Entries by Axel Portnoy

How Has Employment Changed In Massachusetts?

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In 2013, 60.1 percent of the civilian non-institutional population (people over 16 who are not in active duty) in Massachusetts was employed, growing to 62.9 percent in 2023, Even with COVID’s effect on employment from 2019 to 2022, employment rates have  increased over the last  decade.  Looking at employment trends provided by Pioneer’s website under Labor Analytics, it is evident that even though overall employment has risen , 20-24 and 16-19 years-olds are working less , while older generations are working more.  For example, in 2007 69 percent of those ages 20-24 in Massachusetts were employed, and in 2023 only 61 percent of 20-24 year olds in Massachusetts were employed. Furthermore, for those aged between 16-19, employment has decreased from […]

How Has Transportation Been Changing In Massachusetts?

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The population of Massachusetts has steadily increased over the last 20 years. In 2001 it was 6,397,634 and in 2022 it was 6,981,974 – a 9.13 percent increase. More specifically, from 2008 to 2015 the population increased from 6,468.967 to 6,794,228. It might be expected that with hundreds of thousands of new residents in the state the number of registered vehicles would grow as well. However, after a sustained period of growth until 2010, there has been a major drop off in the number of vehicles registered in Massachusetts.  From 2001 to 2010, the number of registered vehicles rose steadily, from 5,698,108 to 6,869,534. However, in 2011 the number of registered vehicles began to decrease. The sharpest decline came from […]

State Employee Labor Force Vs State Revenue Growth: Are They Related?

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State jobs represent a significant amount of the labor pool in Massachusetts. In 2022, the state employed 85,634 workers. Massachusetts total state revenue has consistently increased over the last 10 years, but did the growth correlate to a spike in state jobs?  In 2010, total state revenue was just over $70 billion growing to $122 billion in 2022. When taking inflation into account, that’s an almost 27% increase.    Figure 1: Source: MassOpenBooks (2009 – 2022)  (yes representing usable revenue and no representing non usable revenue) In 2010 there were 74,021 state employees growing to 85,634 employees in 2022, an increase of 15.7% (Figure 2). Between 2020 and 2021 Massachusetts saw an $11 billion increase in total state revenue. Factoring in […]

How Does Police Funding Affect Property Crime?

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Since 2017, crime rates in Massachusetts have varied significantly by municipality. In some towns, crime has increased significantly, while in others it has dropped. When looking at property crime rates, the data has fluctuated greatly between 2017 and 2022.  In municipalities such as Cambridge, Hadley, and Seekonk property crime rates have significantly increased. For example, Cambridge had 2,031 property crimes in 2017 and in 2022 there were 2,622. Furthermore, Cambridge’s property crime occurrences per 100,000 people increased from 1,818 in 2017 to 2,240 in 2022. Moreover, Hadley went from 2,490 property crime occurrences per 100,000 people in 2017 to 3,509 property crime occurrences per 100,000 people in 2022. Seekonk’s property crime occurrences per 100,000 also increased significantly from 1701 occurrences […]

Suffolk County Residential and Commercial Taxation Changes Since 2018

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Massachusetts is a relatively rich state, with an average assessed home value of $194,497 per capita. Many of the Commonwealth’s communities have undergone significant changes in the last several years. For example, Suffolk County, which includes Boston, Revere, Winthrop, and Chelsea, has faced fluctuations in home development and taxation since 2018.  Boston, being the largest urban hub in New England, makes up the lion’s share of residential parcels in Suffolk County – 150,999 in 2023, or over 85 percent of all parcels. Since 2018, residential parcels in Suffolk County have increased in every town: from 141,642 to 150,999 in Boston, 13,347 to 13,421 in Revere, 5,648 to 5,707 in Chelsea, and from 5,243 to 5,344 in Winthrop.  Furthermore, Suffolk County […]