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Massachusetts
State
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Flag Seal
Nickname(s):  The Bay State (official) The Pilgrim State; The Puritan State The Old Colony State The Baked Bean State
Motto(s):  Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem (Latin) By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty
Anthem: “All Hail to Massachusetts”
Map of the United States with Massachusetts highlighted
Country	United States
Before statehood	Province of Massachusetts Bay
Admitted to the Union	February 6, 1788 (6th)
Capital (and largest city)	Boston
Largest county or equivalent	Middlesex
Largest metro and urban areas	Greater Boston
Government
• Governor	Maura Healey (D)
• Lieutenant governor	Kim Driscoll (D)
Legislature	General Court
• Upper house	Senate
• Lower house	House of Representatives
Judiciary	Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
U.S. senators	Elizabeth Warren (D) Ed Markey (D)
U.S. House delegation	9 Democrats (list)
Area
• Total	10,565 sq mi (27,363 km)
• Land	7,800 sq mi (20,202 km)
• Water	2,715 sq mi (7,032 km)  26.1%
• Rank	44th
Dimensions
• Length	190 mi (296 km)
• Width	115 mi (184 km)
Elevation	508 ft (150 m)
Highest elevation (Mount Greylock)	3,489 ft (1,063.4 m)
Lowest elevation (Atlantic Ocean)	0 ft (0 m)
Population  (2023)
• Total	7,001,399
• Rank	16th
• Density	891/sq mi (344/km)
• Rank	3rd
• Median household income	$89,026
• Income rank	2nd
Demonym	Bay Stater (official) Masshole Massachusite (traditional) Massachusettsan (recommended by the U.S. GPO)
Language
• Official language	English
• Spoken language	English 75.00% Spanish 9.55% Portuguese 3.43% Chinese 2.05%
Time zone	UTC−05:00 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−04:00 (EDT)
USPS abbreviation	MA
ISO 3166 code	US-MA
Traditional abbreviation	Mass.
Latitude	41°14′ N to 42°53′ N
Longitude	69°56′ W to 73°30′ W
Website	mass.gov

State symbols of Massachusetts

List of state symbols
Flag of Massachusetts
Seal of Massachusetts
Poem	Blue Hills of Massachusetts
Slogan	Make It Yours, The Spirit of America
Living insignia
Bird	Black-capped chickadee, wild turkey
Fish	Cod
Flower	Mayflower
Insect	Ladybug
Mammal	Right whale, Morgan horse, Tabby cat, Boston Terrier
Reptile	Garter snake
Tree	American elm
Inanimate insignia
Beverage	Cranberry juice
Color(s)	Blue, green, cranberry
Dance	Square dance
Food	Cranberry, corn muffin, navy bean, Boston cream pie, chocolate chip cookie, Boston cream doughnut
Fossil	Dinosaur Tracks
Gemstone	Rhodonite
Mineral	Babingtonite
Rock	Roxbury Puddingstone
Shell	New England Neptune, Neptunea lyrata decemcostata
Ship	Schooner Ernestina
Soil	Paxton
Sport	Basketball
State route marker
State quarter
Released in 2000
Lists of United States state symbols

Massachusetts (, /-zɪts/ MASS-ə-CHOO-sits, -⁠zits; Massachusett: Muhsachuweesut [məhswatʃəwiːsət]), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode Island to its south, New Hampshire and Vermont to its north, and New York to its west. Massachusetts is the sixth-smallest state by land area. With over seven million residents as of 2020, it is the most populous state in New England, the 16th-most-populous in the country, and the third-most densely populated, after New Jersey and Rhode Island.

Massachusetts was a site of early English colonization. The Plymouth Colony was founded in 1620 by the Pilgrims of the Mayflower. In 1630, the Massachusetts Bay Colony, taking its name from the Indigenous Massachusett people, also established settlements in Boston and Salem. In 1692, the town of Salem and surrounding areas experienced one of America’s most infamous cases of mass hysteria, the Salem witch trials. In the late 18th century, Boston became known as the “Cradle of Liberty” for the agitation there that later led to the American Revolution. In 1786, Shays’ Rebellion, a populist revolt led by disaffected American Revolutionary War veterans, influenced the United States Constitutional Convention. Originally dependent on agriculture, fishing, and trade, Massachusetts was transformed into a manufacturing center during the Industrial Revolution. Before the American Civil War, the state was a center for the abolitionist, temperance, and transcendentalist movements. During the 20th century, the state’s economy shifted from manufacturing to services; and in the 21st century, Massachusetts has become the global leader in biotechnology, and also excels in artificial intelligence, engineering, higher education, finance, and maritime trade.

The state’s capital and most populous city, as well as its cultural and financial center, is Boston. Other major cities are Worcester, Springfield and Cambridge. Massachusetts is also home to the urban core of Greater Boston, the largest metropolitan area in New England and a region profoundly influential upon American history, academia, and the research economy. Massachusetts has a reputation for social and political progressivism; becoming the only U.S. state with a right to shelter law, and the first U.S. state, and one of the earliest jurisdictions in the world to legally recognize same-sex marriage. Harvard University in Cambridge is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States, with the largest financial endowment of any university in the world. Both Harvard and MIT, also in Cambridge, are perennially ranked as either the most or among the most highly regarded academic institutions in the world. Massachusetts’s public-school students place among the top tier in the world in academic performance.

Massachusetts is the most educated and one of the most highly developed and wealthiest U.S. states, ranking first in the percentage of population 25 and over with either a bachelor’s degree or advanced degree, first on both the American Human Development Index and the standard Human Development Index, first in per capita income, and as of 2023, first in median income. Consequently, Massachusetts typically ranks as the top U.S. state, as well as the most expensive state, for residents to live in.