Boston population, 2001–2024
Boston has an estimated population of 71,080 (mid-2024), up 27.4% since 2001. Official ONS mid-year estimates for the Boston local authority area.
71,080
population, mid-2024
+27.4%
since 2001
+5.9%
last 10 years
2023
peak year (71,126)
Year by year
| Year | Population | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 71,080 | -0.1% |
| 2023 | 71,126 | +0.5% |
| 2022 | 70,741 | -0.1% |
| 2021 | 70,815 | +0.9% |
| 2020 | 70,181 | -0.1% |
| 2019 | 70,226 | +0.1% |
| 2018 | 70,132 | +0.7% |
| 2017 | 69,673 | +1.6% |
| 2016 | 68,589 | +1.5% |
| 2015 | 67,586 | +0.7% |
| 2014 | 67,142 | +0.8% |
| 2013 | 66,612 | +2.1% |
| 2012 | 65,264 | +1.0% |
| 2011 | 64,615 | +0.2% |
| 2010 | 64,475 | +1.7% |
| 2009 | 63,399 | +2.0% |
| 2008 | 62,176 | +1.9% |
| 2007 | 61,036 | +2.1% |
| 2006 | 59,770 | +2.1% |
| 2005 | 58,551 | +0.8% |
| 2004 | 58,090 | +2.0% |
| 2003 | 56,975 | +1.0% |
| 2002 | 56,391 | +1.1% |
| 2001 | 55,802 | — |
Food businesses
Boston has 59 takeaways, 111 restaurants and cafés and 57 pubs and bars on the FSA's statutory register (as of July 2026) — 0.53 takeaways per restaurant against an English average of 0.49, and 8.3 takeaways per 10,000 residents. How that compares across England.
High street businesses
Boston has 50 hairdressers and beauty salons, 35 pubs and bars, 25 licensed restaurants, 35 takeaways on the ONS business register (2025). Compare across the UK.
Rounded to the nearest 5, which is how ONS protects individual businesses from being identified.
Figures are ONS mid-year population estimates for the Boston local authority area (code E07000136), which can differ from the population of a town of the same name. Sources & method.
Common questions
What is the population of Boston?
71,080, on the ONS mid-2024 estimate for the Boston local authority area. This page charts the full annual series back to 2001, so the figure sits in its twenty-year context rather than alone.
Is Boston growing or shrinking?
Growing: up 27.4% since 2001, from 55,802 to 71,080. The peak year in the series so far is 2023. Year-by-year figures and the chart are on this page.