Northeast Massachusetts

american community survey 5-year breakdown by county

According to the 2016–2020 American Community Survey 5-year estimates, there were 104,245 veterans living in Suffolk, Essex, and Middlesex Counties. Veterans in Northeast Massachusetts were less likely than the general population to have their income fall below the poverty level, but 6,844 veterans did have this experience in the prior year.

Suffolk County veterans were the most likely to live below the poverty line. Suffolk County also has the youngest and most diverse veteran population with the largest proportions of veterans in the Northeast:

• who are women (9.4%);

• who are black or African American only (18.6%);

• who are under age 55 (35.5%); or

• who have served since the 1990 Gulf War Era began (40.2%).

Suffolk County also has the smallest proportion of veterans compared to the general population (2.7%) and the smallest proportion of veterans who are white alone and not hispanic or latino (66.9%).

Essex County veterans were the most likely to have a disability and the least likely to have their incomes fall below the poverty line in the prior year. Middlesex County had the most veterans in poverty and the most veterans with disabilities. Middlesex County also had the most veterans of all counties (54,833) and the most women veterans (3,642).

Although veterans in Northeast Massachusetts were more likely to have graduated high school and to have completed some college or an associate’s degree, they were less likely to have completed a bachelor’s degree or higher compared to the general population in all three counties. Middlesex County had the biggest gap with 42 percent of veterans having a bachelor’s degree or higher compared to 57.8 percent of the general population. There are substantial differences in lifetime earnings by educational attainment.

Women veterans in Northeast Massachusetts earned lower median incomes overall relative to male veterans in 2020 inflation-adjusted dollars, but earned more than non-veteran women in all counties. Syracuse University’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families’ published similar findings on women veterans’ earnings relative to male veterans in March 2020––Women in the Military: Transition, Employment, and Higher Education After Service.

earnings In 2020 inflation-adjusted dollars

Veterans in Middlesex County were about as likely to be in the labor force and employed as non-veterans. Veterans in Essex County were more likely to participate in the labor force than the general population and more likely to be unemployed than non-veterans. Veterans in Suffolk County were less likely to be in the labor force than non-veterans and less likely to be unemployed if they were in the labor force.

• Male veterans earned less than non-veteran men in Essex and Middlesex Counties. The biggest gap was in Middlesex County, where male veterans earned $9,355 less on average than non-veteran men.

• Women veterans earned more than non-veteran women in all counties. The biggest difference was in Essex County, where women veterans earned $12,711 more on average than non-veteran women.

• Women veterans earned less than male veterans in all counties; the biggest gap between women and men veterans’ annual incomes was in Suffolk County, where male veterans earned $5,082 more on average than women veterans.