2025

Counties in Massachusetts ranked by Other Race Population

This list ranks the 14 counties in Massachusetts based on their Some Other Race (SOR) population, as estimated by the United States Census Bureau. It also highlights population changes in these counties over the past five years.
Updated Feb 10, 2025

Top 5 counties with the largest Other Race population in Massachusetts

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  • 1
    Essex County
    Other Race population in Essex County is 158,628
    17.74% of Essex County population is Other Race
  • 2
    Middlesex County
    Other Race population in Middlesex County is 157,369
    8.88% of Middlesex County population is Other Race
  • 3
    Suffolk County
    Other Race population in Suffolk County is 153,180
    16.54% of Suffolk County population is Other Race
  • 4
    Worcester County
    Other Race population in Worcester County is 97,141
    10.21% of Worcester County population is Other Race
  • 5
    Hampden County
    Other Race population in Hampden County is 84,281
    15.78% of Hampden County population is Other Race

List of 14 counties in Massachusetts by Other Race Population

View Methodology
Rank by Other Race Population
County
Other Race Population
% of Total County Population
% of Total Massachusetts Other Race Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 Essex County 158,628 17.74% 18.57%
2 Middlesex County 157,369 8.88% 18.42%
3 Suffolk County 153,180 16.54% 17.93%
4 Worcester County 97,141 10.21% 11.37%
5 Hampden County 84,281 15.78% 9.86%
6 Bristol County 70,822 11.14% 8.29%
7 Plymouth County 50,200 8.72% 5.88%
8 44,649 5.74% 5.23%
9 14,286 5.81% 1.67%
10 9,892 5.87% 1.16%
11 6,256 4.58% 0.73%
12 3,245 4.33% 0.38%
13 2,281 14.12% 0.27%
14 2,196 9.60% 0.26%

Methodology

This ranking list is based on data from the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The ACS is one of the most reliable sources for understanding population trends across different locations, and it provides estimates for various racial and ethnic groups at city, county, state and all geography levels down to the Census block group.
This list ranks counties in Massachusetts by their Some Other Race (SOR) population, using the most recent ACS data available.

How the Census Defines Other Race Population

The U.S. Census Bureau allows people to self-identify their race, meaning individuals can choose one or more racial categories when responding to the survey. In this ranking, we include everyone who identifies as Other Race, whether alone or in combination with another race.
Here are a few important things to know about how race is reported:
  • Some people identify as Other Race alone, while others identify as Other Race along with another race (such as Other Race and White).
  • Hispanic / Latino origin is reported separately from race, so someone can be both Hispanic and Other Race .
  • We’ve used the “Other Race alone or in combination” category unless noted otherwise, which gives a broader picture of the Other Race population in each area.

How We Ranked the Data

This ranking is based on the total number of people who identified as Other Race alone or in combination in counties. To provide additional context, we’ve also included two key percentages:
  1. % of Total County Population – This shows what percentage of the total state population identifies as Other Race .
  2. % of Total Massachusetts Other Race Population – This tells us how much of the entire U.S. Other Race population lives in that state.
To keep things simple, all population numbers have been rounded to the nearest whole number, and percentages are rounded to one decimal place. Because of rounding, some percentages may not add up to exactly 100%.

Things to Keep in Mind

Like all survey-based data, ACS estimates come with some limitations. Here are a few things to be aware of:
  • In places with very small Other Race populations, the numbers may not be reported at all due to privacy protections or sampling variability in the survey.
  • Since the ACS is based on a sample, the numbers are estimates, not exact counts. That means they may slightly differ from other sources like the decennial U.S. Census.
  • Counties that don’t have any reported Other Race population are not included in the ranking but are listed separately below for reference.
This ranking is meant to provide a clear, data-driven look at where Other Race populations are most concentrated while keeping the numbers easy to understand.

Sources

U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 2019-2023 5-Year Estimates.