Somerville is a larger medium-sized coastal city (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Massachusetts. With a population of 79,762 people and 25 associated neighborhoods, Somerville is the 13th largest community in Massachusetts. Somerville has an unusually large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic cities.

Somerville home prices are not only among the most expensive in Massachusetts, but Somerville real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.

Also of interest is that Somerville has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

And if you like science, one thing you'll find is that Somerville has lots of scientists living in town - whether they be life scientists, physical scientists (like astronomers), or social scientists (like geographers!). So, if you're scientific-minded, you might like it here too.

Of important note, Somerville is also a city of artists. Somerville has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Somerville’s character.

Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 24.78% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

One thing that you will notice about Somerville is that there is a good-sized population of people who are young, single, educated, and upwardly-mobile career starters. Many singles consider Somerville a good place to live without being in a really big city, with opportunities for friendships and fun with others like themselves.

Somerville is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Such areas are often places that visitors and locals go for waterfront activities or taking in the scenery.

One downside of living in Somerville is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In Somerville, the average commute to work is 33.16 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average. On the other hand, local public transit is widely used in the city, so leaving the car at home and taking transit is often a viable alternative. In addition, it is also a pedestrian-friendly city. Many of Somerville’s neighborhoods are dense enough and have amenities close enough together that people find it feasible to get around on foot.

For the size of the city, public transportation in Somerville is quite heavily used. Mostly, people who use it for their daily commute are taking the subway. For Somerville, the benefits are reduced air pollution and congestion on the highways.

If knowledge is power, Somerville is a pretty powerful place. 67.18% of the adults in Somerville have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns.

The per capita income in Somerville in 2018 was $65,100, which is upper middle income relative to Massachusetts, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $260,400 for a family of four. However, Somerville contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Somerville is a very ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Somerville home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Somerville residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Somerville also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 10.88% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Somerville include Irish, Italian, English, German, and Portuguese.

Foreign born people are also an important part of Somerville's cultural character, accounting for 23.65% of the city’s population.

The most common language spoken in Somerville is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Portuguese.