Community & Data
Demographics
A Portrait of Bedford
Bedford covers 13.662 square miles of Middlesex County, about 1,053 people to the square mile, and the numbers describe a town that is wealthier and more owner-occupied than the Commonwealth as a whole, and more foreign-born than most of it. More than one resident in five was born outside the United States, and nearly one in four speaks a language other than English at home. The median household income is $158,964 and the poverty rate is 4.1 percent. Figures below are from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Secretary of the Commonwealth. Follow the source links for the latest.
Key Figures
Sources: US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
Population & Households
- Population (2020 Census): 14,383
- Households: 5,797
- Persons per household: 2.4
- Foreign-born: 23.3% of residents
- Age 65 and over: 18.1%
- Under 18: 22.6%
Race & Ethnicity
- White: 74.5%
- Asian: 16.4%
- Black or African American: 2.1%
- Hispanic or Latino (any race): 4.1%
- Two or more races: 5.7%
- Speak a language other than English at home: 22.9%
Economy & Housing
- Median household income: $158,964
- Poverty rate: 4.1%
- Median home value: $878,200
- Median gross rent: $2,445
- Homeownership: 71.6% of units
- In the labor force: 65.5%
Registered Voters
Massachusetts publishes voter-registration counts by town through the Secretary of the Commonwealth. As in most of the state, Bedford’s largest bloc by far is voters who choose no party at all, which is worth knowing before anyone tells you how this town votes.
- Total registered: 10,434
- Unenrolled (no party): 6,939 (66.50%)
- Democrats: 2,659 (25.48%)
- Republicans: 775 (7.43%)
What One Local Ballot Decided
On Saturday, March 14, 2026, Bedford held its Annual Town Election at a single polling place, the John Glenn Middle School, from 8:00am to 6:00pm. The Town Clerk’s official results sheet records 1,412 ballots cast out of 10,733 registered voters, 13 percent of the voter population, across four precincts and one sub-precinct.
Those 1,412 ballots filled eleven seats for everyone else: two on the Select Board, two on the School Committee, three Library Trustee seats, two on the Board of Health, two on the Planning Board, one on the Board of Assessors and one on the Housing Authority. They also settled a ballot question amending the town’s own charter, 782 to 410, with 220 voters leaving it blank. That question was the second of two required votes. Town Meeting had already approved the amendments at a Special Town Meeting in November 2025. Roughly one in eight registered voters decided all of it, which tells you what a single ballot is worth in a town election.
Sources
See how Bedford fits into the broader Commonwealth.