county

Essex County, MA

Demographic and economic profile of Essex County, MA, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Essex County's 823,938-person workforce skews educated — 42.3% hold a bachelor's degree or higher — with median worker earnings of $53,125 and an unemployment rate of 5.1%. The county posted 3.4% population growth over five years, and a median household income of $101,883 sits well above national norms, though median home values of $584,000 and median gross rent of $1,673/month reflect elevated occupancy costs. The foreign-born share of 19.1% indicates a broad labor pool, with a labor force participation rate of 67.8% and a mean commute of 28.9 minutes.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

823,938

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Household Income

$101,883

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

41.2 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+3.4% since 2018

Essex County added population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone551,107 (67.8%)
  • Some Other Race Alone98,377 (12.1%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race73,299 (9.0%)
  • Black or African American Alone32,753 (4.0%)
  • Asian Alone29,493 (3.6%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races25,414 (3.1%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish143,226
  2. 2.Other Indo-European31,931
  3. 3.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)9,545
  4. 4.Other Asian and Pacific Island7,050
  5. 5.Russian, Polish, or other Slavic5,519

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

21.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

61.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

18.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

19.1%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

27,478

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$59,166

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$53,210

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

5.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

9.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance108,509
  2. 2.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services62,369
  3. 3.Manufacturing (Group)45,495
  4. 4.Retail Trade (Group)43,100
  5. 5.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services33,021

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations196,529
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations82,302
  3. 3.Service Occupations68,563
  4. 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations47,329
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations30,682

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Professional, Scientific, & Management (LQ 1.19×)62,379
  2. 2.Manufacturing (LQ 1.08×)45,522
  3. 3.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 1.08×)106,693
  4. 4.Finance, Insurance, & Real Estate (LQ 1.07×)30,178
  5. 5.Information (LQ 0.99×)7,874

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$584,000

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$1,673/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

63.5%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $500,000 to $749,99969,230 (34.8%)
  • $750,000 to $999,99938,839 (19.5%)
  • $400,000 to $499,99930,756 (15.5%)
  • $300,000 to $399,99918,939 (9.5%)
  • $1,000,000 to $1,499,99917,023 (8.6%)
  • $250,000 to $299,9994,718 (2.4%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

42.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

90.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

67.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$53,125

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

28.5 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

9.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone280,866 (67.6%)
  • Worked At Home68,236 (16.4%)
  • Carpooled30,137 (7.3%)
  • Public Transit14,739 (3.5%)
  • Walked11,123 (2.7%)
  • Other6,386 (1.5%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.