Worcester County, Massachusetts

The largest of Massachusetts's 14 counties by land area.

CountyFIPS 25027

Within Massachusetts

Worcester County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data. The dot marks Worcester, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population: 888,502; +31,474 (+3.7%) since 2020
Land area: 1,511; square miles. A further 4.3% of the total area is water
Population density: 588; people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat: Worcester; Worcester County has no county government.
Established: 1731; 294 years ago
Largest city: Worcester city; Population 213,862.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of Worcester County with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of Worcester County, Massachusetts from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined — Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 705 by 800 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where Worcester County ranks

Position among the 14 counties of Massachusetts, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

Measure	Value	In Massachusetts	Nationally
Population	888,502	2nd of 14	67th of 3,144
Land area	1,511 sq mi	1st of 14	394th of 3,144
Population density	588 per sq mi	9th of 14	247th of 3,144
Median household income	$95,939	7th of 14	208th of 3,143

Full data for Worcester County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
Measure	Value	Source and vintage
Population	888,502	Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 2020	857,028	Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?	862,093	Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area	1,511 sq mi	2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area	68.5 sq mi	2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area	1,579 sq mi	2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?	588 per sq mi	Computed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income	$95,939	American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value	$423,700	American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age	40.2	American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households	335,826	American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units	355,185	American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths: +1,443; 8,825 births, 7,382 deaths
Net migration: +3,275; More people moved in than moved out.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 9 areas bordering Worcester County

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering area	State	Shared border	Population
Middlesex County	Massachusetts	83 mi	1,669,979
Franklin County	Massachusetts	38 mi	70,698
Hampden County	Massachusetts	22 mi	464,338
Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region	Connecticut	18 mi	98,096
Cheshire County	New Hampshire	18 mi	78,269
Hampshire County	Massachusetts	16 mi	164,065
Providence County	Rhode Island	16 mi	678,179
Norfolk County	Massachusetts	11 mi	739,749
Hillsborough County	New Hampshire	1.5 mi	433,415

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Side by side

All 14 counties of Massachusetts

Open the interactive Massachusetts county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.