The Boston Indicators Project 2004

Back Bay/Beacon Hill

	1990		2000
	#	%	#	%	% change
POPULATION
Total Population	27,854	100.0%	26,721	100.0%	-4.1%
% of Boston Population		4.9%		4.5%

Race & Ethnicity
Non-Hispanic
White	24,624	88.4%	22,654	84.8%	-8.0%
Black or Afr American	960	3.4%	792	3.0%	-17.5%
Asian or Pacific Islander	1,282	4.6%	1,620	6.1%	26.4%
Native American	40	0.1%	38	0.1%	-5.0%
Some other race	47	0.2%	79	0.3%	68.1%
Two or more races	na	na	439	1.6%	na
Hispanic	901	3.2%	1,099	4.1%	22.0%

Age
< 5	534	1.9%	559	2.1%	4.7%
5-9	299	1.1%	316	1.2%	5.7%
10-14	206	0.7%	244	0.9%	18.4%
15-19	1,834	6.6%	1,323	5.0%	-27.9%
20-24	5,621	20.2%	3,649	13.7%	-35.1%
25-34	8,736	31.4%	9,056	33.9%	3.7%
35-44	4,066	14.6%	3,920	14.7%	-3.6%
45-54	2,636	9.5%	3,010	11.3%	14.2%
55-64	1,741	6.3%	2,384	8.9%	36.9%
65-79	1,566	5.6%	1,765	6.6%	12.7%
80+	620	2.2%	495	1.9%	-20.2%

HOUSING
Total Housing Units	17,975	100.0%	17,912	100.0%	-0.4%
% of Boston Housing Stock		7.2%		7.1%

Occupied Housing Units	15,888	761.3%	16,558	1222.9%	4.2%
Owner Occupied	4,602	220.5%	5,241	387.1%	13.9%
Renter Occupied	11,286	540.8%	11,317	835.8%	0.3%
Vacant Housing Units	2,087	100.0%	1,354	100.0%	-35.1%

Family Households	3,535	117.9%	3,972	114.6%	12.4%
Married-couple family	2,998	100.0%	3,466	100.0%	15.6%
Single-householder family	537	17.9%	506	14.6%	-5.8%
Nonfamily Households	12,356	412.1%	12,586	363.1%	1.9%

INCOME & POVERTY
Median Household Income *	$52,063		$66,428		27.6%
Per Capita Income *	$51,520		$68,002		32.0%

Individuals in Poverty	2,660	11.7%	2,541	10.3%	-4.5%
* represents income from the prior year. 1989 income adjusted to 1999 dollars

Source: Boston Redevelopment Authority, from 1990 & 2000 US Census

	Neighborhood		Boston Average
POPULATION AND HOUSEHOLDS (2000)	#	%	#	%
Total Population	26,398	100.0%	589,141	100.0%
Population in family households	9,530	36.1%	382,668	65.0%
Foreign born (naturalized)	1,298	4.9%	56,681	9.6%
Foreign born (not a citizen)	2,841	10.8%	95,155	16.2%

Population 5 and older	25,724	100.0%	557,376	100.0%
Same house in 1995	7,474	29.1%	266,242	47.8%
Speak Spanish	1,014	3.9%	75,711	13.6%
Speak other Indo-European languages	2,366	9.2%	67,706	12.1%
Speak Asian languages	964	3.7%	34,765	6.2%
Speak other language	277	1.1%	8,009	1.4%

Workers 16 years and over	17,660	100.0%	278,463	100.0%
Took public transit to work	4,368	24.7%	89,906	32.3%
Walked to work	6,847	38.8%	36,323	13.0%

Total Households	16,341	100.0%	239,603	100.0%
Linguistically isolated household	621	3.8%	25,660	10.7%
Average household size
All households	1.49			2.31
Family households	2.34			3.28
Non-family households	1.21			1.39
Median household income
All households	$66,427			$39,629
Family households	$131,249			$44,151
Non-family households	$52,153			$33,332

Source: Boston Redevelopment Authority, from 2000 US Census.

POPULATION BY AGE AND GENDER (2000)
	TOTAL	Male	Female
All Ages	26,398	12,914	13,484
Under 5	674	307	367
5 - 9	245	113	132
10 - 14	171	75	96
15 - 17	117	44	73
18 - 24	4,717	2,167	2,550
25 - 44	12,994	6,527	6,467
45 - 64	5,316	2,693	2,623
65+	2,164	988	1,176
Source: Boston Redevelopment Authority, Back Bay - Beacon Hill 2000 Census of Population and Housing. (also includes population by race, by gender and age).

HEALTH	Neighbor-hood	Boston Average
Women who smoked during pregnancy as a % of births (2002)	*	4.5%
Emergency department visits per 1,000 residents (2002)	n/a	409
Asthma hospitalizations per child under 5 (1998-2002 annual average)	2.9	8.4
Percent of infants tested with elevated blood lead level (2003)	*	3.2%
Percent of adults who are overweight or obese (1999 & 2001 average)	39%	47%
Percent of adults who are smokers (1999 & 2001 average)	22%	19%
Percent of adults who report limited physical activity (2001)	37%	57%
Percent of adults with high blood pressure (1999 & 2001 average)	10%	19%
Heart disease mortality per 100,000 residents (2000-2002)	115	207
Diabetes mortality per 100,000 residents (2000-2002)	*	23
Cancer mortality per 100,000 residents (2000-2002)	198	218
Substance abuse mortality per 100,000 residents (2000-2002)	11	21
* insufficient data
Source: Boston Public Health Commission, Health of Boston 2004

	Neighborhood		Boston Average
MEDIAN RESIDENTIAL SALES PRICES	2003	2004	2003	2004
Single Family	$2,262,500	$1,837,500	$338,950	$379,000
Two-Family	*	*	$386,000	$456,000
Three-Family	*	*	$430,000	$515,000
Condominium	$435,000	$535,000	$319,000	$350,000
All Residential Sales	$453,750	$545,000	$340,000	$380,000
Median Asking Monthly Rent
Two-Bedroom Apartment	$2,250	$2,250	$1,500	$1,450
* insufficient data
Source: City of Boston Department of Neighborhood Development

RESIDENTIAL HOUSING, BY TYPE (2001)	#	%
Single Family	966	42.9%
Two Family	473	21.0%
Three Family	337	15.0%
Total 1, 2, 3 Family Properties	1,776	78.8%
Four-Six Family	57	2.5%
Apartment Buildings	20	0.9%
Mixed Residential/Commercial	51	2.3%
Condominium Associations	349	15.5%
Total Residential & Mixed Properties	2,253	100.0%

Source: Boston Redevelopment Authority

LAND & OPEN SPACE
Land area (sq miles)	0.94
Persons per sq mile	28,427
% open space	20.1%
Open space per 1,000 people (acres)	4.5
Protected open space per 1,000 people (acres)	4.5

Source: Boston Redevelopment Authority & Boston Parks Dept.

Back Bay/Beacon Hill Map

For more detailed demographic data about Back Bay - Beacon Hill from the US Census Bureau, download the Boston Redevelopment Authority's Back Bay-Beacon Hill 2000 Census of Population and Housing (12/03).

For more detailed information about the health status of the residents of Back Bay - Beacon Hill, download the Boston Public Health Commission’s Health Status Report for Back Bay and the North End (11/03).

See also the Greater Boston Data Portal on the Boston Indicators Project homepage.