Worcester is a relatively large city located in the state of Massachusetts. With a population of 207,621 people and 46 associated neighborhoods, Worcester is the second largest community in Massachusetts. Worcester has a large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic cities in the country.
Also of interest is that Worcester has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.
One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 10.71% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.
Combining city textures and college town sensibilities, Worcester really has a nice blend of characteristics. While not a huge city, Worcester is big enough to offer a healthy dose of diversion, opportunity, and amenity to its residents and to the thousands of college students who descend on it every fall. Its size and diversity makes Worcester more than just a college town, but removing the students from the equation would undeniably change Worcester’s character and quality of life.
Not only is Worcester a city with many college students, but it also retains many recent graduates who are looking to start new careers, shaping the character of the city into a place that is geared toward, and considered attractive to, many single, educated people. Many singles consider Worcester a good place to live without being in a really big city, with opportunities for friendships and fun with others like themselves.
The population of Worcester is very well educated relative to most cities and towns in the nation, where the average community has 21.84% of its adult population holding a 4-year degree or higher: 34.09% of adults in Worcester have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree.
The per capita income in Worcester in 2022 was $35,825, which is low income relative to Massachusetts, and middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $143,300 for a family of four. However, Worcester contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Worcester is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Worcester home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Worcester residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Worcester also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 24.91% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Worcester include Irish, Italian, English, French, and Polish.
Foreign born people are also an important part of Worcester's cultural character, accounting for 23.17% of the city’s population.
The most common language spoken in Worcester is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and African languages.