Migration to and from Essex County, Massachusetts
Where Essex County residents came from and where they went over the 5-year window 2016-2020. Census ACS County-to-County Migration Flows, 2020 5-yr (frozen vintage).
Total inflow
31,858
people moved in (5-yr)
Total outflow
31,449
people moved out (5-yr)
Net migration
+409
inflow minus outflow
Top 10 counties people moved IN from
| Origin | State / Region | People (5-yr) |
|---|---|---|
| Middlesex County | Massachusetts | 8,631 |
| Suffolk County | Massachusetts | 4,501 |
| Caribbean | 1,657 | |
| Rockingham County | New Hampshire | 1,441 |
| Norfolk County | Massachusetts | 951 |
| Bristol County | Massachusetts | 880 |
| South America | 764 | |
| Worcester County | Massachusetts | 713 |
| Asia | 590 | |
| Europe | 562 |
Top 10 counties people moved OUT to
| Destination | State / Region | People (5-yr) |
|---|---|---|
| Middlesex County | Massachusetts | 7,064 |
| Suffolk County | Massachusetts | 2,813 |
| Rockingham County | New Hampshire | 2,605 |
| Bristol County | Massachusetts | 1,228 |
| Hillsborough County | New Hampshire | 1,072 |
| Norfolk County | Massachusetts | 831 |
| Worcester County | Massachusetts | 805 |
| Hampden County | Massachusetts | 709 |
| Plymouth County | Massachusetts | 701 |
| Strafford County | New Hampshire | 648 |
Explore Essex County
- Business data for Essex CountyConstruction sector establishments, employment, payroll
- Cities in MassachusettsACS demographic profiles for places statewide
- ZIP code lookupSearch demographic data by ZIP code
- Opportunity IndexRank counties by business growth potential
- Federal contracts in MAGovBids: RFPs, awards, NAICS matching
- New business filings in MassachusettsNewFilings: fresh SOS registrations
Methodology
- Counts represent the number of people aged 1+ who reported a different residence at the survey reference date than they did one year earlier, aggregated across the 5-year sample window 2016-2020.
- Outbound (OUT) flows are reported less frequently than inbound (IN) because the survey captures the destination side of each move. Many county pairs have null OUT counts, which is normal.
- "Total inflow" sums the published MOVEDIN counts across all origin counties, including foreign-region inflows (Africa, Asia, Central America, etc.). It is not the same as net population change.
- Frozen vintage. The Census Bureau has not released a newer county-to-county migration flows file. The 2020 5-yr vintage (covering 2016-2020) is the latest available as of build date.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, County-to-County Migration Flows: 2016-2020. Vintage: 2020 5-yr. Generated: 2026-05-28. FIPS: 25009.