Bristol County, Massachusetts Population and Demographics

In this article, we'll explore the population statistics for Bristol County, Massachusetts, including popular demographics data like median age, number of households, household income, gender, employment and unemployment rates, occupations, religion, and more.

We are using the latest American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year survey data from the US Census Bureau, which is accurate up to 2021.

Table of Contents

Population

There is a lot of data that lets us see how many people live in Bristol County, Massachusetts. The most basic data is the total population, which is the total number of people living in Bristol County, Massachusetts. The estimated population of Bristol County, Massachusetts is 576,070 people, with a median age of 40.9.

We can look at the total population in Bristol County over the last 5 years to see how much it has changed.

Year Population Change 5-Year Change
2021
576,070
+2.27%
+3.42%
2020
563,301
+0.4%
-
2019
561,037
+0.38%
-
2018
558,905
+0.34%
-
2017
557,016
 - -

Population of Bristol County, Massachusetts by Race and Ethnicity

We can also look at how the population has changed over the last 5 years by each of the race/ethnicity types as defined by the US Census Bureau.

Race 2021 2017 Change
White
78.9%
82.8%
 -4.71%
Black/African American
3.7%
3.5%
 +5.71%
Native
0.1%
0%
 0.00%
Hispanic
8.7%
7.3%
 +19.18%
Asian
2.2%
2.2%
 0.00%
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
0%
0%
 0.00%
Two Or More Races
4.5%
2.4%
 +87.50%
Other
1.8%
1.7%
 +5.88%

This data can be very important for a number of reasons, including social and economic research, planning and development, and marketing to a multi-cultural population.

Note that the Native group includes both Native American and Alaskan Native people.

Population of Bristol County, Massachusetts by Age and Gender

The age and gender of a population is another interesting demographic statistic because it lets us track trends in the population over time. For example, we can see how the population has changed over the last 5 years by median age as a total, and also by male and female.

Year Total Male Female
2021 40.9 -0.24% 39.5 +0.51% 42.4 -0.93%
2020 41 0% 39.3 0% 42.8 +0.47%
2019 41 0% 39.3 -0.51% 42.6 +0.24%
2018 41 +0.24% 39.5 +0.51% 42.5 +0.24%
2017 40.9 - 39.3 - 42.4 -

The median age of Bristol County, Massachusetts gives you an idea of the age distribution, with half of the population being older than the median age and half being younger.

This can then be used to infer and compare against birth rates, parent ages, and more metrics to understand the population. For example, an increasing median age indicates an aging population, which can be a sign of a declining population in terms of birth rates and workforce participation.

Age 2021 2017
(Years) Male Female Male Female
0 to 9 31,229 -1.77% 31,105 -2.04% 30,668 30,468
10 to 19 35,775 +5.91% 33,586 +6.05% 37,920 35,646
20 to 29 36,832 -0.02% 36,480 -0.33% 36,819 36,363
30 to 39 33,231 +10.03% 33,546 +9.59% 36,669 36,868
40 to 49 37,282 -4.56% 40,321 -5.17% 35,569 38,270
50 to 59 40,397 +2.04% 43,059 -0.92% 41,206 42,663
60 to 69 30,266 +12.69% 32,560 +12.93% 34,288 36,972
70+ 24,707 +11.26% 36,640 +3.88% 27,607 38,074

Median Household Income

The latest median household income of Bristol County, Massachusetts is $74,290.00.

In simple terms, the median income is the middle income of a group of people. Half of the people in the group make more than the median income, and half make less. The median income is a good indicator of the overall income of a group of people, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more.

Median Income by Age

We can also look at the median income by age to see how the median income varies by age, and how it compares to the overall median income for Bristol County.

  • Under 25
    $42,938.00
  • 25 to 44
    $80,252.00
  • 45 to 64
    $94,084.00
  • 65 and over
    $47,192.00

Average Household Income

Whenever we ask what is the average household income in Bristol County, we are actually talking about the mean household income.

This is calculated by adding up all the incomes of all the households in Bristol County, and then dividing that number by the total number of households. This is a good way to get a general idea of the average income of a group of people, but it can be skewed by a very high or very low incomes.

The average household income of Bristol County, Massachusetts is currently $96,851.00.

In terms of accurately summarizing income at a geographic level, the median income is a better metric than the average income because it isn't affected by a small number of very high or very low incomes.

If you had an area where the average income was greater than the median, it can mean that there is significant income inequality, with income being concentrated in a small number of wealthy households.

9.37% of households in Bristol County are classed as high income households (making $200,000+ per year).

Household Income Tiers

The US Census Bureau divides households into income tiers based on the median income for the area. This is a good way to compare the income of Bristol County against other areas.

  • Less than $24,999
    18.12%
  • $25,000 to $49,999
    17.14%
  • $50,000 to $74,999
    15.10%
  • $75,000 to $99,999
    12.78%
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    17.48%
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    10.00%
  • $200,000 or more
    9.37%

Per Capita Income

The per capita income in Bristol County is $38,632.00.

Per capita income is the average income of a person in a given area. It is calculated by dividing the total income of Bristol County by the total population of Bristol County.

This is different from the average or mean income because it includes and accounts for all people in Bristol County, Massachusetts, including people like children, the elderly, unemployed people, retired people, and more.

Education Levels

We can also look at the education levels in Bristol County to see how many people have a high school degree, a bachelor's degree, or a graduate degree.

Educational attainment is a good indicator of the overall education level of a population, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more to see how education levels affect income, unemployment rates, and more.

  • Master's degree or higher
    13.19%
  • Bachelor's degree
    31.28%
  • Some college or associate's degree
    9.85%
  • High school diploma or equivalent
    42.67%
  • Less than high school diploma
    3.01%

Employment

Employment rates are all based around the total population in Bristol County that are over the age of 16.

The total population of Bristol County over the age of 16 is 470,837.

Of those people, a total of 65.20% are working or actively looking for work. This is called the labor force participation rate.

The participation rate is a useful market measure because it shows the relative amount of labor resources available to the economy.

The employment to total population rate in Bristol County is 61.40%.

Employment by Age

We can look at the employment rates by age to see how it compares to the overall employment rate.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
16 to 19 years 29,469 46.50% 17.90%
20 to 24 years 36,505 79.70% 9.40%
25 to 29 years 36,677 84.90% 7.20%
30 to 34 years 37,434 83.40% 6.40%
35 to 44 years 71,498 85.30% 4.90%
45 to 54 years 80,571 82.20% 4.00%
55 to 59 years 41,742 75.80% 3.30%
60 to 64 years 40,045 60.20% 2.50%
65 to 74 years 56,879 28.80% 3.30%
75 years and over 40,017 5.90% 5.90%

Employment by Race

Another very interesting employment statistic we can look at is the employment and unemployment rates by race in Bristol County. The table below shows the rates for each of the ethnicity groups types defined by the US Census Bureau.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
White 395,409 64.70% 4.80%
Black or African American 17,191 71.90% 9.00%
American Indian and Alaska Native 792 60.40% 19.90%
Asian 10,422 67.90% 4.50%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 38 100.00% 0.00%
Other 23,988 61.50% 9.20%
Two or more races 22,997 71.50% 13.50%
Hispanic or Latino 33,366 64.60% 10.50%
Not Hispanic or Latino 385,144 64.60% 4.70%

Occupations

In this section we can look at the most common occupations in Bristol County as well as the gender breakdown and earnings of them.

The total population of civilian employees that are 16 years old or older in Bristol County is 289,204, with median earnings of $47,358.00.

Women in Bristol County, Massachusetts earning approximately 71.60% of the men's earnings.

Population Earnings
Total 289,204 $47,358.00
Male 147,225 $55,719.00
Female 141,979 $39,918.00

Occupations by Category

In the table below, we can break down the population and earnings even further by occupation. The list of occupation categories below will show you how many people are employed in each category and the median earnings of each profession.

Occupation Employed Earnings
Management 29,394 $80,578.00
Business and Financial 14,155 $69,139.00
Computer and Mathematical 7,980 $83,771.00
Architecture and Engineering 5,931 $87,130.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 1,979 $71,764.00
Community and Social Service 6,761 $50,102.00
Legal 2,396 $66,901.00
Educational and Library 17,475 $52,919.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 4,678 $40,602.00
Healthcare Practitioners 19,231 $67,408.00
Healthcare Support 13,193 $31,845.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 3,569 $55,060.00
Law Enforcement 3,372 $85,625.00
Food Preparation and Serving 14,393 $15,891.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 10,079 $28,531.00
Personal Care and Service 7,940 $21,503.00
Sales 28,001 $38,231.00
Office and Administrative Support 32,056 $40,068.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 1,337 $32,479.00
Construction and Extraction 18,156 $55,775.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 9,501 $58,184.00
Production 15,811 $45,066.00
Transportation and Material Moving 10,788 $34,357.00

Occupations by Gender

The table below shows the same occupations from the list above, but we have split them by male and female to see how many male and females work in each occupation, the median earnings, and the male to female ratio of earnings.

That last metric is important because it can be used to look at the gender pay gap between men and women.

Occupation Male Female
Population Earnings Population Earnings
Management 16,302 $93,199.00 13,092 $69,666.00
Business and Financial 6,347 $80,947.00 7,808 $64,343.00
Computer and Mathematical 6,001 $84,497.00 1,979 $77,052.00
Architecture and Engineering 5,048 $89,940.00 883 $66,739.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 1,034 $77,500.00 945 $63,825.00
Community and Social Service 1,680 $48,281.00 5,081 $50,771.00
Legal 962 $93,827.00 1,434 $58,038.00
Educational and Library 4,498 $63,417.00 12,977 $49,051.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 2,537 $51,867.00 2,141 $26,895.00
Healthcare Practitioners 3,324 $83,300.00 15,907 $65,393.00
Healthcare Support 1,499 $31,110.00 11,694 $31,951.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 2,682 $71,554.00 887 $13,042.00
Law Enforcement 2,887 $88,672.00 485 $63,697.00
Food Preparation and Serving 6,279 $17,429.00 8,114 $14,903.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 6,179 $31,917.00 3,900 $23,253.00
Personal Care and Service 1,420 $24,533.00 6,520 $20,934.00
Sales 13,511 $53,634.00 14,490 $23,503.00
Office and Administrative Support 8,146 $44,658.00 23,910 $38,768.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 979 $32,537.00 358 $24,861.00
Construction and Extraction 17,872 $56,319.00 284 $22,344.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 9,192 $59,526.00 309 $50,355.00
Production 11,481 $51,931.00 4,330 $35,420.00
Transportation and Material Moving 9,128 $37,414.00 1,660 $20,227.00

Households and Family Size

A household defined bu the US Census Bureau is a group of people who occupy a housing unit. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, group of rooms, or single room occupied as separate living quarters.

There are currently 227,816 households in Bristol County, with an average household size of 2.46 people.

A family is defined as a group of two or more people related by birth, marriage, or adoption who live together in the same household.

There are 149,454 families in Bristol County with an average family size of 3.01 people.

Households by Marital Status

The four categories of household by marital status are:

  • Married-couple family
  • Male householder with no spouse present
  • Female household with no spouse present
  • Nonfamily household

The table below shows the total number of households and families, with the average sizes of each.

Married Male Female Nonfamily
Total Households 103,566 12,338 33,550 78,362
Average Household Size 3.15 3 3.03 1.22
Total Families 103,566 12,338 33,550 0
Average Household Size 3.12 2.63 2.78 0

Poverty

Of the 149,454 families in Bristol County, 8.50% are considered to be below the poverty threshold.

The table below shows the latest poverty thresholds in Bristol County:

Household Size Poverty Threshold
1 Person $14,580.00
2 People $19,720.00
3 People $24,860.00
4 People $30,000.00
5 People $35,140.00
6 People $40,280.00
7 People $45,420.00
8 People $50,560.00

Housing

There are 242,312 housing units in Bristol County, Massachusetts.

The table below shows the split between occupied and vacant units:

Total Percentage
Occupied 227,816 94.02%
Vacant 14,496 5.98%

34.20% of the total 242,312 housing units in Bristol County are rental units. This is approximately 82,879 properties.

For owner-occupied housing units, a total of 141,758 are occupied by the owner - or 58.50% of the total.

Rental Rates

The median rent for a property in Bristol County is $1,006.00.

In the chart below, we can look at the number of rental properties in Bristol County that fall into a particular rent range. These can then be used to compare with other areas, or to see how they have changed over time.

  • No rent paid
    3,179
  • Less than $500
    10,850
  • $500 to $999
    30,179
  • $1,000 to $1,499
    27,555
  • $1,500 to $1,999
    10,484
  • $2,000 to $2,499
    2,754
  • $2,500 to $2,999
    483
  • $3,000 or more
    574

Property Value

The median value of a property in Bristol County is $339,900.00.

Just like with rental rates, we can look at the number of properties in Bristol County that fall into a particular value range.

  • Less than $50,000
    3,115
  • $50,000 to $99,999
    2,069
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    3,362
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    8,378
  • $200,000 to $299,999
    38,126
  • $300,000 to $499,999
    62,598
  • $500,000 to $999,999
    22,189
  • $1,000,000 or more
    1,921

Property Age

We can also look at the age of properties in Bristol County. The chart below shows the number of properties in Bristol County that fall into a particular age range.

  • 1939 or earlier
    77,684
  • 1940 to 1949
    12,914
  • 1950 to 1959
    24,520
  • 1960 to 1969
    23,324
  • 1970 to 1979
    29,624
  • 1980 to 1989
    27,141
  • 1990 to 1999
    22,299
  • 2000 to 2009
    16,551
  • 2010 to 2013
    8,066
  • 2014 or later
    189

Vehicles per Household

The number of vehicles available per household can be a good indicator of the level of affluence in an area. The chart below shows the number of households in Bristol County that have a particular number of vehicles available.

  • No vehicles available
    22,546
  • 1 vehicle available
    77,156
  • 2 vehicles available
    82,616
  • 3 or more vehicles available
    45,498

Commuting to Work

In this section, we can also look at how people in Bristol County get to work. The chart below shows the number of people in Bristol County that commute to work in a particular way.

28.3 minutes is the average travel time to work for people in Bristol County.

These commute times can be compared to other date like income and educational levels to see how they relate to each other and if there are any trends in the data that might suggest a correlation.

  • Less than 5 minutes
    7,687
  • 5 to 9 minutes
    22,509
  • 10 to 14 minutes
    38,665
  • 15 to 19 minutes
    38,929
  • 20 to 24 minutes
    32,557
  • 25 to 29 minutes
    17,118
  • 30 to 34 minutes
    30,404
  • 35 to 39 minutes
    8,846
  • 40 to 44 minutes
    10,082
  • 45 to 59 minutes
    24,082
  • 60 to 89 minutes
    22,946
  • 90 or more minutes
    9,096

Summary

We've covered a LOT of demographic and population data for Bristol County, Massachusetts in this article! Hopefully you have found it very useful in your research of the area.

If you use any of the data found on this page, please consider linking back to USPopulation.org as the source and if you have any feedback or data requests, click here to contact us.

Places in Bristol County, Massachusetts

We have data for 27 places in Bristol County, Massachusetts. Click on a place below to see more information about the demographics of that place.