About Massachusetts

Massachusetts punches far above its weight. It is the 44th-largest state by area, smaller than West Virginia , yet it is home to the oldest university in America, the world's most productive biotech cluster, and more history per square mile than almost anywhere else in the country. Two presidents were born within miles of each other in the same town. The American Revolution started here. The national anthem was written about a battle fought nearby. The first public school, the first college, the first regularly published newspaper in America, all Massachusetts.

The state's modern economy is built on three overlapping foundations: education, healthcare, and innovation. Harvard and MIT in Cambridge produce a constant stream of research, talent, and startups. Kendall Square, a single square mile next to MIT, has the highest concentration of biotechnology companies on Earth. Boston's hospitals are among the best in the world. The result is one of the highest per-capita incomes and levels of educational attainment of any state in the nation.

Politically, Massachusetts is one of the most reliably Democratic states in the country, yet it has a long tradition of electing Republican governors, Mitt Romney, Charlie Baker, who govern pragmatically in a state where the legislature is overwhelmingly Democratic. Maura Healey, elected in 2022, made history as the first openly lesbian governor elected in U.S. history and the first woman elected governor of Massachusetts.