Medford 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 59,898 people and 14 associated neighborhoods, Medford is the 21st largest community in Massachusetts. Medford has an unusually large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic cities.

Housing costs in Medford are among some of the highest in the nation, although real estate prices here don't compare to real estate prices in the most expensive communities in Massachusetts.

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

Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 26.81% 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 Medford is that there is a good-sized population of people who are young, single, educated, and upwardly-mobile career starters. Many singles consider Medford a good place to live without being in a really big city, with opportunities for friendships and fun with others like themselves.

Medford 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 Medford, however, is that residents on average have to contend with a long commute, spending on average 31.54 minutes every day commuting to work. It is, however, a pedestrian-friendly city. Many of its neighborhoods are dense enough and have amenities close enough together that people find it feasible to get around on foot. In addition, local public transit is widely used. For those who would prefer to avoid driving entirely and leave their car at home, it may be an option to use the transit instead.

Although the majority of commuting trips in the city are by private automobile, Medford is somewhat unusual for a city of its size for having a substantial number of people who use public transportation. For a lot of people, the subway helps to get to and from their jobs every morning, which benefits everyone in the Medford area by reducing both traffic and air pollution.

Do you like to read, write and learn? If you move to Medford, you'll likely find that many of your neighbors like to as well. Medford is one of the more educated communities in America, with a full 59.81% of its adults having a college degree or even advanced degree, compared to a national average across all communities of 21.84%.

The per capita income in Medford in 2022 was $66,184, which is upper middle income relative to Massachusetts, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $264,736 for a family of four. However, Medford contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Medford is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Medford home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Medford residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Medford include Irish, Italian, English, German, and Polish.

Foreign born people are also an important part of Medford's cultural character, accounting for 23.26% of the city’s population.

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