston Common on Beacon Hill.]]

Massachusetts has a long political history; earlier political structures included the Mayflower Compact of 1620, the separate Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth colonies, and the combined colonial Province of Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Constitution was ratified in 1780 while the Revolutionary War was in progress, four years after the Articles of Confederation was drafted, and eight years before the present United States Constitution was ratified on June 21, 1788. Drafted by John Adams, the Massachusetts Constitution is the oldest functioning written constitution in continuous effect in the world.{{cite book |last=Levy |first=Leonard |title=Seasoned Judgments: The American Constitution, Rights, and History |year=1995 |page=307 |publisher=Transaction Publishers |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-7lKq0dfs54C&pg=PA307 |access-date=June 10, 2015|isbn=978-1-4128-3382-0 }}{{cite book |last=Kemp |first=Roger |title=Documents of American Democracy |year=2010 |page=59 |publisher=McFarland |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JHawgM-WnlUC&pg=PA59|isbn=978-0-7864-5674-1 }}{{cite book |last=Murrin |first=John |title=Liberty, Power, and Equality: A History |year=2011 |publisher=Cengage Learning |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CADtJymgzk4C&pg=PT222|isbn=978-0-495-91587-4 }} It has been amended 121 times, most recently in 2022.{{cite web |title=Massachusetts Constitution |url=https://malegislature.gov/Laws/Constitution |website=malegislature.gov |access-date=December 4, 2022}}

Massachusetts politics since the second half of the 20th century have generally been dominated by the Democratic Party, and the state has a reputation for being the most liberal state in the country.{{cite web |last1=Hickey |first1=Walter |title=The Most Liberal States In America |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/most-liberal-states-2013-2#2-massachusetts--305-percent-liberal-9 |website=Business Insider |access-date=May 4, 2015}} In 1974, Elaine Noble became the first openly lesbian or gay candidate elected to a state legislature in US history.{{cite web|last=Gianoulis |first=Tina |title=Noble, Elaine |publisher=glbtq: An Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Culture |date=October 13, 2005 |url=http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/noble_e.html |access-date=September 24, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071030032157/http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/noble_e.html |archive-date=October 30, 2007 }} The state's 12th congressional district elected the first openly gay member of the United States House of Representatives, Gerry Studds, in 1972{{cite news |last1=Cave |first1=Damien |title=Gerry Studds Dies at 69; First Openly Gay Congressman |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/15/us/15studds.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 15, 2006 |access-date=April 26, 2015}} and in 2004, Massachusetts became the first state to allow same-sex marriage. In 2006, Massachusetts became the first state to approve a law that provided for nearly universal healthcare.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/04/us/04cnd-mass.html|title=Massachusetts Set to Offer Universal Health Insurance|last=Belluck|first=Pam|date=April 4, 2006|work=The New York Times|access-date=December 28, 2019|issn=0362-4331}} Massachusetts has a pro-sanctuary city law.{{cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/09/politics/sanctuary-city-bans-states/index.html|title=Florida is about to ban sanctuary cities. At least 11 other states have, too|first=Catherine E. |last=Shoichet|publisher=CNN|date=May 9, 2019}} As of 2024, Massachusetts has a Democratic Governor, two Democratic Senators, and all nine Congressional Representatives are Democrats. Massachusetts is a blue state; Ronald Reagan was the last Republican to win the state in 1984.

In a 2020 study, Massachusetts was ranked as the 11th easiest state for citizens to vote in.{{cite journal |last1=J. Pomante II |first1=Michael |last2=Li |first2=Quan |title=Cost of Voting in the American States: 2020 |journal=Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy |date=December 15, 2020 |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=503–509 |doi=10.1089/elj.2020.0666 |s2cid=225139517 |doi-access=free }}

{{Main|Government of Massachusetts}}

{{See also|Commonwealth (U.S. state)}}

File:Maura Healey, official portrait, governor.jpg (D) is the 73rd Governor of Massachusetts.]]

The Government of Massachusetts is divided into three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. The governor of Massachusetts heads the executive branch, while legislative authority vests in a separate but coequal legislature. Meanwhile, judicial power is constitutionally guaranteed to the independent judicial branch.{{cite web |title=Massachusetts Government Structure |url=https://budget.digital.mass.gov/bb/h1/fy10h1/prnt10/exec10/pbuddevstructure.htm |website=budget.digital.mass.gov |access-date=December 3, 2022}}

As chief executive, the governor is responsible for signing or vetoing legislation, filling judicial and agency appointments, granting pardons, preparing an annual budget, and commanding the Massachusetts National Guard.{{cite web |url=http://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cismaf/mf1b.htm |title=Massachusetts Facts: Politics |publisher=Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth |access-date=June 1, 2010}} Massachusetts governors, unlike those of most other states, are addressed as His/Her Excellency. The governor is Maura Healey and the incumbent lieutenant governor is Kim Driscoll. The governor conducts the affairs of state alongside a separate Governor's Council made up of the lieutenant governor and eight separately elected councilors. The council is charged by the state constitution with reviewing and confirming gubernatorial appointments and pardons, approving disbursements out of the state treasury, and certifying elections, among other duties.

Aside from the governor and Governor's Council, the executive branch also includes four independently elected constitutional officers: a secretary of the commonwealth, an attorney general, a state treasurer, and a state auditor. The commonwealth's incumbent constitutional officers are respectively William F. Galvin, Andrea Campbell, Deb Goldberg and Diana DiZoglio, all Democrats. In accordance with state statute, the secretary of the commonwealth administers elections, regulates lobbyists and the securities industry, registers corporations, serves as register of deeds for the entire state, and preserves public records as keeper of the state seal.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sec.state.ma.us/|title=Main Menu|publisher=Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth|access-date=May 14, 2022}} Meanwhile, the attorney general provides legal services to state agencies, combats fraud and corruption, investigates and prosecutes crimes, and enforces consumer protection, environment, labor, and civil rights laws as Massachusetts chief lawyer and law enforcement officer.{{Cite web|url=https://www.mass.gov/orgs/office-of-attorney-general-maura-healey|title=Office of the Attorney General|publisher=Commonwealth of Massachusetts|access-date=May 14, 2022}} At the same time, the state treasurer manages the state's cash flow, debt, and investments as chief financial officer, whereas the state auditor conducts audits, investigations, and studies as chief audit executive in order to promote government accountability and transparency and improve state agency financial management, legal compliance, and performance.{{Cite web|url=https://www.masstreasury.org/departments|title=Departments|publisher=Office of the Treasurer and Receiver-General|access-date=May 14, 2022}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.mass.gov/orgs/office-of-the-state-auditor|title=Office of the State Auditor|publisher=Commonwealth of Massachusetts|access-date=May 14, 2022}}

The Massachusetts House of Representatives and Massachusetts Senate comprise the legislature of Massachusetts, known as the Massachusetts General Court. The House consists of 160 members while the Senate has 40 members. Leaders of the House and Senate are chosen by the members of those bodies; the leader of the House is known as the Speaker while the leader of the Senate is known as the President. Each branch consists of several committees. Members of both bodies are elected to two-year terms.{{cite web |title=Number of Legislators and Length of Terms in Years |url=http://www.ncsl.org/research/about-state-legislatures/number-of-legislators-and-length-of-terms.aspx |publisher=National Conference of State Legislatures |access-date=May 4, 2015}}

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (a chief justice and six associates) are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Governor's Council, as are all other judges in the state.

Federal court cases are heard in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, and appeals are heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.{{cite web |location=US |url=http://www.uscourts.gov/file/document/us-federal-courts-circuit-map |title=Geographic Boundaries of United States Courts of Appeals and United States District Courts |publisher=United States Courts |format=PDF |access-date=May 12, 2015}}

The Congressional delegation from Massachusetts is entirely Democratic.{{cite web |url=https://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm |title=Members of the 111th Congress |publisher=United States Senate |access-date=October 18, 2009}} The Senators are Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey while the Representatives are Richard Neal (1st), Jim McGovern (2nd), Lori Trahan (3rd), Jake Auchincloss (4th), Katherine Clark (5th), Seth Moulton (6th), Ayanna Pressley (7th), Stephen Lynch (8th), and Bill Keating (9th).{{cite web |title=Directory of Representatives |url=http://www.house.gov/representatives/#state_ma |publisher=United States House of Representatives |access-date=January 19, 2019}}

In U.S. presidential elections since 2012, Massachusetts has been allotted 11 votes in the electoral college, out of a total of 538.{{cite web |series=Electoral College |title=Distribution of 2004 and 2008 Electoral Votes |publisher=National Archives and Records Administration |location=US |access-date=June 2, 2010 |url=http://archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/2008/allocation.html}} Like most states, Massachusetts's electoral votes are granted in a winner-take-all system.{{cite web |location=US |series=Electoral College |title=Frequently Asked Questions |publisher=National Archives and Records Administration |access-date=June 2, 2010 |url=https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/faq.html}}

{{Main|Politics of Massachusetts|Political party strength in Massachusetts}}

{{See also|United States presidential elections in Massachusetts}}

File:Joe Kennedy III, Elizabeth Warren, Barney Frank.jpg, Senator Elizabeth Warren, and former representative Barney Frank attended the Boston Pride Parade in 2012.|alt=Two older men and an older woman stand in a crowd with signs reading "Joe Kennedy for Congress".]]

For more than 70 years, Massachusetts has shifted from a previously Republican-leaning state to one largely dominated by Democrats; the 1952 victory of John F. Kennedy over incumbent Senator Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. is seen as a watershed moment in this transformation. His younger brother Edward M. Kennedy held that seat until his death from a brain tumor in 2009.{{sfn|Brown|Tager|2000|p=310}} Since the 1950s, Massachusetts has gained a reputation as being a politically liberal state and is often used as an archetype of modern liberalism, hence the phrase "Massachusetts liberal".{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-07-25-mass-liberal_x.htm |title=Does 'Massachusetts liberal' label still matter? |first1=Susan |last1=Page |first2=Jill |last2=Lawrence |work=USA Today |date=July 11, 2004 |access-date=October 17, 2009}}

Massachusetts is one of the most Democratic states in the country. Democratic core concentrations are everywhere, except for a handful of Republican leaning towns in the Central and Southern parts of the state. Until recently, Republicans were dominant in the Western and Northern suburbs of Boston, however both areas heavily swung Democratic in the Trump era. The state as a whole has not given its Electoral College votes to a Republican in a presidential election since Ronald Reagan carried it in 1984, and not a single county has voted for a Republican presidential candidate since 1988. Additionally, Massachusetts provided Reagan with his smallest margins of victory in both the 1980{{cite web |title=1980 Presidential General Election Results—Massachusetts |url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?f=0&fips=25&year=1980 |publisher=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections |access-date=May 5, 2015}} and 1984 elections.{{cite web |title=1984 Presidential General Election Results—Massachusetts |url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?f=0&fips=25&year=1984 |publisher=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections |access-date=May 5, 2015}} Massachusetts had been the only state to vote for Democrat George McGovern in the 1972 presidential election. In 2020, Biden received 65.6% of the vote, the best performance in over 50 years for a Democrat.{{cite web |title=Massachusetts Presidential Election Voting History - 270toWin |url=https://www.270towin.com/states/Massachusetts |website=270toWin.com |access-date=December 4, 2022}}

Democrats have an absolute grip on the Massachusetts congressional delegation; there are no Republicans elected to serve at the federal level. Both Senators and all nine Representatives are Democrats; only one Republican (former Senator Scott Brown) has been elected to either house of Congress from Massachusetts since 1994. Massachusetts is the most populous state to be represented in the United States Congress entirely by a single party.{{cite web |last1=master |first1=Por |title=Capital of massachusetts – |url=https://sinproeste.org.br/capital-of-massachusetts/ |website=Sinproeste |date=October 12, 2022 |access-date=December 4, 2022 |language=pt-BR}}

As of the 2018 elections, the Democratic Party holds a super-majority over the Republican Party in both chambers of the Massachusetts General Court (state legislature). Out of the state house's 160 seats, Democrats hold 127 seats (79%) compared to the Republican Party's 32 seats (20%), an independent sits in the remaining one,{{cite web |title=Members of the House of Representatives |url=https://malegislature.gov/People/House |publisher=Massachusetts House of Representatives |access-date=January 18, 2019}} and 37 out of the 40 seats in the state senate (92.5%) belong to the Democratic Party compared to the Republican Party's three seats (7.5%).{{cite web |title=Members of the Senate |url=https://malegislature.gov/People/Senate |publisher=Massachusetts Senate |access-date=January 18, 2019}} Both houses of the legislature have had Democratic majorities since the 1950s.{{cite book |last1=Hudak |first1=John |title=Presidential pork: White House influence over the distribution of federal grants |date=2014 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=Brookings Institution Press |isbn=978-0-8157-2520-6 |page=202 |url=https://www.brookings.edu/book/presidential-pork/ |access-date=December 4, 2022}}

Despite the state's Democratic-leaning tendency, Massachusetts has generally elected Republicans as Governor: only two Democrats (Deval Patrick and Maura Healey) have served as governor since 1991, and among gubernatorial election results from 2002 to 2022, Republican nominees garnered 48.4% of the vote compared to 45.7% for Democratic nominees.{{cite web|author=Leip, David|title=General Election Results—Massachusetts|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/|access-date=November 18, 2016|publisher=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections}} These have been considered to be among the most moderate Republican leaders in the nation;{{cite news |last=Gordon |first=Meryl |title=Weld at Heart |url=http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/politics/national/features/5574/ |newspaper=New York |date=January 14, 2002 |access-date=May 23, 2010}}{{cite news |last=Vennochi |first=Joan |title=Romney's liberal shadow |url=http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/06/17/romneys_liberal_shadow/ |newspaper=The Boston Globe |date=June 17, 2007 |access-date=May 23, 2010}} they have received higher net favorability ratings from the state's Democrats than Republicans.{{Cite web|title=Mass. GOP Voters Like Trump More Than Their Republican Governors|url=https://www.wbur.org/news/2020/03/02/charlie-baker-trump-republicans-poll|access-date=December 5, 2020|website=wbur.org|date=March 2, 2020 }}

A number of contemporary national political issues have been influenced by events in Massachusetts, such as the decision in 2003 by the state Supreme Judicial Court allowing same-sex marriage{{cite news |title=Same-sex couples ready to make history in Massachusetts |publisher=CNN |date=May 17, 2004 |access-date=July 31, 2013 |url=http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/05/17/mass.gay.marriage/}} and a 2006 bill which mandated health insurance for all Massachusetts residents.{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11689698 |title=Massachusetts Makes Health Insurance Mandatory |first1=Michel |last1=Martin |first2=Judy Ann |last2=Bigby |publisher=NPR |date=July 3, 2007 |access-date=October 18, 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100122024733/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11689698 |archive-date= January 22, 2010 }} In 2008, Massachusetts voters passed an initiative decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana.{{cite web |url=http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/elepdf/2008%20Return%20of%20Votes%20Complete.pdf |title=2008 Return of Votes Complete |publisher=United States House of Representatives elections in Massachusetts, 2008 |date=December 17, 2008 |access-date=October 18, 2009 |archive-date=February 8, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160208174407/http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/elepdf/2008%20Return%20of%20Votes%20Complete.pdf }} Voters in Massachusetts also approved a ballot measure in 2012 that legalized the medical use of marijuana.{{cite web |url=http://archive.boston.com/metrodesk/2012/11/06/massachusetts-voters-approve-ballot-measure-legalize-medical-marijuana/EpDzgJGfBjnOAkoXpJwm1K/story.html |title=Massachusetts voters approve ballot measure to legalize medical marijuana |website=Boston Globe |access-date=April 13, 2013 |archive-date=April 12, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412115401/http://archive.boston.com/metrodesk/2012/11/06/massachusetts-voters-approve-ballot-measure-legalize-medical-marijuana/EpDzgJGfBjnOAkoXpJwm1K/story.html }} Following the approval of a ballot question endorsing legalization in 2016, Massachusetts began issuing licenses for the regulated sale of recreational marijuana in June 2018. The licensed sale of recreational marijuana became legal on July 1, 2018; however, the lack of state-approved testing facilities prevented the sale of any product for several weeks.{{cite news | title=Massachusetts issues first marijuana license |publisher=CommonWealth |date=June 21, 2018 |access-date=August 30, 2018 |url=https://commonwealthmagazine.org/marijuana/massachusetts-issues-first-marijuana-license/}} However, in 2020, a ballot initiative to implement Ranked-Choice Voting failed, despite being championed by many progressives.{{cite web |first1=Simón |last1=Rios |title=Voters Say 'No' To Ranked-Choice Voting In Mass. |url=https://www.wbur.org/news/2020/11/04/question-two-ranked-choice-voting-massachusetts-no |publisher=WBUR |access-date=December 27, 2020 |date=November 4, 2020}}

Massachusetts is one of the most pro-choice states in the Union. A 2014 Pew Research Center poll found that 74% of Massachusetts residents supported the right to an abortion in all/most cases, making Massachusetts the most pro-choice state in the United States.{{Cite web|title=Religion in America: U.S. Religious Data, Demographics and Statistics|url=https://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/compare/views-about-abortion/by/state/|access-date=April 17, 2021|website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project}}

In 2020, the state legislature overrode Governor Charlie Baker's veto of the ROE Act, a controversial law that codified existing abortion laws in case the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, dropped the age of parental consent for those seeking an abortion from 18 to 16, and legalized abortion after 24 weeks, if a fetus had fatal anomalies, or "to preserve the patient's physical or mental health."{{Cite news|title=Massachusetts Senate Overrides Veto, Passes Law Expanding Abortion Access|url=https://www.npr.org/2020/12/29/951259506/massachusetts-senate-overrides-veto-passes-law-expanding-abortion-access|access-date=January 11, 2021|website=NPR|date=December 29, 2020|last1=Romo|first1=Vanessa}}

The 2023 American Values Atlas by Public Religion Research Institute found that same-sex marriage is supported near-universally by Massachusettsans.{{Cite web |last=Staff |date=February 24, 2023 |title=American Values Atlas: Approval of Same-Sex Marriage in Massachusetts |url=https://ava.prri.org/#lgbt/2022/States/lgbt_ssm/m/US-MA |access-date=April 12, 2023 |website=Public Religion Research Institute}}

{{Main|Government of Massachusetts#County_government|Government of Massachusetts#Municipal_government|l1 = Government of Massachusetts § County Government|l2 = Government of Massachusetts § Municipal Government}}

As of 2023,{{cite web |url=https://www.mma.org/local-government-101/ |title=Local Government 101 |author=John Ouellette |publisher=Massachusetts Municipal Association |date=September 19, 2023}} there are 292 towns and 59 cities in Massachusetts. Over time, many towns have voted to become cities; 14 municipalities still refer to themselves as "towns" even though they have a city form of government.

There are 50 cities and 301 towns in Massachusetts, grouped into 14 counties.{{cite web |url=http://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cisctlist/ctlistidx.htm |title=Information and Historical Data on Cities, Towns, and Counties in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts |publisher=Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth |access-date=June 8, 2010}} The fourteen counties, moving roughly from west to east, are Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire, Hampden, Worcester, Middlesex, Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Bristol, Plymouth, Barnstable, Dukes, and Nantucket. Eleven communities which call themselves "towns" are, by law, cities since they have traded the town meeting form of government for a mayor-council or manager-council form.See Administrative divisions of Massachusetts#The city/town distinction.

Boston is the state capital in Massachusetts. The population of the city proper is 692,600,{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/bostoncitymassachusetts/PST045219|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200515190433/https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/bostoncitymassachusetts/PST045219|archive-date=May 15, 2020|title=Quick Facts: Boston, Massachusetts|date=July 1, 2019|website=U.S. Census Bureau|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=June 13, 2020}} and Greater Boston, with a population of 4,873,019, is the 11th largest metropolitan area in the nation.{{cite web |last1=Thomas |first1=G. Scott |title=Boston's population stays flat, but still ranks as 11th-largest in U.S. (BBJ DataCenter) |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/blog/bbj_research_alert/2012/11/bostons-population-stays-flat-but.html?page=all |website=American City Business Journals |access-date=May 4, 2015}} Other cities with a population over 100,000 include Worcester, Springfield, Lowell, Cambridge, Brockton, Quincy, New Bedford, and Lynn. Plymouth is the largest municipality in the state by land area, followed by Middleborough.

Massachusetts, along with the five other New England states, features the local governmental structure known as the New England town.{{sfn|Sokolow|1997|pp=293–6}} In this structure, incorporated towns—as opposed to townships or counties—hold many of the responsibilities and powers of local government.{{Sfn|Sokolow|1997|pp=293–6}} Most of the county governments were abolished by the state of Massachusetts beginning in 1997 including Middlesex County,{{cite web |title=Massachusetts Facts Part One: Concise Facts |url=http://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cismaf/mf1b.htm |publisher=Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth |access-date=May 4, 2015}} the largest county in the state by population.{{cite web |title=Massachusetts Population by County |url=http://www.indexmundi.com/facts/united-states/quick-facts/massachusetts/population#map |publisher=indexmundi.com |access-date=May 4, 2015}}{{cite web |title=Middlesex County, Massachusetts |url=https://www.census.gov |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=May 4, 2015 }} The voters of these now-defunct counties elect only Sheriffs and Registers of Deeds, who are part of the state government. Other counties have been reorganized, and a few still retain county councils.{{cite web |url=http://lwvma.org/your-government/counties/ |title=Massachusetts Government: County Government |date=December 9, 2012 |publisher=League of Women Voters |access-date=October 2, 2014}}

{{Largest cities

| country = Massachusetts

| stat_ref = Source:{{cite web|url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/usa/cities/massachusetts/|title=Largest Cities by population|date=July 1, 2021|publisher=2021 U.S. Census Bureau|access-date=April 28, 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/plymouthtownplymouthcountymassachusetts/PST045222|title=Quick Facts: Plymouth town, Massachusetts|date=July 1, 2021|publisher=2021 U.S. Census Bureau|access-date=April 28, 2023}}

| list_by_pop =

| div_name =

| div_link = Counties of Massachusetts{{!}}County

| city_1 = Boston, Massachusetts{{!}}Boston

| div_1 = Suffolk County, Massachusetts{{!}}Suffolk

| pop_1 = 653,833

| img_1 = Boston skyline from Longfellow Bridge September 2017 panorama 2.jpg

| city_2 = Worcester, Massachusetts{{!}}Worcester

| div_2 = Worcester County, Massachusetts{{!}}Worcester

| pop_2 = 207,621

| img_2 = Downtown Worcester 2.jpg

| city_3 = Springfield, Massachusetts{{!}}Springfield

| div_3 = Hampden County, Massachusetts{{!}}Hampden

| pop_3 = 153,672

| img_3 = Downtown Springfield, MA.jpg

| city_4 = Cambridge, Massachusetts{{!}}Cambridge

| div_4 = Middlesex County, Massachusetts{{!}}Middlesex

| img_4 = Cambridge Skyline.jpg

| pop_4 = 118,214

| city_5 = Lowell, Massachusetts{{!}}Lowell

| div_5 = Middlesex County, Massachusetts{{!}}Middlesex

| pop_5 = 114,296

| img_5 =

| city_6 = Brockton, Massachusetts{{!}}Brockton

| div_6 = Plymouth County, Massachusetts{{!}}Plymouth

| pop_6 = 104,890

| img_6 =

| city_7 = Lynn, Massachusetts{{!}}Lynn

| div_7 = Essex County, Massachusetts{{!}}Essex

| pop_7 = 101,241

| img_7 =

| city_8 = Quincy, Massachusetts{{!}}Quincy

| div_8 = Norfolk County, Massachusetts{{!}}Norfolk

| pop_8 = 101,597

| img_8 =

| city_9 = New Bedford, Massachusetts{{!}}New Bedford

| div_9 = Bristol County, Massachusetts{{!}}Bristol

| pop_9 = 100,695

| img_9 =

| city_10 = Fall River, Massachusetts{{!}}Fall River

| div_10 = Bristol County, Massachusetts{{!}}Bristol

| pop_10 = 93,840

| img_10 =

| city_11 = Lawrence, Massachusetts{{!}}Lawrence

| div_11 = Essex County, Massachusetts{{!}}Essex

| pop_11 = 88,172

| img_11 =

| city_12 = Newton, Massachusetts{{!}}Newton

| div_12 = Middlesex County, Massachusetts{{!}}Middlesex

| pop_12 = 88,415

| img_12 =

| city_13 = Somerville, Massachusetts{{!}}Somerville

| div_13 = Middlesex County, Massachusetts{{!}}Middlesex

| pop_13 = 80,407

| img_13 =

| city_14 = Framingham, Massachusetts{{!}}Framingham

| div_14 = Middlesex County, Massachusetts{{!}}Middlesex

| pop_14 = 71,875

| img_14 =

| city_15 = Haverhill, Massachusetts{{!}}Haverhill

| div_15 = Essex County, Massachusetts{{!}}Essex

| pop_15 = 67,415

| img_15 =

| city_16 = Malden, Massachusetts{{!}}Malden

| div_16 = Middlesex County, Massachusetts{{!}}Middlesex

| pop_16 = 65,133

| img_16 =

| city_17 = Waltham, Massachusetts{{!}}Waltham

| div_17 = Middlesex County, Massachusetts{{!}}Middlesex

| pop_17 = 64,447

| img_17 =

| city_18 = Brookline, Massachusetts{{!}}Brookline

| div_18 = Norfolk County, Massachusetts{{!}}Norfolk

| pop_18 = 62,962

| img_18 =

| city_19 = Plymouth, Massachusetts{{!}}Plymouth

| div_19 = Plymouth County, Massachusetts{{!}}Plymouth

| pop_19 = 65,405

| img_19 =

| city_20 = Taunton, Massachusetts{{!}}Taunton

| div_20 = Bristol County, Massachusetts{{!}}Bristol

| pop_20 = 60,412

| img_20 =

}}

File:Site of Thoreau's cabin.JPG's cabin is at Walden Pond in Concord.]]

File:The Clark Art Institute - Tadao Ando.jpg.]]

Massachusetts has contributed to American arts and culture. Drawing from its Native American and Yankee roots, along with later immigrant groups, Massachusetts has had several writers, artists, and musicians. It has major museums and important historical sites, and the state's history and heritage are celebrated by events and festivals.{{cite web |title=History Museums |date=June 3, 2013 |url=http://www.massvacation.com/explore/history/history-museums/ |publisher=Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism |access-date=May 6, 2015}}

Massachusetts became an early center of the Transcendentalist movement, which emphasized intuition, emotion, human individuality and a deeper connection with nature.{{sfn|Goldfield|Abbott|Anderson|Argersinger|1998|p=254}} Ralph Waldo Emerson, who was born in Boston but spent much of his later life in Concord, largely created the philosophy with his 1836 work Nature, and continued to be a key figure in the movement for the remainder of his life. Emerson's friend, Henry David Thoreau, who was also involved in Transcendentalism, recorded his year spent alone in a small cabin at nearby Walden Pond in the 1854 work Walden; or, Life in the Woods.{{cite web |title=Walden Pond State Reservation |date=April 9, 2013 |url=http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr/massparks/region-north/walden-pond-state-reservation.html |publisher=Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs |access-date=May 6, 2015}}

Other famous authors and poets born or strongly associated with Massachusetts include Anne Bradstreet, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Louisa May Alcott, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Edith Wharton, e.e. cummings, Herman Melville, W.E.B. Du Bois, Sylvia Plath, Elizabeth Bishop, John Updike, Anne Sexton, H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, Helen Hunt Jackson, Khalil Gibran, Mary Higgins Clark, Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Jack Kerouac and Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as "Dr. Seuss".{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/long/historyculture/henry-wadsworth-longfellow.htm |title=Henry Wadsworth Longfellow |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=May 30, 2010}}{{cite web |title=Details—Sunday—Massachusetts |publisher=Academy of American Poets |access-date=May 29, 2010 |url=http://www.poets.org/state.php/varState/MA}}{{cite web |url=http://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cismaf/mf4.htm |title=Miscellaneous Massachusetts Facts |publisher=Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth |access-date=May 30, 2010}} Famous painters from Massachusetts include Winslow Homer and Norman Rockwell; many of the latter's works are on display at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge.{{cite web |title=Norman Rockewell Museum of Vermont |url=http://www.normanrockwellvt.com/ |publisher=Norman Rockwell Museum of Vermont |access-date=May 6, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150503193330/http://normanrockwellvt.com/ |archive-date=May 3, 2015 }}

File:InsideOutStage.jpg in Becket.]]

Massachusetts is an important center for the performing arts. It has the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops Orchestra{{cite web |url=http://www.massvacation.com/arts/music.php |title=Music |publisher=Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism |access-date=May 29, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101010133331/http://massvacation.com/arts/music.php |archive-date=October 10, 2010 }} the Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra in Barnstable, the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra,{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbsymphony.org/mission-history|title=Mission | History|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207072244/https://www.nbsymphony.org/mission-history|archive-date=February 7, 2019 }} and the Springfield Symphony Orchestra.{{cite web |url=http://www.capesymphony.org/cape-symphony-orchestra-the-ccso.asp |title=About the Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra |publisher=Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra |access-date=June 5, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203011311/http://www.capesymphony.org/cape-symphony-orchestra-the-ccso.asp |archive-date=December 3, 2010 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.springfieldsymphony.org/about/history.shtml |title=Our History |publisher=Springfield Symphony Orchestra |access-date=June 5, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100418215808/http://www.springfieldsymphony.org/about/history.shtml |archive-date=April 18, 2010 }} Tanglewood in western Massachusetts is a music venue that hosts the Tanglewood Music Festival and Tanglewood Jazz Festival, and is the annual host for the Boston Symphony Orchestra.{{cite web |url=http://www.massvacation.com/westernMass/arts.php |title=Arts |location=MA, US |publisher=Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism |access-date=May 30, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100103194144/http://massvacation.com/westernMass/arts.php |archive-date=January 3, 2010 }}

Other performing arts and theater organizations include the Boston Ballet, the Boston Lyric Opera, and the Lenox-based Shakespeare & Company. Massachusetts has produced musicians of many contemporary genres, such as the classic rock bands Aerosmith and Boston, the proto-punk band the Modern Lovers, the new wave band the Cars, and the alternative rock band Pixies.{{cite news |last=Leddy |first=Charles 'Chuck' |title=Rocking history lesson shows city was in a class by itself |url=http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2008/01/10/rocking_history_lesson_shows_city_was_in_a_class_by_itself/ |newspaper=The Boston Globe |date=January 10, 2008 |access-date=May 29, 2010}} The state has also been the birthplace of the rock bands Staind, Godsmack, and Highly Suspect, since these bands all were formed in Massachusetts cities such Springfield, Lawrence, and Cape Cod respectively.{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/staind-mn0000178799/biography|title=Staind | Biography & History|website=AllMusic}}{{Cite web|title=Godsmack {{!}} Biography & History|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/godsmack-mn0000665860/biography|access-date=January 14, 2021|website=AllMusic}}{{Cite web |last=Race |first=Victoria |date=September 30, 2015 |title=Interview – Highly Suspect |url=https://kryptonitemusic.com/2015/09/30/interview-highly-suspect/ |access-date=July 20, 2022 |website=Kryptonite Music Magazine |language=en}} Film events in the state include the Boston Film Festival, the Boston International Film Festival, and a number of smaller film festivals in various cities throughout Massachusetts.{{cite web |url=http://www.massvacation.com/arts/filmfestivals.php |title=Film Festivals |location=MA, US |publisher=Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism |access-date=May 29, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101010112315/http://massvacation.com/arts/filmfestivals.php |archive-date=October 10, 2010 }}

File:USS Constitution salutes Bataan 2005.jpg fires a salute during its annual Fourth of July turnaround cruise.]]

File:OldShipEntrance.jpg in Hingham was built in 1681, and is the oldest church in America in continuous ecclesiastical use.{{cite news |last=Butterfield |first=Fox |title=The Perfect New England Town |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/14/travel/the-perfect-new-england-village.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=May 14, 1989 |access-date=May 30, 2010}} The Massachusetts population has since become one of the most irreligious of US states.{{cite web|url=http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/02/29/how-religious-is-your-state/?state=alabama|title=How religious is your state?|author= Michael Lipka and Benjamin Wormald|publisher=Pew research center|date=February 29, 2016|access-date=May 5, 2018}}]]

Massachusetts has many museums and historical sites, including the Clark Art Institute, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, and the DeCordova contemporary art and sculpture museum in Lincoln,{{cite web |url=http://www.cityofboston.gov/visitors/museums.asp |title=Museums |publisher=City of Boston |access-date=May 29, 2010}} and the Maria Mitchell Association in Nantucket includes several observatories, museums, and an aquarium.{{cite web |title=Art Museums |publisher=Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism |access-date=May 29, 2010 |url=http://www.massvacation.com/arts/art-museums.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101010124413/http://massvacation.com/arts/art-museums.php |archive-date=October 10, 2010 }} Historically themed museums and sites such as the Springfield Armory National Historic Site in Springfield, Boston's Freedom Trail, and nearby Minute Man National Historical Park, both of which preserve many sites important during the American Revolution,{{cite web |title=Places To Go |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=December 30, 2009 |url=http://www.nps.gov/bost/planyourvisit/placestogo.htm}} the Lowell National Historical Park, which focuses on some of the earliest mills and canals of the Industrial Revolution in the US, the Black Heritage Trail in Boston, which includes important African-American and abolitionist sites in Boston,{{cite web |url=http://www.afroammuseum.org/trail.htm |title=Black Heritage Trail |publisher=Museum of African American History |access-date=May 29, 2010 |archive-date=July 2, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100702194503/http://www.afroammuseum.org/trail.htm }} and the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park all showcase various periods of Massachusetts's history. Plymouth Rock, marks the disembarkation site of the Mayflower Pilgrims who founded Plymouth Colony in December 1620.

Plimoth Patuxet Museums and Old Sturbridge Village are two open-air or "living" museums in Massachusetts, recreating life as it was in the 17th and early 19th centuries, respectively.{{cite web |title=About Plimoth Plantation |publisher=Plimoth Plantation |access-date=May 29, 2010 |url=http://www.plimoth.org/about/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100526084752/http://www.plimoth.org/about/ |archive-date=May 26, 2010 }}{{cite web |title=Old Sturbridge Village |url=https://www.osv.org/ |publisher=Old Sturbridge Village |access-date=May 7, 2015}}

File:NE Flag red.jpg states. New Englander culture and identity remains strong in Massachusetts (Flag of New England pictured above).{{cite web|url=http://news.uconn.edu/2004/May/rel04062.htm|title=UConn Poll: New Englanders & Regional Identity|website=news.uconn.edu|access-date=July 25, 2019|archive-date=June 13, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613221628/http://news.uconn.edu/2004/May/rel04062.htm}}]]

Boston's annual St. Patrick's Day parade and "Harborfest", a week-long Fourth of July celebration featuring a fireworks display and concert by the Boston Pops as well as a turnaround cruise in Boston Harbor by the USS Constitution, are popular events.{{cite news |last1=Siddiqui |first1=Faiz |last2=Ellement |first2=John R. |last3=Finucane |first3=Martin |title=Boston plans to hold Fourth of July celebrations Thursday |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/07/02/organizers-meet-today-decide-whether-hold-rehearsal-concert-esplanade/hAEMRvOxUOfuSGYQPNkqYO/story.html |access-date=May 7, 2015 |work=The Boston Globe |date=July 2, 2014}} The New England Summer Nationals, an auto show in Worcester, draws tens of thousands of attendees every year.{{cite web |last=Kush |first=Bronislaus B |url=http://www.telegram.com/article/20100703/NEWS/7030347/1003/NEWS03 |title=Summer Nationals Weekend Revs Up |access-date=March 15, 2011 |website=Worcester Telegram |archive-date=July 16, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716205618/http://www.telegram.com/article/20100703/NEWS/7030347/1003/NEWS03 }} The Boston Marathon is also a popular event in the state drawing more than 30,000 runners and tens of thousands of spectators annually.{{cite web |title=A Spectator's Guide To The 2015 Boston Marathon |date=April 20, 2015 |url=http://www.wbur.org/2015/04/18/spectators-guide-boston-marathon |publisher=WBUR-FM |access-date=May 8, 2015}}

Long-distance hiking trails in Massachusetts include the Appalachian Trail, the New England National Scenic Trail, the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail, the Midstate Trail, and the Bay Circuit Trail.{{cite web |url=http://www.outdoors.org/conservation/wherewework/southernnewengland/index.cfm |title=Southern New England |publisher=Appalachian Mountain Club |access-date=June 2, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100803013221/http://www.outdoors.org/conservation/wherewework/southernnewengland/index.cfm |archive-date=August 3, 2010 }} Other outdoor recreational activities in Massachusetts include sailing and yachting, freshwater and deep-sea fishing,{{cite web |url=http://www.massvacation.com/outdoor/fishing.php |title=Fishing & charters |publisher=Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism |access-date=June 5, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101006100627/http://massvacation.com/outdoor/fishing.php |archive-date=October 6, 2010 }} whale watching,{{cite web |url=http://www.massvacation.com/outdoor/whale-watching.php |title=Whale watching |publisher=Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism |access-date=June 5, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101006105604/http://massvacation.com/outdoor/whale-watching.php |archive-date=October 6, 2010 }} downhill and cross-country skiing,{{cite web |url=http://www.massvacation.com/outdoor/skiing-snowboarding.php |title=Skiing/snowboarding |publisher=Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism |access-date=June 5, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100308101738/http://massvacation.com/outdoor/skiing-snowboarding.php |archive-date=March 8, 2010 }} and hunting.{{cite web |title=Hunting |url=http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr/massparks/recreational-activities/hunting.html |publisher=Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs |access-date=May 7, 2015}}

Massachusetts is one of the states with the largest percentage of Catholics. It has many sanctuaries such as the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy (Stockbridge, Massachusetts).{{cite web|url=https://religioustravelplanningguide.com/10-top-catholic-shrines-in-the-u-s/|title=10 Top Catholic Shrines in the U.S.|date=February 15, 2012|access-date=January 1, 2020|archive-date=October 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201018134422/https://religioustravelplanningguide.com/10-top-catholic-shrines-in-the-u-s/}}

{{See also|List of television stations in Massachusetts|List of newspapers in Massachusetts|List of radio stations in Massachusetts}}

There are two major television media markets located in Massachusetts. The Boston/Manchester market is the fifth-largest in the United States.{{cite web |year=2005 |url=http://www.nielsenmedia.com/DMAs.html |title=Nielson Media Research Local Universe Estimates (US) |access-date=May 27, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060517010320/http://www.nielsenmedia.com/DMAs.html |archive-date=May 17, 2006}} The other market surrounds the Springfield area.{{cite web |title=Springfield—Holyoke TV Channels |url=http://www.stationindex.com/tv/markets/springfield-holyoke |publisher=Station Index |access-date=May 7, 2015}} WGBH-TV in Boston is a major public television station and produces national programs such as Nova, Frontline, and American Experience.{{cite web |url=http://www.wgbh.org/about/index.cfm |title=WGBH—About Us |publisher=WGBH-TV |access-date=May 27, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130305145846/http://www.wgbh.org/about/index.cfm |archive-date=March 5, 2013 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.wgbh.org/programs/programDetail.cfm?programid=97 |title=American Experience |publisher=WGBH-TV |access-date=May 27, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100506075722/http://www.wgbh.org/programs/programDetail.cfm?programid=97 |archive-date=May 6, 2010 }}

The Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Springfield Republican, and the Worcester Telegram & Gazette are Massachusetts's largest daily newspapers.{{cite web |url=http://abcas3.accessabc.com/ecirc/newsform.asp |title=US Newspaper—Search Results (Massachusetts) |publisher=Audit Bureau of Circulations |access-date=May 25, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101001095406/http://abcas3.accessabc.com/ecirc/newsform.asp |archive-date=October 1, 2010 }} In addition, there are many community dailies and weeklies. The Associated Press maintains a bureau in Boston, and local news wire the State House News Service feeds coverage of state government to other Massachusetts media outlets. There are a number of major AM and FM stations which serve Massachusetts,{{cite web |url=http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/fmq?state=MA&call=&city=&arn=&serv=&vac=&freq=0.0&fre2=107.9&facid=&class=&dkt=&list=1&dist=&dlat2=&mlat2=&slat2=&NS=N&dlon2=&mlon2=&slon2=&EW=W&size=9 |title=FM Query Results (Massachusetts) |publisher=Federal Communications Commission |access-date=May 27, 2010}} along with many more regional and community-based stations. Some colleges and universities also operate campus television and radio stations, and print their own newspapers.{{cite web |title=General |publisher=WZBC |access-date=May 27, 2010 |url=http://www.wzbc.org/about.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528232500/http://www.wzbc.org/about.html |archive-date=May 28, 2010 }}{{cite web |title=About |newspaper=Harvard Crimson |access-date=May 27, 2010 |url=http://www.thecrimson.com/about/}}{{cite web |title=About the BU Literary Society and Clarion |publisher=Boston University |access-date=May 27, 2010 |url=http://www.bu.edu/clarion/about.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100508003510/http://www.bu.edu/clarion/about.htm |archive-date=May 8, 2010 }}

{{See also|List of hospitals in Massachusetts|Massachusetts health care reform|Governorship of Mitt Romney#Health care}}

File:Healthcare Costs in Massachusetts - Averaged by Medicare Reimbursements per Enrollee.png

Massachusetts generally ranks highly among states in most health and disease prevention categories. In 2015, the United Health Foundation ranked the state as third-healthiest overall.{{cite news |title=2015 Annual Report |url=https://www.americashealthrankings.org/learn/reports/2015-annual-report |newspaper=America's Health Rankings |access-date=February 8, 2018}} Massachusetts has the most doctors per 100,000 residents (435.38),{{cite web |last1=The National Center for Biotechnology Information |title=Number of physicians in patient care per 100,000 resident population, by state: United States, 2018 |url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK569310/table/ch2.tab16/?report=objectonly |website=Chartbook - Health, United States, 2019 |publisher=United States National Library of Medicine |access-date=June 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220619205147/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK569310/table/ch2.tab16/?report=objectonly |archive-date=June 19, 2022 |location=National Institutes of Health |format=Web page |year=2019}}{{cite web |title=Doctors per 100,000 Resident Population, 2007 |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=October 24, 2010 |url=https://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2010/ranks/rank18.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101016214542/http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2010/ranks/rank18.html |archive-date=October 16, 2010 }} the second-lowest infant mortality rate (3.8),{{cite web |last1=National Center for Health Statistics |title=Massachusetts |url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/states/massachusetts/ma.htm |website=Key Health Indicators |publisher=CDC |access-date=June 19, 2022 |date=February 16, 2022 |quote=All 2020 data are final. 2020 birth data come from the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) via CDC WONDER; 2020 death data, including leading causes of death, firearm mortality, homicide, drug overdose mortality, and infant mortality, come from the NVSS via CDC WONDER and rankings and rates are based on 2020 age-adjusted death rates. For more information on age-adjustment, refer to this reportpdf icon. Where ranked, states are categorized from highest rate to lowest rate. Although adjusted for variations in age-distribution and population size, differences by state do not take into account other state specific population characteristics that may affect the level of the birth characteristic or mortality. When the number of deaths or births events is small, differences by state may be unreliable due to instability in rates. When the number of deaths is small, rankings by state may be unreliable due to instability in death rates.}}{{cite web |title=Infant Mortality Rate, 2006 |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=October 24, 2010 |url=https://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2010/ranks/rank17.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101016214511/http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2010/ranks/rank17.html |archive-date=October 16, 2010 }} and the lowest percentage of uninsured residents (children as well as the total population).{{cite web |last1=Kaiser Family Foundation |title=Health Insurance Coverage of Children 0-18, 2019 |url=https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/children-0-18/?currentTimeframe=0&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Uninsured%22,%22sort%22:%22desc%22%7D |website=kff.org |access-date=June 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170509101229/https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/children-0-18/?currentTimeframe=0&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Uninsured%22,%22sort%22:%22desc%22%7D |archive-date=May 9, 2017 |location=San Francisco |year=2022 |quote=For more current data using the Current Population Survey, see Health Insurance Coverage of Children 0-18 (CPS). The majority of KFF health coverage topics are based on analysis of the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) by KFF. 2008-2019 American Community Survey, 1-Year Estimates includes a 1% sample of the US population and allows for precise state-level estimates. The ACS asks respondents about their health insurance coverage at the time of the survey. Respondents may report having more than one type of coverage; however, individuals are sorted into only one category of insurance coverage. See definitions on web page for more detail on coverage type.}}{{cite web |last1=Kaiser Family Foundation |title=Health Insurance Coverage of the Total Population (CPS) |url=https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/health-insurance-coverage-of-the-total-population-cps/?currentTimeframe=0&selectedDistributions=uninsured&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Uninsured%22,%22sort%22:%22desc%22%7D |website=kff.org |date=September 21, 2021 |access-date=June 19, 2022 |location=San Francisco |quote=For 2020, the majority of KFF health coverage topics are based on analysis of the Census Bureau's March Supplement to the Current Population Survey (the CPS Annual Social and Economic Supplement or ASEC). Previously, KFF source for these data was the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS); however, release of the ACS data has been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Although health coverage and population estimates using ACS are still available for 2008-2019, the 2020 data from CPS cannot be compared to prior year estimates from ACS. Due to known data quality issues with the 2019 CPS ASEC data, which was collected in March 2020 just at the onset of the pandemic and experienced low response rates, KFF have chosen not to report the 2019 data. KFF provide trend data for 2016, 2018, and 2020 using the CPS.}}{{cite web |title=Persons With and Without Health Insurance Coverage by State: 2007 |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=October 24, 2010 |url=https://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2010/tables/10s0150.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101016120337/http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2010/tables/10s0150.pdf |archive-date=October 16, 2010 }} According to Business Insider, commonwealth residents have an average life expectancy of 80.41 years, the fifth-longest in the country.{{cite news |last1=Schoenberg |first1=Shira |title=Why do the rich live longer in Massachusetts? Data on life expectancy show gaps along income, racial lines |url=https://www.masslive.com/news/2018/12/why-do-the-rich-live-longer-in-massachusetts-data-on-life-expectancy-show-gaps-along-income-racial-lines.html |access-date=June 19, 2022 |work=masslive.com |publisher=Advance Local Media |date=December 17, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181218172433/https://www.masslive.com/news/2018/12/why-do-the-rich-live-longer-in-massachusetts-data-on-life-expectancy-show-gaps-along-income-racial-lines.html |archive-date=December 18, 2018}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/us-states-with-the-highest-and-lowest-life-expectancy-2017-5|title=Here's how your life expectancy varies based on which state you're born in|work=Business Insider|access-date=December 10, 2017}} 36.1% of the population is overweight and 24.4% is obese,{{cite web |last1=National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Population Health |title=BRFSS Prevalence & Trends Data |url=https://www.cdc.gov/brfss/brfssprevalence/. |website=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |access-date=June 19, 2022 |location=Atlanta |format=Online |year=2015 |quote=2020 Weight classification by Body Mass Index (BMI) (variable calculated from one or more BRFSS questions) (Crude Prevalence)}} and Massachusetts ranks sixth-highest in the percentage of residents who are considered neither obese nor overweight (39.5%). Massachusetts also ranks above average in the prevalence of binge drinking, which is the 20th-highest in the country.{{cite journal |last1=Kanny |first1=Dafna |title=Annual total binge drinks consumed by US adults, 2015 |journal=American Journal of Preventive Medicine | last2 = Naimi | first2 = Timothy S. | last3 =Liu | first3 =Yong|last4 =Lu | first4 = Hua | last5 = Brewer | first5 = Robert D. |date=April 2018 |volume=54 |issue=4 |pages=486–496 |doi=10.1016/j.amepre.2017.12.021 |pmid=29555021 |location=PubMedCentral |pmc=6075714}}{{cite news |title=Booziest states in America: Who binge drinks most? |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/booziest-states-in-america-who-binge-drinks-most/7/ |publisher=CBS News |access-date=June 18, 2022}}

The nation's first Marine Hospital was erected by federal order in Boston in 1799.{{cite journal |title=The United States Public Health and Marine-Hospital Service |journal=Journal of the American Medical Association |date=July 30, 1904 |volume=43 |issue=5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FlXlAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA326 |access-date=February 20, 2011|doi=10.1001/jama.1904.92500050002|page=326}}{{cite web |title=U.S. Marine Hospital |url=http://www.olgp.net/chs/hospital/marine.htm |publisher=Chelsea Historical Society |access-date=February 20, 2011 |archive-date=November 26, 2010 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101126111433/http://olgp.net/chs/hospital/marine.htm }} There are currently a total of 143 hospitals in the state.{{cite web |title=Massachusetts Hospitals: Directory |url=https://www.mhalink.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Hospital_Directory |publisher=Massachusetts Hospital Association |access-date=May 7, 2015 |archive-date=May 18, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518083727/https://www.mhalink.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Hospital_Directory }} According to 2015 rankings by U.S. News & World Report, Massachusetts General Hospital is ranked in the top three in two health care specialties.{{cite web|title=U.S. News Best Hospitals 2014–15 |url=http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/rankings |website=U.S. News & World Report |access-date=June 10, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301113005/http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/rankings |archive-date=March 1, 2012 }} Massachusetts General Hospital was founded in 1811 and serves as the largest teaching hospital for nearby Harvard University.{{cite web |title=Hospital Overview |publisher=Massachusetts General Hospital |access-date=October 24, 2010 |url=http://www.massgeneral.org/about/overview.aspx}}

The state of Massachusetts is a center for medical education and research including Harvard affiliates Brigham and Women's Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Dana–Farber Cancer Institute{{cite web |title=Facts and Figures: 2009–2010 |publisher=Harvard Medical School |access-date=October 25, 2010 |url=http://hms.harvard.edu/hms/facts.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305172041/http://hms.harvard.edu/hms/facts.asp |archive-date=March 5, 2012 }} as well as the New England Baptist Hospital, Tufts Medical Center, and Boston Medical Center which is the primary teaching hospital for Boston University.{{cite web|title=About Us |publisher=Boston University School of Medicine |access-date=October 25, 2010 |url=http://www.bumc.bu.edu/busm/BUSM-About.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100414101335/http://www.bumc.bu.edu/busm/BUSM-About.html |archive-date=April 14, 2010 }} The University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School is located in Worcester.{{cite web |title= UMass Chan Medical School partners with Studio Theatre Worcester for 'Next To Normal' |last1 = Lemmon | first1 = Olivia | location = Worcester | website = Spectrum News 1 |access-date= June 18, 2022|archive-date = June 19, 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220619000024/https://spectrumnews1.com/ma/worcester/news/2022/06/16/umass-chan-partnering-with-studio-theatre-worcester |url= https://spectrumnews1.com/ma/worcester/news/2022/06/16/umass-chan-partnering-with-studio-theatre-worcester}} The Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences has two of its three campuses in Boston and Worcester.{{cite web |title=Campuses |url=https://www.mcphs.edu/Campuses |publisher=MCPHS University |access-date=May 7, 2015 |archive-date=May 1, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150501172114/http://www.mcphs.edu/Campuses }}

{{Main|Sports in Massachusetts}}

File:Gillette Stadium Foxboro.jpg is the home venue for the New England Patriots (NFL) and the New England Revolution (MLS).]]

Massachusetts is home to five major league professional sports teams: eighteen-time NBA Champions Boston Celtics,{{cite web |title=Celtics History—Championship Wins |publisher=National Basketball Association |access-date=May 7, 2015 |url=http://www.nba.com/celtics/history/ChampionshipWins.html}} nine-time World Series winners Boston Red Sox,{{cite web|title=MLB World Series Winners |publisher=ESPN |access-date=May 7, 2015 |url=https://www.espn.com/mlb/worldseries/history/winners |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101101122907/http://espn.go.com/mlb/worldseries/history/winners |archive-date=November 1, 2010 }} six-time Stanley Cup winners Boston Bruins,{{cite web |title=Stanley Cup Winners |publisher=Hockey Hall of Fame |access-date=May 7, 2015 |url=http://www.legendsofhockey.net/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SilverwareTrophyWinners.jsp?tro=STC}} six-time Super Bowl winners New England Patriots,{{cite web |title=Super Bowl History |publisher=National Football League |access-date=May 7, 2015 |url=http://www.nfl.com/superbowl/history}} and five-time MLS Cup finalists New England Revolution.{{Cite web|last=Butler|first=Dylan|date=December 6, 2020|title=New England Revolution ownership committed to Boston-area home: "We want to build the stadium"|url=https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/new-england-revolution-ownership-committed-boston-area-home-we-want-build-stadiu|access-date=August 8, 2021|website=Major League Soccer|language=en}}

In the late 19th century, the Olympic sports of basketball{{cite web |title=Springfield College: The Birthplace of Basketball |url=http://www.springfieldcollege.edu/welcome/birthplace-of-basketball/#.VTa-7CFVhBc |publisher=Springfieldcollege.edu |access-date=April 21, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150504211534/http://www.springfieldcollege.edu/welcome/birthplace-of-basketball/#.VTa-7CFVhBc |archive-date=May 4, 2015 }} and volleyball{{cite web |title=The International Volleyball Hall of Fame |url=http://www.volleyhall.org/about-us.html |publisher=Volleyball.org |access-date=April 21, 2015}} were invented in the Western Massachusetts cities of Springfield and Holyoke, respectively. The Basketball Hall of Fame is a major tourist destination in the City of Springfield and the Volleyball Hall of Fame is located in Holyoke. The American Hockey League (AHL), the NHL's development league, is headquartered in Springfield.{{cite web |title=AHL Staff Directory |url=http://theahl.com/staff-directory-p137544 |publisher=American Hockey League |access-date=May 7, 2015 |archive-date=March 15, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150315010801/http://theahl.com/staff-directory-p137544 }}

Several universities in Massachusetts are notable for their collegiate athletics. The state is home to two Division{{spaces}}I FBS teams, Boston College of the Atlantic Coast Conference, and FBS Independent University of Massachusetts at Amherst. FCS play includes Harvard University, which competes in the famed Ivy League, and College of the Holy Cross of the Patriot League. Boston University, Northeastern University, UMASS Lowell, Stonehill College, and Merrimack College also participate in Division{{spaces}}I athletics.{{cite web |title=College Football Teams (FBS and FCS) |publisher=ESPN |access-date=October 18, 2009 |url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/teams}}{{cite web |title=College Basketball Teams—Division I Teams |publisher=ESPN |access-date=October 18, 2009 |url=https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/teams}} Many other Massachusetts colleges compete in lower divisions such as Division{{spaces}}III, where MIT, Tufts University, Amherst College, Williams College, and others field competitive teams.{{cite web |title=NCAA Directory - Directory - Member Listing |url=https://web3.ncaa.org/directory/memberList?type=12&division=III |website=web3.ncaa.org |access-date=December 4, 2022}}

Massachusetts is also the home of rowing events such as the Eastern Sprints on Lake Quinsigamond and the Head of the Charles Regatta.{{cite web |title=Cornell Rowing Excels at Eastern Sprints |publisher=Cornell University |access-date=June 6, 2010 |url=http://cornellbigred.com/news/2010/5/16/MROW_0516105419.aspx}} A number of major golf events have taken place in Massachusetts, including nine U.S. Opens and two Ryder Cups.{{cite web |title=2009 U.S. Open—Past Champions |publisher=United States Golf Association |access-date=October 21, 2009 |url=http://usga.usopen.com/2009/history/past-champions.html |archive-date=August 31, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090831040023/http://usga.usopen.com/2009/history/past-champions.html }}{{cite web |title=Deutsche Bank Championship |publisher=Professional Golfers' Association of America |access-date=October 21, 2009 |url=http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/r505/ |archive-date=September 24, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090924225531/http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/r505/ }}

Massachusetts has produced several successful Olympians including Thomas Burke, James Connolly, and John Thomas (track and field); Butch Johnson (archery); Nancy Kerrigan (figure skating); Todd Richards (snowboarding); Albina Osipowich (swimming); Aly Raisman (gymnastics); Patrick Ewing (basketball); Stephen Nedoroscik (pommel horse); as well as Jim Craig, Mike Eruzione, Bill Cleary, Keith Tkachuk (ice hockey).{{cite web |title=25 Olympians from Massachusetts |url=http://www.golocalworcester.com/sports/top-25-olympic-athletes-from-massachusetts |publisher=GoLocalWorcester |access-date=May 7, 2015}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.masslive.com/sports/2017/05/ranking_the_top_50_athletes_fr.html|title=Ranking the Top 50 Athletes from Massachusetts|date=May 30, 2017}}

• Administrative divisions of Massachusetts
• Index of Massachusetts-related articles
• Outline of Massachusetts
• Massachusetts Bay Colony
• New England
• USS Massachusetts, 8 ships
• USRC Massachusetts, 2 ships
• {{portal-inline|Massachusetts}}

{{notelist}}

{{reflist|group=note}}

{{reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite journal |last1=Barth |first1=Jonathan Edward |year=2014 |title='A Peculiar Stampe of Our Owne': The Massachusetts Mint and the Battle over Sovereignty, 1652-1691 |journal=The New England Quarterly |volume=87 |issue=3 |pages=490–525 |doi=10.1162/TNEQ_a_00396 |jstor=43285101|hdl=2286/R.I.26592 |s2cid=57571000 |hdl-access=free }}
• {{cite book |title=New England's Outpost: Acadia Before the Conquest of Canada |last1=Brebner |first1=John Bartlet |year=1927 |publisher=Columbia University Press |location=New York, NY |author-link=John Bartlet Brebner |isbn=978-0-7812-6367-2}}
• {{cite book |title=Anthropology and Migration:Essays on Transnational Ethnicity and Identity |last1=Brettell |first1=Caroline |year=2003 |publisher=AltaMira Press |location=Walnut Creek, CA |isbn=978-0-7591-0320-7}}
• {{cite book |title=Massachusetts: A Concise History |url=https://archive.org/details/massachusettscon00brow |url-access=registration |last1=Brown |first1=Richard D |last2=Tager |first2=Jack |year=2000 |publisher=University of Massachusetts Press |location=Amherst, MA |isbn=978-1-55849-248-6}}
• {{cite book |last1=Dejnozka |first1=Edward L |last2=Gifford |first2=Charles S |last3=Kapel |first3=David E |last4=Kapel |first4=Marilyn B |year=1982 |title=American Educators' Encyclopedia |url=https://archive.org/details/americaneducator0000dejn |url-access=registration |publisher=Greenwood Press |location=Westport, CT |isbn=978-0-313-20954-3}}
• {{cite book |last1=Goldfield |first1=David |last2=Abbott |first2=Carl |last3=Anderson |first3=Virginia DeJohn |last4=Argersinger |first4=Jo Ann E |last5=Argersinger |first5=Peter H |last6=Barney |first6=William L |last7=Weir |first7=Robert M |year=1998 |title=The American Journey—A History of the United States |url=https://archive.org/details/americanjourneyt00davi |url-access=registration |publisher=Prentice Hall |location=Upper Saddle River, NJ |isbn=978-0-13-656562-8}}
• {{cite book |title=Smallpox: The Fight to Eradicate a Global Scourge |last1=Koplow |first1=David A |year=2004 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley, CA |isbn=978-0-520-24220-3}}
• {{cite book |title=Handbook of Local Government Administration |last1=Sokolow |first1=Alvin D |year=1997 |publisher=Marcel Dekker |chapter=Town and Township Government: Serving Rural and Suburban Communities |location=New York, NY |isbn=978-0-8247-9782-9}}

{{refend}}

• Hall, Donald. ed. The Encyclopedia of New England (2005)
• Works Progress Administration. Guide to Massachusetts (1939)

• Abrams, Richard M. Conservatism in a Progressive Era: Massachusetts Politics, 1900–1912 (1964)
• Adams, James Truslow. Revolutionary New England, 1691–1776 (1923)
• Adams, James Truslow. New England in the Republic, 1776–1850 (1926)
• Andrews, Charles M. The Fathers of New England: A Chronicle of the Puritan Commonwealths (1919), short survey
• Conforti, Joseph A. Imagining New England: Explorations of Regional Identity from the Pilgrims to the Mid-Twentieth Century (2001)
• Cumbler, John T. Reasonable Use: The People, the Environment, and the State, New England, 1790–1930 (1930), environmental history
• Fischer, David Hackett. Paul Revere's Ride (1994), 1775 in depth
• Flagg, Charles Allcott, [https://archive.org/details/aguidetomassach00flaggoog A Guide to Massachusetts local history], Salem : Salem Press Company, 1907.
• Green, James R., William F. Hartford, and Tom Juravich. Commonwealth of Toil: Chapters in the History of Massachusetts Workers and Their Unions (1996)
• Huthmacher, J. Joseph. Massachusetts People and Politics, 1919–1933 (1958)
• Labaree, Benjamin Woods. Colonial Massachusetts: A History (1979)
• Morison, Samuel Eliot. The Maritime History of Massachusetts, 1783–1860 (1921)
• Peirce, Neal R. The New England States: People, Politics, and Power in the Six New England States (1976), 1960–75 era
• Porter, Susan L. Women of the Commonwealth: Work, Family, and Social Change in Nineteenth-Century Massachusetts (1996)
• Sletcher, Michael. New England (2004).
• Starkey, Marion L. The Devil in Massachusetts (1949), Salem witches
• Tager, Jack, and John W. Ifkovic, eds. Massachusetts in the Gilded Age: Selected Essays (1985), ethnic groups
• Zimmerman, Joseph F. [https://www.questia.com/library/book/the-new-england-town-meeting-democracy-in-action-by-joseph-f-zimmerman.jsp The New England Town Meeting: Democracy in Action] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111123155020/http://www.questia.com/library/book/the-new-england-town-meeting-democracy-in-action-by-joseph-f-zimmerman.jsp |date=November 23, 2011 }} (1999)

{{Sister project links|s=Portal:Massachusetts|voy=Massachusetts|q=no}}

• {{Official website|https://www.mass.gov/}}
• [http://www.massvacation.com/ Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism]
• [https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/states/massachusetts/index.html Massachusetts State Guide] from the Library of Congress

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{{s-bef|before=Connecticut}}

{{s-ttl|title=List of U.S. states by date of admission to the Union|years=Ratified Constitution on February 6, 1788 (6th)}}

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{{Geographic location

| Northwest ={{flag|Vermont}}

| North = {{flag|New Hampshire}}

| Northeast = {{flag|New Hampshire}}
{{flag|Maine}} ({{convert|15|mi|km}} away)

| West = {{flag|New York}}

| Centre = {{flag|Massachusetts}}: Outline • Index

| East = Atlantic Ocean

| Southwest = {{flag|New Jersey}}

| South = {{flag|Connecticut}} and {{flag|Rhode Island}}

| Southeast = Cape Cod
Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Island

}}

{{Massachusetts|expanded}}

{{Government of Massachusetts}}

{{Protected areas of Massachusetts}}

{{New England}}

{{Northeast US}}

{{Thirteen Colonies}}

{{United States political divisions}}

{{Portal bar|United States|New England}}

{{Authority control}}

{{coord|42.3|-72.0|dim:200000_region:US-MA_type:adm1st|name=Commonwealth of Massachusetts|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Massachusetts, Commonwealth of}}

Category:1788 establishments in the United States

Category:Contiguous United States

Category:New England states

Category:Northeastern United States

Category:States and territories established in 1788

Category:States of the East Coast of the United States

Category:States of the United States