Boston — UN urban centre
Boston: 1,639,797 people. Reference: 2025 annual estimate · World rank #296 of 12,138 source urban centres. Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025 (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Source identifier: 8493; territory: United States (USA). UN source workbook.
Method: Degree of Urbanisation (contiguous 1 km2 cells, density 1,500+ people/km2, total 50,000+). This is a source-defined urban centre, not a municipality or province. No association with a separate administrative entity is inferred from proximity or name.
Source centroid: 42.3502, -71.0938. National context uses World Bank estimates, a separate series and geography; no national share is inferred here.
UN population series
| Year | People | Method |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | 1,201,747 | Estimate |
| 1980 | 1,204,874 | Estimate |
| 1985 | 1,225,865 | Estimate |
| 1990 | 1,244,038 | Estimate |
| 1995 | 1,365,460 | Estimate |
| 2000 | 1,463,817 | Estimate |
| 2005 | 1,507,945 | Estimate |
| 2010 | 1,541,336 | Estimate |
| 2015 | 1,584,977 | Estimate |
| 2020 | 1,641,780 | Estimate |
| 2025 | 1,639,797 | Estimate |
| 2030 | 1,641,625 | Projection |
| 2035 | 1,641,409 | Projection |
| 2040 | 1,638,007 | Projection |
| 2045 | 1,634,274 | Projection |
| 2050 | 1,625,515 | Projection |
Largest UN urban centres · Fastest-growing urban centres
What changed during your lifetime?
Turn these figures into a private, five-scene personal world story.
Use this source record with the right definition
This page is a structured reference entry. Its sources, geographic definition and reference dates determine what the figures mean; it is not independent reporting about the causes of change. Read the accompanying explanation before comparing different places or vintages.