Lowell, Massachusetts population is 119,971 as of July 1, 2025 (U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 estimate), ranking #255 nationally and #5 in Massachusetts. Cost of living runs 8.3% above the U.S. average (BEA RPP 2024); a family of four needs roughly $131,536/yr to break even (2025 modeled). This profile draws on 13 federal datasets covering population, housing, income, employment, climate, and risk.
At a glance.
2025 population
119,971
-124 in the last year
Top 2% of 19,483 U.S. cities
Census Vintage 2025
Cost of living
RPP 108.3
+8.3% vs US
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro · BEA 2024
Family-of-4 budget
$131,536/yr
+64% vs US
Modeled 2025 · federal sources
Median HH income
$78,658
+1.2% vs US
ACS 2020–2024 5-yr
Median home value
$429,200
+41% vs US
ACS 2020–2024 5-yr
2-BR fair-market rent
$2,941/mo
HUD FY2026 · 40th pct
Avg July high
84°F
NOAA 1991–2020
Gigabit broadband
91%
ISP-reported, FCC BDC
Explore Lowell, MA demographics, including age, race and ethnicity, households, origins, language, and education.
How many people live in Lowell?
119,971 people live in Lowell as of July 1, 2025 (U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025), the #255 largest U.S. city.
How big is Lowell?
Lowell covers 13.6 square miles of land and 0.9 square miles of water. Its population density is about 8,815 residents per square mile of land. Compare U.S. cities by land area →
Source detail: 2025 population
2025 population
Source agency
U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division
Dataset
Census PEP
Vintage / period
Vintage 2025 (Jul 1, 2025)
Native geography
Census PEP subcounty place records for the included city universe.
Transformation
Copied from POPESTIMATE2025, joined by Census GEOID, and used for ranks, filters, and city pages.
Known limit: Annual estimate, not a decennial count; each new PEP vintage can revise the prior series.
Population grew 3.8% from the April 2020 base to mid-2025.
Vintage 2025 · annual estimates
Recent history (V2025 series, 2020 base → 2025).
2020 base: 115,596 → 2025: 119,971 (+3.8%)
Year
Population
Reference date
2020 base
115,596
April 1, 2020
2020
115,783
July 1, 2020
2021
117,874
July 1, 2021
2022
118,356
July 1, 2022
2023
118,857
July 1, 2023
2024
120,095
July 1, 2024
2025
119,971
July 1, 2025
Earlier history (2010–2019, prior Census vintage)
These figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Vintage 2019 release — a separate, earlier methodology. They’re shown here as historical context only; the 2010 and 2019 values aren’t directly comparable to the 2020–2025 series above.
Population grew 3.9% from the July 2010 estimate to 2019 (V2019 — see seam note below).
Lowell is the #255 largest of 19,483 U.S. cities and #5 in Massachusetts.
▸Show the analyst detail (9 rows)
Measure
Value
Note
2020 base
115,596
April 1, 2020 census base
5-yr change
+4,375
2020 base → 2025; within V2025
5-yr change %
+3.8%
within V2025 only
1-yr change
-124
2024 → 2025 estimate
1-yr change %
-0.1%
within V2025 only
Density
8,815
people per sq mi, land only
Land area
13.6
sq mi (2025 Gazetteer)
U.S. rank by population
#255
of 19,483 cities
State rank by population
#5
of 58 in Massachusetts
What is the median household income in Lowell?
Median household income is 1% above the U.S. median ($78,658 vs $77,719); 16.9% live in poverty — 4.4 points above the 12.5% U.S. rate.
Median household income$78,658
US
Lowell: $78,658 — 1% above the US median of $77,719.
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of cities with ACS income data
Lowell
$78,658
United States
$77,719
Income and poverty estimates for Lowell from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year estimates (window 2020–2024). Every figure is shown with its 90% margin of error (MOE). Cells where the ± margin exceeds half the estimate are flagged "low precision." See methodology §12.
Measure
Estimate
± margin / note
Median household income
78,658+1.2% vs US
±3,823
Per capita income
36,400-15.9% vs US
±1,287
Population in poverty
16.9%
share of population for whom poverty status is determined
Median home value is 41% above the U.S. median ($429,200 vs $303,400); median rent is 21% above ($1,625 vs $1,348); price-to-income ratio is 5.5×, making it 1.4× as cost-burdened as the typical U.S. city (3.9×).
Median home value$429,200
US
Lowell: $429,200 — 41% above the US median of $303,400.
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of cities with ACS home-value data
HUD 2-BR fair-market rent$2,941/mo
US
Lowell: $2,941/mo — 173% above the US median of $1,077/mo.
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of cities with a HUD Fair Market Rent
Poverty (Census SAIPE 2024, model-based), unemployment (BLS LAUS 2024 annual averages), and remote-work share (ACS 2020–2024) for Lowell. Numbers are labeled at their native grain — place-grain when BLS publishes it, otherwise per-county. We do not compute population-weighted county averages. See methodology §13.
Measure
Value
Grain
Unemployment rate (annual avg)
4.6%
Lowell (BLS sub-state LAUS)
Civilian labor force
62,328
2024 annual avg
Worked from home
10.6%-24.1% vs US
share of workers 16+ commuting from home · U.S. median: 14% · ACS
County context — Lowell sits in Middlesex County:
County
Poverty rate
Median HH income
Unemployment
Middlesex County
7.8%
$132,599
3.6%
Top industries by private employment — NAICS supersectors rolled up from Lowell's linked county in the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW, 2024 annual averages). See methodology §11.
#
Industry (NAICS supersector)
Private employment
Avg weekly wage
#1
Professional and technical services (54)
159,395
$3,815 / wk
#2
Health care and social assistance (62)
125,576
$1,366 / wk
#3
Retail trade (44-45)
70,488
$885 / wk
#4
Manufacturing (31-33)
67,086
$2,636 / wk
#5
Accommodation and food services (72)
62,812
$727 / wk
What workers earn in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro — top occupations by employment plus six curated benchmarks (registered nurse, software developer, elementary teacher, general manager, retail salesperson, truck driver). Wages are metro-area medians from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). See methodology §25.
Home Health and Personal Care Aides is the largest tracked occupation in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro (72,420 jobs, median $40,910/yr).
▸Show all 12 occupations
Occupation
Employment
Median annual
Median hourly
Home Health and Personal Care Aides
72,420
$40,910
$19.67
Fast Food and Counter Workers
60,130
$36,290
$17.45
Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners
43,160
$46,550
$22.38
Cashiers
42,920
$36,040
$17.33
Waiters and Waitresses
41,570
$39,270
$18.88
Customer Service Representatives
37,780
$49,920
$24.00
General and Operations Managers · benchmark
70,950
$133,800
$64.33
Registered Nurses · benchmark
64,240
$106,180
$51.05
Retail Salespersons · benchmark
64,150
$36,850
$17.72
Software Developers · benchmark
42,310
$166,090
$79.85
Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education · benchmark
20,340
$98,060
—
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers · benchmark
All items run 8.3% above the U.S. average (RPP 108.3); rents run 48.4% above (RPP 148.4) — the metro's housing premium is the main driver.
Cost of living (RPP, all items)RPP 108.3
US
Lowell's cost of living runs 8.3% above the U.S. average (RPP 108.3 vs 100).
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of metro/non-metro areas with a BEA price parity
BEA Regional Price Parity (all items)
RPP 108.3
+8.3% vs U.S. average · BEA 2024 · Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro
HUD Fair Market Rent, 2-BR
$2,941/mo
FY2026 · Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH HUD Metro FMR Area
State income tax (top marginal rate)
9.00%
2 brackets · TY2025
Family-of-four monthly budget total
$10,961/mo
3BR rent + food + childcare + taxes + transport · federal sources
Single-adult monthly budget total
$5,474/mo
1BR rent + food + taxes + transport · federal sources
Local income tax
—
not applicable in Massachusetts · no modeled local income tax
Household budget figures are arithmetic floors using current federal sources at the grains documented in methodology. Not a recommended salary, not a poverty threshold, not a composite score.
30.5% foreign-born (U.S. median 14%); Spanish is the most-spoken language at home other than English (13.6% of residents 5+).
A quick read on Lowell's residents — nativity and languages spoken at home shown above, from the ACS 5-Year 2020–2024. The full demographic breakdown (age, race and ethnicity, household types, and educational attainment, each with its margin of error) lives on the demographics page.
Hottest month: July (84°F avg high). Coldest: January (16°F avg low). Annual precipitation: 46.4 in.
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) for Lowell from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. See methodology §15 for the gridded vs. station source path.
Average monthly highs & lows · 30-year normal (NOAA 1991–2020). Every number on this chart is an average.
bar = avg daily high → avg daily lowprecip in inches below each barprecip in millimeters below each bar
Composite risk score: 96.9/100 — Relatively High nationally; top hazard: Ice Storm (99.7).
Natural-hazard exposure for Lowell from the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index (FEMA NRI December 2025 v1.20.0). NRI is an expected-annual-loss composite calibrated on 1996–2019 historical losses, published at the U.S. county grain. See methodology §17.
County
NRI composite
Rating
Top hazards
Middlesex County
96.9
Relatively High
Ice Storm 99.7 Very High · Riverine Flooding 98.5 Relatively High · Lightning 96.3 Relatively High
Source: FEMA National Risk Index · FEMA NRI December 2025 v1.20.0 · methodology →
How fast is home internet in Lowell?
9 non-satellite ISPs serve the area; 91% of locations have gigabit-capable service per ISP filings.
Fixed broadband availability for Lowell from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's Broadband Data Collection (BDC), as of June 30, 2025. Every speed and provider count below is an ISP-reported advertised maximum — not measured throughput. Actual delivered speeds typically run 60–80% of advertised. See methodology §16.
Measure
Value
Note
Providers serving this city
9 + satellite
distinct ISPs, excluding satellite-only
Fiber providers
7
offer fiber-to-the-premises somewhere in the BDC
Units with ≥100/20 Mbps fixed
100.0%
share of broadband-serviceable units, ISP-reported max
Locations with ≥100 Mbps upload
91.2%
derived: max(fiber ≥100/20, gigabit). Fiber is symmetric; gigabit is ≥100 up by definition
Units with ≥1 Gbps fixed
91.2%
share of broadband-serviceable units, ISP-reported max
Total broadband-serviceable units
45,119
residential locations in the FCC Fabric (not households)
Source: FCC BDC · as of June 30, 2025 · methodology →
In-state context.
Lowell sits at state rank #5 among 58 cities in Massachusetts. Nearby in the state ranking:
Just above in the profiled set: Nampa, ID · #254 · 120,384 residents.
Just below in the profiled set: League City, TX · #256 · 119,905 residents.
Quick travel facts for Lowell
Quick travel facts.
Nearest commercial airport
Laurence G Hanscom Field(BED) · 12 mi 19 km from city centroid
Best months to visit
May · months when the avg high sits in 65–80°F and precipitation is at or below the city's median monthly precip
Sources: elevation from USGS Elevation Point Query Service (3DEP) · nearest airport from OurAirports CSV (FAA-aligned, type=large/medium, scheduled_service=yes) · best months derived from NOAA 1991-2020 normals · methodology →
Frequently asked questions about Lowell.
How many people live in Lowell, MA?
Lowell has 119,971 residents as of July 1, 2025, making it the #255 largest city in the United States and #5 in Massachusetts. Source: U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025.
Is Lowell growing or shrinking?
Lowell has grown 3.8% since the April 2020 census baseline, adding 4,375 residents. The most recent year ticked down slightly (−124 residents, −0.1% from 2024 to 2025). Source: Census PEP Vintage 2025.
The GEOID for Lowell is 2537000. These are the official datasets used by this profile's main data modules; click "methodology" for inclusion rules and the V2019 ↔ V2025 seam, or "source" for the raw publisher page. The headline population value above includes a source-detail disclosure with publisher, dataset, vintage, native geography, transformation, and caveat.
