City · Middlesex County, Massachusetts

Watertown, Massachusetts

Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, part of the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area. It has 35,543 residents. Watertown, Massachusetts has a quality-of-life score of 98 out of 100 (very high), ranking #273 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Massachusetts it ranks #11 of 225 cities and towns. It ranks best on traffic deaths (low), average weekly wage (high) and flu vaccinations (high). It ranks worst on home price to income ratio (high), job growth (low) and time spent in the emergency room (high).

98Very high

Quality-of-life score: #273 of 15,651 cities and towns
Massachusetts: #11 of 225 in MA
Population: 35,543 (2020-2024)
Land area: 4 mi²
Density: 8,894.2 /mi²
FIPS code: 2573405

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 67 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety87#2,070/15,637
Economy72#4,405/15,631
Housing66#5,104/14,977
Health—
Healthcare98#352/15,650
Environment88#1,880/15,453
Education99#120/15,649
Infrastructure90#1,526/15,650
Community93#1,132/15,651
Leisure & amenities63#5,721/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Watertown, Massachusetts ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Middlesex County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Traffic deaths · low3.4 /100k
100/100Massachusetts 5.4 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataMiddlesex County value
Average weekly wage · high$2,278
99/100Massachusetts $1,925United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsMiddlesex County value
Flu vaccinations · high60.0%
99/100Massachusetts 55.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMiddlesex County value
Reading scores · high3.51
98/100Massachusetts 3.31United States 3.052019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMiddlesex County value
Premature death · low4,278 /100k
98/100Massachusetts 5,749 /100kUnited States 8,123 /100k2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMiddlesex County value
Mental health providers · high735 /100k
97/100Massachusetts 787 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMiddlesex County value

Weaknesses

Home price to income ratio · high6.2×
9/100Massachusetts 5.4×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Job growth · low-2.1%
12/100Massachusetts -0.9%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataMiddlesex County value
Time spent in the emergency room · high217 min
14/100Massachusetts 216 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesMiddlesex County value
Comfortable days · low23.6%
15/100Massachusetts 24.3%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationMiddlesex County value
Average commute time · high27.6 min
22/100Massachusetts 29.1 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Drought exposure · high70%
22/100Massachusetts 44%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAAMiddlesex County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

No large change over the last five years in the published series.

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

There is not enough history to compare Watertown, Massachusetts over five years.

Cities and towns like Watertown, Massachusetts five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Watertown, Massachusetts in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

No place that looked like Watertown, Massachusetts five years ago has more measures that improved than declined, with a higher standing among its peers today.

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

35,543 residents (±33)

Men
Women

80 and over
70–79
60–69
50–59
40–49
30–39
20–29
10–19
Under 10

Share of all residents, each sex

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B01001View table on data.census.gov

Race and Hispanic origin

35,543 residents (±33)

Watertown, Massachusetts
Massachusetts share

White70%25,046
Black3.8%†1,333
Hispanic or Latino6.0%2,140

Education

28,445 residents (±556)

Watertown, Massachusetts
Massachusetts share

No high school diploma4.9%1,398
High school or GED14%3,898
Some college9.3%2,654

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

16,371 households (±500)

Watertown, Massachusetts
Massachusetts share

Under $25k11%1,784
$25k–50k7.6%1,251
$50k–75k9.1%1,494
$75k–100k11%1,869
$100k–150k20%3,225
$150k–200k14%2,223
$200k or more28%4,525

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B19001View table on data.census.gov

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

16,371 households (±500)

Watertown, Massachusetts
Massachusetts share

Own48%7,814
Rent52%8,557

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B25003View table on data.census.gov

Rent paid

8,336 households (±656)

Watertown, Massachusetts
Massachusetts share

Under $7505.5%†459
$750–1,0003.5%†295
$1,000–1,5003.4%†284

Home values

7,814 homes (±564)

Watertown, Massachusetts
Massachusetts share

Under $150k1.4%†112
$150k–250k1.2%†91
$250k–400k6.3%†493

Age of homes

17,206 homes (±496)

Watertown, Massachusetts
Massachusetts share

2010 or later7.6%1,302
2000–20095.5%938
1980–19999.3%1,598
1960–1979

Size of homes

17,206 homes (±496)

Watertown, Massachusetts
Massachusetts share

Studio3.7%†640
1 bedroom17%2,946
2 bedrooms41%6,973

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

20,846 workers (±678)

Watertown, Massachusetts
Massachusetts share

Drive alone50%10,364
Carpool6.6%1,374
Public transit6.6%1,368
Walk4.4%917
Bike2.2%†454
Work from home29%6,060
Other1.5%†309

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B08301View table on data.census.gov

Time to get to work

14,786 workers (±694)

Watertown, Massachusetts
Massachusetts share

Under 15 min21%3,146
15–29 min35%5,170
30–44 min25%3,670
45–59 min

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Middlesex County, the county holding most of Watertown's residents.

Middlesex County has 44,624 employer establishments, 271 for every 10,000 residents (1.09× the US rate of 248; 1.04× Massachusetts's), with 963,417 paid employees at an average annual pay of $101,547. The Census Bureau also counts 163,384 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 44,624; 163,384 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 271; US 248 · Massachusetts 260
Paid employees: 963,417
Average annual pay: $101,547; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Middlesex County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Ambulatory health care services	3,345	20.3	0.98×About typical	54,229	$78,195	9,843
Restaurants and other eating places	3,288	20	1.09×About typical	53,034	$30,255	556
Specialty trade contractors	3,215	19.6	1.26×More than typical	32,766	$92,189	9,701
Lessors of real estate	1,820	11.1	0.90×About typical	12,934	$87,409	15,838
Construction of buildings	1,598	9.7	1.29×More than typical	9,781	$103,966	3,732
Services to buildings and dwellings	1,574	9.6	1.42×More than typical	14,990	$51,670	6,561
Building equipment contractors	1,425	8.7	1.44×More than typical	17,938	$95,525	1,843
Full-service restaurants	1,425	8.7	1.13×About typical	29,101	$33,485	197
Management, scientific and technical consulting	1,390	8.5	1.26×More than typical	15,370	$124,172	11,798
Computer systems design and related services	1,269	7.7	1.78×More than typical	24,757	$146,568	2,806
Limited-service restaurants	1,226	7.5	0.93×About typical	15,276	$27,504	258
Personal care services	1,198	7.3	1.53×More than typical	5,809	$33,392	3,649

Rank places for an industry Open Middlesex County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 1,644,193 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

No federal contract obligations recorded here in FY2026.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Watertown is mostly in Middlesex County.

See federal money in Middlesex County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Watertown, Massachusetts is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).