Community & Data
Gloucester Demographics
A Portrait of Gloucester
Gloucester is a city of 29,729 people at the end of Cape Ann, and the numbers describe a place that skews older than most of Massachusetts: one in four residents is 65 or older, while about one in six is under 18. Nine in ten residents are white and not Hispanic, about one in ten was born outside the United States, and nearly two thirds of homes are owner occupied. For a student, one number matters more than the rest: the whole electorate is about 23,000 registered voters, so in a citywide race every single ballot is a visible fraction of the result. Figures below come from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Secretary of the Commonwealth.
Key Figures
Sources: US Census Bureau (data.census.gov), American Community Survey 5-year estimates 2020-2024.
Population & Households
- Population (2020 Census): 29,729
- Population estimate: 29,862
- Households: 13,444
- Persons per household: 2.2
- Foreign-born: 10.2% of residents
- Age 65 and over: 27.9%
- Under 18: 15.1%
- Speak a language other than English at home: 12.3%
Race & Ethnicity
- White (non-Hispanic): 89.1%
- Asian: 1.7%
- Black or African American: 1.5%
- Hispanic or Latino (any race): 5.3%
- Two or more races: 4.9%
- Veterans: 5.8%
Economy & Housing
- Median household income: $83,883
- Poverty rate: 9.6%
- Median home value: $600,600
- Median gross rent: $1,411
- Homeownership: 63.9% of units
- In the labor force: 63.9%
Registered Voters
Massachusetts publishes voter-registration counts by city through the Secretary of the Commonwealth. As in most of the state, Gloucester’s largest bloc by far is voters who choose no party at all. That matters in a city where the biggest local decisions, like the 2025 race for mayor, are settled in a citywide general election rather than in a party primary.
- Total registered: 24,058
- Unenrolled (no party): 16,914 (70.31%)
- Democrats: 5,082 (21.12%)
- Republicans: 1,814 (7.54%)
- Political designations: 248 (1.03%)
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey five-year estimates and the 2020 Census.
- MA Secretary of the Commonwealth, Voter Registration (enrollment as of August 22, 2026).
- MA DESE, Gloucester Public Schools
- Secretary of the Commonwealth, Massachusetts Elections Calendar: August 22, 2026 was the last day to register to vote and change party enrollment for the September 1, 2026 state primary (G. L. c. 51, sections 26 and 28), which is the date this enrollment count is as of.
See how Gloucester fits into the broader Commonwealth.