Norfolk County, Massachusetts Population and Demographics

In this article, we'll explore the population statistics for Norfolk 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 Norfolk County, Massachusetts. The most basic data is the total population, which is the total number of people living in Norfolk County, Massachusetts. The estimated population of Norfolk County, Massachusetts is 720,403 people, with a median age of 40.7.

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

Year Population Change 5-Year Change
2021
720,403
+2.37%
+3.75%
2020
703,740
+0.47%
-
2019
700,437
+0.31%
-
2018
698,249
+0.56%
-
2017
694,389
 - -

Population of Norfolk 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
72.4%
76.7%
 -5.61%
Black/African American
6.8%
6.3%
 +7.94%
Native
0.1%
0.1%
 0.00%
Hispanic
5%
4.2%
 +19.05%
Asian
11.7%
10.3%
 +13.59%
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
0%
0%
 0.00%
Two Or More Races
3.3%
2%
 +65.00%
Other
0.6%
0.5%
 +20.00%

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 Norfolk 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 40.7 -0.49% 39.6 0% 41.9 -0.95%
2020 40.9 0% 39.6 +0.25% 42.3 -0.24%
2019 40.9 0% 39.5 -0.25% 42.4 +0.47%
2018 40.9 -0.24% 39.6 0% 42.2 -0.47%
2017 41 - 39.6 - 42.4 -

The median age of Norfolk 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 39,603 +0.39% 38,498 -0.61% 39,749 38,225
10 to 19 45,224 +2.88% 43,691 +3.09% 46,516 45,023
20 to 29 41,535 +4.68% 43,957 +3.33% 43,510 45,437
30 to 39 42,049 +10.13% 43,836 +10.3% 46,455 48,521
40 to 49 46,299 -0.03% 50,072 -5.61% 46,256 47,299
50 to 59 50,309 +2.23% 54,169 -0.42% 51,426 53,930
60 to 69 37,444 +10.26% 41,208 +9.3% 41,406 45,153
70+ 30,774 +9.43% 45,721 +4.33% 33,774 47,723

Median Household Income

The latest median household income of Norfolk County, Massachusetts is $112,089.00.

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 Norfolk County.

  • Under 25
    $66,048.00
  • 25 to 44
    $129,266.00
  • 45 to 64
    $137,857.00
  • 65 and over
    $66,787.00

Average Household Income

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

This is calculated by adding up all the incomes of all the households in Norfolk 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 Norfolk County, Massachusetts is currently $155,586.00.

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.

23.74% of households in Norfolk 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 Norfolk County against other areas.

  • Less than $24,999
    10.97%
  • $25,000 to $49,999
    10.99%
  • $50,000 to $74,999
    11.67%
  • $75,000 to $99,999
    11.04%
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    18.97%
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    12.61%
  • $200,000 or more
    23.74%

Per Capita Income

The per capita income in Norfolk County is $60,406.00.

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

This is different from the average or mean income because it includes and accounts for all people in Norfolk 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 Norfolk 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
    26.08%
  • Bachelor's degree
    42.34%
  • Some college or associate's degree
    5.88%
  • High school diploma or equivalent
    23.73%
  • Less than high school diploma
    1.97%

Employment

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

The total population of Norfolk County over the age of 16 is 588,539.

Of those people, a total of 69.30% 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 Norfolk County is 65.70%.

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 37,649 39.40% 13.90%
20 to 24 years 44,037 75.80% 10.60%
25 to 29 years 44,910 87.60% 4.30%
30 to 34 years 47,778 88.90% 3.70%
35 to 44 years 92,811 87.70% 3.90%
45 to 54 years 99,858 86.60% 4.20%
55 to 59 years 53,440 83.10% 4.40%
60 to 64 years 47,810 71.70% 4.00%
65 to 74 years 68,943 38.50% 5.30%
75 years and over 51,303 9.00% 4.20%

Employment by Race

Another very interesting employment statistic we can look at is the employment and unemployment rates by race in Norfolk 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 447,538 68.30% 4.50%
Black or African American 40,947 73.80% 9.20%
American Indian and Alaska Native 749 47.80% 0.00%
Asian 68,650 70.60% 4.40%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 221 62.40% 0.00%
Other 9,815 78.00% 5.50%
Two or more races 20,619 73.50% 9.40%
Hispanic or Latino 26,788 76.10% 6.20%
Not Hispanic or Latino 435,901 68.20% 4.50%

Occupations

In this section we can look at the most common occupations in Norfolk 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 Norfolk County is 386,932, with median earnings of $64,287.00.

Women in Norfolk County, Massachusetts earning approximately 71.70% of the men's earnings.

Population Earnings
Total 386,932 $64,287.00
Male 197,252 $74,898.00
Female 189,680 $53,674.00

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 57,005 $106,661.00
Business and Financial 34,677 $87,779.00
Computer and Mathematical 23,074 $101,246.00
Architecture and Engineering 8,768 $97,573.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 9,640 $90,254.00
Community and Social Service 6,952 $55,252.00
Legal 7,889 $118,203.00
Educational and Library 30,481 $56,730.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 8,869 $50,123.00
Healthcare Practitioners 32,071 $83,724.00
Healthcare Support 8,619 $32,368.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 4,050 $48,333.00
Law Enforcement 3,223 $91,367.00
Food Preparation and Serving 16,732 $19,050.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 8,119 $29,590.00
Personal Care and Service 10,904 $19,164.00
Sales 34,442 $54,338.00
Office and Administrative Support 37,284 $43,729.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 336 $16,630.00
Construction and Extraction 13,852 $63,127.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 6,670 $55,957.00
Production 8,311 $43,970.00
Transportation and Material Moving 8,411 $40,799.00

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 32,500 $124,823.00 24,505 $88,888.00
Business and Financial 16,774 $102,432.00 17,903 $79,559.00
Computer and Mathematical 16,392 $105,068.00 6,682 $90,826.00
Architecture and Engineering 7,240 $99,707.00 1,528 $82,727.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 5,044 $105,105.00 4,596 $77,217.00
Community and Social Service 2,003 $54,935.00 4,949 $55,422.00
Legal 4,557 $159,160.00 3,332 $89,233.00
Educational and Library 8,695 $73,304.00 21,786 $45,607.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 3,968 $64,850.00 4,901 $45,991.00
Healthcare Practitioners 8,333 $103,229.00 23,738 $79,533.00
Healthcare Support 1,707 $33,393.00 6,912 $32,281.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 2,903 $73,688.00 1,147 $10,156.00
Law Enforcement 2,707 $92,195.00 516 $83,559.00
Food Preparation and Serving 8,083 $20,939.00 8,649 $16,668.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 5,501 $37,158.00 2,618 $18,077.00
Personal Care and Service 2,858 $18,571.00 8,046 $19,251.00
Sales 19,263 $70,990.00 15,179 $33,357.00
Office and Administrative Support 10,527 $49,632.00 26,757 $42,402.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 263 $7,359.00 73 $35,640.00
Construction and Extraction 13,368 $62,664.00 484 $84,375.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 6,278 $57,141.00 392 $33,681.00
Production 6,043 $47,140.00 2,268 $34,724.00
Transportation and Material Moving 7,232 $42,081.00 1,179 $30,099.00

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 276,744 households in Norfolk County, with an average household size of 2.54 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 182,778 families in Norfolk County with an average family size of 3.12 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 146,764 9,781 26,233 93,966
Average Household Size 3.23 3.06 2.94 1.29
Total Families 146,764 9,781 26,233 0
Average Household Size 3.21 2.76 2.77 0

Poverty

Of the 182,778 families in Norfolk County, 4.00% are considered to be below the poverty threshold.

The table below shows the latest poverty thresholds in Norfolk 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 289,052 housing units in Norfolk County, Massachusetts.

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

Total Percentage
Occupied 276,744 95.74%
Vacant 12,308 4.26%

29.19% of the total 289,052 housing units in Norfolk County are rental units. This is approximately 84,375 properties.

For owner-occupied housing units, a total of 189,105 are occupied by the owner - or 65.42% of the total.

Rental Rates

The median rent for a property in Norfolk County is $1,781.00.

In the chart below, we can look at the number of rental properties in Norfolk 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
    3,264
  • Less than $500
    8,164
  • $500 to $999
    7,265
  • $1,000 to $1,499
    13,752
  • $1,500 to $1,999
    23,110
  • $2,000 to $2,499
    16,795
  • $2,500 to $2,999
    8,185
  • $3,000 or more
    7,104

Property Value

The median value of a property in Norfolk County is $529,200.00.

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

  • Less than $50,000
    2,408
  • $50,000 to $99,999
    878
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    1,345
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    2,243
  • $200,000 to $299,999
    13,460
  • $300,000 to $499,999
    67,885
  • $500,000 to $999,999
    76,677
  • $1,000,000 or more
    24,209

Property Age

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

  • 1939 or earlier
    78,078
  • 1940 to 1949
    18,208
  • 1950 to 1959
    39,073
  • 1960 to 1969
    33,360
  • 1970 to 1979
    32,244
  • 1980 to 1989
    29,909
  • 1990 to 1999
    21,788
  • 2000 to 2009
    19,726
  • 2010 to 2013
    16,252
  • 2014 or later
    414

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 Norfolk County that have a particular number of vehicles available.

  • No vehicles available
    25,243
  • 1 vehicle available
    94,709
  • 2 vehicles available
    111,174
  • 3 or more vehicles available
    45,618

Commuting to Work

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

33.6 minutes is the average travel time to work for people in Norfolk 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
    6,276
  • 5 to 9 minutes
    20,726
  • 10 to 14 minutes
    29,829
  • 15 to 19 minutes
    34,806
  • 20 to 24 minutes
    35,011
  • 25 to 29 minutes
    17,745
  • 30 to 34 minutes
    45,255
  • 35 to 39 minutes
    13,065
  • 40 to 44 minutes
    20,111
  • 45 to 59 minutes
    46,477
  • 60 to 89 minutes
    41,958
  • 90 or more minutes
    12,033

Summary

We've covered a LOT of demographic and population data for Norfolk 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 Norfolk County, Massachusetts

We have data for 39 places in Norfolk County, Massachusetts. Click on a place below to see more information about the demographics of that place.