City · Suffolk County, Massachusetts

Winthrop Town, Massachusetts

Winthrop Town is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, part of the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area. It has 18,759 residents. Winthrop Town, Massachusetts has a quality-of-life score of 83 out of 100 (very high), ranking #2,654 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Massachusetts it ranks #134 of 225 cities and towns. It ranks best on dentists (high), distance to an airport (low) and distance to an emergency room (low). It ranks worst on child care cost burden (high), average commute time (high) and time spent in the emergency room (high).

83Very high

Quality-of-life score: #2,654 of 15,651 cities and towns
Massachusetts: #134 of 225 in MA
Population: 18,759 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 9,409.9 /mi²
FIPS code: 2581005

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 76 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.

Safety44#8,728/15,637
Economy77#3,668/15,631
Housing23#11,589/14,977
Health85#2,292/15,609
Healthcare94#891/15,650
Environment92#1,231/15,453
Education67#5,168/15,649
Infrastructure76#3,682/15,650
Community56#6,904/15,651
Leisure & amenities87#2,108/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Winthrop Town, Massachusetts ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Suffolk 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

Dentists · high252 /100k
100/100Massachusetts 111 /100kUnited States 75 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSuffolk County value
Distance to an airport · low5 mi
100/100Massachusetts 20 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauSuffolk County value
Distance to an emergency room · low1.5 mi
100/100Massachusetts 4.1 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesSuffolk County value
Distance to an Amtrak station · low3 mi
100/100Massachusetts 11 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauSuffolk County value
Average weekly wage · high$2,658
100/100Massachusetts $1,925United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsSuffolk County value
Traffic deaths · low3.5 /100k
100/100Massachusetts 5.4 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataSuffolk County value

Weaknesses

Child care cost burden · high52.6%
0/100Massachusetts 39.7%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSuffolk County value
Average commute time · high34.8 min
4/100Massachusetts 29.1 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Time spent in the emergency room · high241 min
5/100Massachusetts 216 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesSuffolk County value
Violent crime rate · high569 /100k
6/100Massachusetts 303 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationSuffolk County value
Voter turnout · low54.6%
11/100Massachusetts 68.1%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionSuffolk County value
Home price to income ratio · high5.6×
13/100Massachusetts 5.4×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077

Trends

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

Median household incomeImproving
$74,069 (2015-2019) → $116,167 (2020-2024)
+57%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
New homes permittedWorsening
5.0 /1k (2021) → 2.5 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−50%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
83.5% (2015-2019) → 92.0% (2020-2024)
+8.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
38.3% (2015-2019) → 45.6% (2020-2024)
+7.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Child poverty rateImproving
11.4% (2015-2019) → 5.2% (2020-2024)
−6.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Public transit commutersWorsening
22.7% (2015-2019) → 16.9% (2020-2024)
−5.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B08301US 5.0% → 3.2%

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.

Over about five years, Winthrop Town, Massachusetts improved on 4 of 15 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 9 moved within the margin of error and 1 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved4

Household income+57%$74,069 → $116,167
Inequality−0.0490.477 → 0.427
Bachelor's++7.3 points38.3% → 45.6%
Broadband+8.6 points83.5% → 92.0%

Declined1

Transit use−5.8 points22.7% → 16.9%

All 15 measures

Change of every measure of Winthrop Town, Massachusetts between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	34.8 min2015-2019	34.8 min2020-2024	−0.0 min	Within the margin of error	47%
Bachelor's degree or higher	38.3%2015-2019	45.6%2020-2024	+7.3 points	Improved	81%
Broadband subscriptions	83.5%2015-2019	92.0%2020-2024	+8.6 points	Improved	52%
Child poverty rate	11.4%2015-2019	5.2%2020-2024	−6.2 points	Within the margin of error	73%
Effective property tax rate	1.18%2015-2019	0.91%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Little change	70%
High school diploma or higher	95.5%2015-2019	93.6%2020-2024	−1.9 points	Within the margin of error	16%
Home price to income ratio	5.9×2015-2019	5.6×2020-2024	−0.3×	Within the margin of error	91%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4772015-2019	0.4272020-2024	−0.049	Improved	84%
Median household income	$74,0692015-2019	$116,1672020-2024	+57%	Improved	89%
Poverty rate	8.8%2015-2019	7.2%2020-2024	−1.5 points	Within the margin of error	58%
Public transit commuters	22.7%2015-2019	16.9%2020-2024	−5.8 points	Declined	5%
Rent as share of income	32.0%2015-2019	31.8%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	57%
Rent-burdened households	53.3%2015-2019	53.6%2020-2024	+0.3 points	Within the margin of error	55%
Unemployment rate	3.6%2015-2019	5.9%2020-2024	+2.3 points	Within the margin of error	14%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	2.7%2015-2019	3.3%2020-2024	+0.6 points	Within the margin of error	40%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Winthrop Town, Massachusetts five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Winthrop Town, 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.

For comparison, Winthrop Town, Massachusetts itself moved +4.5 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

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

18,759 residents (±48)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79
60–69

Income

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

Household income

7,899 households (±429)

Winthrop Town, Massachusetts
Massachusetts share

Under $25k11%889
$25k–50k10%806
$50k–75k11%898

Homes

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

Owners and renters

7,899 households (±429)

Winthrop Town, Massachusetts
Massachusetts share

Own57%4,498
Rent43%3,401

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

9,754 workers (±492)

Winthrop Town, Massachusetts
Massachusetts share

Drive alone53%5,152
Carpool7.7%†755
Public transit17%1,649

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 Suffolk County, the county holding most of Winthrop Town's residents.

Suffolk County has 22,034 employer establishments, 281 for every 10,000 residents (1.13× the US rate of 248; 1.08× Massachusetts's), with 720,353 paid employees at an average annual pay of $119,182. The Census Bureau also counts 74,701 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 22,034; 74,701 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 281; US 248 · Massachusetts 260
Paid employees: 720,353
Average annual pay: $119,182; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	2,126	27.1	1.48×More than typical	42,271	$35,854	351
Lessors of real estate	1,444	18.4	1.49×More than typical	13,090	$109,193	7,912
Ambulatory health care services	1,040	13.3	0.64×Fewer than typical	24,377	$144,277	3,284
Full-service restaurants	1,004	12.8	1.67×More than typical	26,694	$40,177	143
Legal services	885	11.3	2.10×More than typical	16,282	$196,722	839
Limited-service restaurants	763	9.7	1.21×About typical	10,153	$28,817	145
Management, scientific and technical consulting	688	8.8	1.31×More than typical	21,917	$186,784	3,854
Specialty trade contractors	650	8.3	0.54×Fewer than typical	5,870	$98,408	2,907
Personal care services	559	7.1	1.49×More than typical	3,010	$36,967	2,177
Other personal services	531	6.8	3.63×More than typical	4,181	$37,408	1,940
Grocery and convenience stores	529	6.7	2.27×More than typical	9,486	$29,728	144
Computer systems design and related services	490	6.2	1.44×More than typical	17,425	$182,882	761

Rank places for an industry Open Suffolk County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 784,637 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

In FY2026, an estimated $158.7K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Winthrop Town, Massachusetts: $8.46 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $158.7K
Per resident: $8.46; US $1,994
Sole-source: 4.5%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.0%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Federal Aviation Administration$153.1K96%
Transportation Security Administration$5,3163.4%
Department of the Army$2820.2%

Top recipients

M. C. DEAN, INC.$154.4K97%
LC INDUSTRIES INC$5,3163.4%
POINT SECURITY INC$2,1491.4%
WINSTED COMPANY LLC$1,9461.2%
RUSS BASSETT CORP$8200.5%
SPINELLI RAVIOLI MANUFACTURING CO., INC.

Spending by fiscal year

243KFY2017
-20.8KFY2018
109.2KFY2019
122.4KFY2020
4MFY2021
608.5KFY2022
186KFY2023
449.2KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Investigation and security services · 5616$154.4K97%
Community food and housing, and emergency and other relief services · 6242$5,3163.4%
Office furniture (including fixtures) manufacturing · 3372$2,7671.7%
Navigational, measuring, electromedical, and control instruments manufacturing · 3345$2,1491.4%
Other food manufacturing · 3119$2820.2%

Largest awards whose ZIP code lies mostly in Winthrop Town, Massachusetts

THIS IS FOR THE PROCUREMENT OF ENGINE GENERATOR EQUIPMENT. CLOSELY ASSOCIATED TO INHERENTLY GOVERNMENTAL FUNCTIONS$49.5K
DISCOVERY ENERGY, LLC· Suffolk County, MA· Other equipment & supplies· Jun 19, 2019 – Sep 1, 2026· 693KA819F00339

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Winthrop Town, Massachusetts, so they do not add up across cities.

Winthrop Town, Massachusetts's figures are part of those of Suffolk County, MA ($1.1B in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

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

See federal money in Suffolk 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.

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

House

Senate

Elizabeth Warren

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Suffolk County76100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH89

Other cities and towns in Suffolk County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/2581005

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends