Melrose, Massachusetts demographics

Melrose, MA demographics: median age 43.6; 62.0% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor’s degree. Age, race, households, languages and education, ACS 2020–2024 with margins of error.

ACS 2020–2024 · Melrose city, Massachusetts · Incorporated city · GEOID 2540115. The survey estimates a population of 29,650 for its five-year window. This is separate from the annual July 2025 population estimate on the city overview.

Median age in Melrose is 43.6 years, with a 90% margin of error of 1.1 years. There are 12,401 households (±488). Age and household distributions show how these totals are composed; they do not establish which neighborhood suits a particular person.

Every count and share is an estimate. “±” is a 90% margin of error (MOE); pp means percentage points. Derived shares use the category count divided by the named universe. Aggregated category MOEs and percentage MOEs are approximate. A margin larger than half its estimate is flagged as low precision. Blank source uncertainty is shown as unavailable, never zero.

Age distribution and sex

City, state and U.S. estimates · ACS 2020–2024
Measure / survey universe	City estimate ± MOE	State estimate ± MOE	U.S. estimate ± MOE
Median age Total population · years	43.6 ±1.1	40.0 ±0.1	38.9 ±0.1

Age groups · B01001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 29,650
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Massachusetts	U.S.
Under 18	5,993 ±635	20.2% ±2.1 pp	19.4%	22.0%
18–34	4,530 ±514	15.3% ±1.7 pp	23.9%	22.8%
35–64	13,021 ±871	43.9% ±2.9 pp	38.9%	38.0%
65 and older	6,106 ±660	20.6% ±2.2 pp	17.9%	17.2%

Sex categories as published by ACS · B01001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 29,650
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Massachusetts	U.S.
Male	14,537 ±554	49.0% ±1.9 pp	48.9%	49.5%
Female	15,113 ±554	51.0% ±1.9 pp	51.1%	50.5%

The age groups are mutually exclusive and cover the entire population. The sex categories follow this ACS table’s published classification; they are not a survey of gender identity.

Race and Hispanic origin

Race · B02001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 29,650
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Massachusetts	U.S.
White alone	23,084 ±1,201	77.9% ±4.0 pp	68.6%	61.0%
Black or African American alone	467 ±231	1.6% ±0.8 pp	6.8%	12.2%
American Indian and Alaska Native alone	40 ±50 · low precision	0.1% ±0.2 pp · low precision	0.2%	0.9%
Asian alone	3,264 ±1,147	11.0% ±3.9 pp	7.3%	6.0%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone	1 ±13 · low precision	0.0% ±0.0 pp · low precision	0.0%	0.2%
Some other race alone	563 ±280	1.9% ±0.9 pp	5.8%	7.1%
Two or more races	2,231 ±528	7.5% ±1.8 pp	11.1%	12.6%

Hispanic or Latino origin · B03003 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 29,650
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Massachusetts	U.S.
Not Hispanic or Latino	28,118 ±462	94.8% ±1.6 pp	86.7%	80.7%
Hispanic or Latino	1,532 ±455	5.2% ±1.5 pp	13.3%	19.3%

Hispanic origin and race are separate questions. People of Hispanic or Latino origin may be of any race and appear in both tables. Do not add the Hispanic share to race shares. Race alone and two-or-more-race groups are the mutually exclusive categories of the race table.

Household types, children and living alone

Household types · B11001 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 12,401
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Massachusetts	U.S.
Married-couple family	6,454 ±378	52.0% ±2.3 pp	45.9%	46.9%
Other family: male householder, no spouse present	756 ±260	6.1% ±2.1 pp	4.7%	5.1%
Other family: female householder, no spouse present	719 ±197	5.8% ±1.6 pp	11.9%	12.2%
Nonfamily: householder living alone	3,728 ±509	30.1% ±3.9 pp	28.8%	28.7%
Nonfamily: householder not living alone	744 ±273	6.0% ±2.2 pp	8.9%	7.0%

Households with children · B11005 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 12,401
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Massachusetts	U.S.
Households with people under 18	3,703 ±304	29.9% ±2.2 pp	27.9%	29.5%
Households without people under 18	8,698 ±632	70.1% ±4.3 pp	72.1%	70.5%

Household size · B11016 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 12,401
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Massachusetts	U.S.
One-person nonfamily households	3,728 ±509	30.1% ±3.9 pp	28.8%	28.7%
Two-person households	4,099 ±505	33.1% ±3.9 pp	33.3%	33.8%
Three-person households	2,018 ±316	16.3% ±2.5 pp	16.5%	15.3%
Four-person households	1,920 ±281	15.5% ±2.2 pp	13.5%	12.6%
Five-person households	503 ±133	4.1% ±1.1 pp	5.2%	5.9%
Six-person households	65 ±46 · low precision	0.5% ±0.4 pp · low precision	1.8%	2.2%
Seven or more people	68 ±106 · low precision	0.5% ±0.9 pp · low precision	0.9%	1.4%

A family household contains related people under the Census definition. A nonfamily household can contain one person or unrelated people sharing a home. Households with children can also appear in the household-type and size tables, so those tables must not be added together. Household estimates exclude people living in group quarters from the household universe.

Nativity and languages spoken at home

Nativity · B05002 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 29,650
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Massachusetts	U.S.
Native	24,437 ±751	82.4% ±2.5 pp	82.0%	85.9%
Foreign born	5,213 ±750	17.6% ±2.5 pp	18.0%	14.1%

Language spoken at home · C16001 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 5 and older: 28,202
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Massachusetts	U.S.
English only	21,897 ±1,017	77.6% ±3.5 pp	74.9%	77.7%
Spanish	1,149 ±430	4.1% ±1.5 pp	9.7%	13.6%
French, Haitian, or Cajun	365 ±238 · low precision	1.3% ±0.8 pp · low precision	1.9%	0.7%
German or other West Germanic	0 ±25 · low precision	0.0% ±0.1 pp · low precision	0.3%	0.5%
Russian, Polish, or other Slavic	682 ±437 · low precision	2.4% ±1.5 pp · low precision	1.0%	0.7%
Other Indo-European	1,409 ±420	5.0% ±1.5 pp	6.1%	2.0%
Korean	69 ±95 · low precision	0.2% ±0.3 pp · low precision	0.3%	0.3%
Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese	916 ±359	3.2% ±1.3 pp	2.2%	1.1%
Vietnamese	675 ±729 · low precision	2.4% ±2.6 pp · low precision	0.7%	0.5%
Tagalog, including Filipino	55 ±72 · low precision	0.2% ±0.3 pp · low precision	0.1%	0.6%
Other Asian and Pacific Island	243 ±166 · low precision	0.9% ±0.6 pp · low precision	1.3%	1.1%
Arabic	650 ±434 · low precision	2.3% ±1.5 pp · low precision	0.6%	0.5%
Other and unspecified	92 ±85 · low precision	0.3% ±0.3 pp · low precision	1.0%	0.8%

Foreign born means not a U.S. citizen at birth; it includes naturalized citizens. Language categories describe speech at home among people age five and older. A language other than English at home does not establish that someone cannot speak English. This city page uses the published C16001 summary categories because the more detailed B16001 table does not provide these city records in this release.

Educational attainment

Highest completed education · B15003 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 25 and older: 22,215
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Massachusetts	U.S.
Less than high school graduate	1,039 ±306	4.7% ±1.4 pp	8.6%	10.4%
High school graduate or equivalency	3,918 ±443	17.6% ±2.0 pp	22.6%	26.0%
Some college, no degree	2,301 ±452	10.4% ±2.0 pp	14.1%	19.1%
Associate’s degree	1,194 ±270	5.4% ±1.2 pp	7.5%	8.8%
Bachelor’s degree	7,489 ±626	33.7% ±2.7 pp	25.5%	21.6%
Graduate or professional degree	6,274 ±578	28.2% ±2.5 pp	21.8%	14.1%

The denominator excludes residents under 25. Each person is counted in the highest attainment category they completed. This table does not measure the quality of local schools or the education level of every current student.

Residence one year earlier

Geographic mobility · B07003 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 1 and older: 29,375
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Massachusetts	U.S.
Same house	27,307 ±468	93.0% ±1.5 pp	88.3%	87.7%
Moved within same county	1,101 ±328	3.7% ±1.1 pp	5.6%	6.3%
Moved from a different county in the same state	580 ±223	2.0% ±0.8 pp	3.0%	3.1%
Moved from a different state	284 ±127	1.0% ±0.4 pp	2.2%	2.3%
Moved from abroad	103 ±89 · low precision	0.4% ±0.3 pp · low precision	0.9%	0.6%

These are respondents’ residence patterns one year before their survey response, pooled across the five-year window. They are not a net migration count for 2025. A person can move to a different house within the same city or county; moves within the same county should not automatically be interpreted as new arrivals to the city.

Health insurance, internet access and veterans

0.9% of Melrose residents (±0.6 percentage points) had no health insurance coverage when surveyed, compared with 2.6% in Massachusetts and 8.4% nationally. 93.8% of households subscribe to broadband of any type, including cellular data plans. A subscription is not the same as available service: the FCC National Broadband Map shows providers at a specific address.

City, state and U.S. shares · ACS 2020–2024
Measure	Melrose	Massachusetts	U.S.	Compared with Massachusetts
People without health insurance Civilian noninstitutionalized population	0.9% ±0.6 pp · low precision	2.6%	8.4%	Lower
Households with a broadband subscription Households	93.8% ±1.9 pp	92.8%	91.0%	Not statistically different
Veterans Civilian population age 18 and older	2.6% ±0.7 pp	4.3%	6.2%	Lower

Reading and reusing the estimates

The Census table links above lead to the original detailed tables. Counts, source universes and uncertainty are retained in the source observation download for Melrose . Compare these figures with the same survey window; do not compare one city’s five-year estimate with another city’s annual estimate as though they measured the same period. For methods, see uncertainty and denominator calculations.

Read Melrose housing and cost context or return to the city profile.