† Citizen voting-age population estimated for prior cycles; 2004 predates the ACS and is extrapolated. Source: ACS 5-year, table B05003.
——
D+60R+60
20042024
Boundary by 2024 margin · Precinct returns · VEST · MIT Election Lab
People and households
Who lives here
Exact values for this place, its state, and the United States.
Race · ethnicity · ancestry
Communities and origins
GroupReadingMassachusettsUnited States
Irish24.0%18.6%9.4%
Italian15.9%11.1%4.8%
English12.7%9.7%9.5%
German8.3%5.4%12.5%
French4.2%4.7%1.6%
Polish4.1%3.4%2.2%
American4.1%3.3%5.3%
French Canadian3.0%——
Chinese2.1%2.5%1.3%
Asian Indian1.9%1.9%1.4%
Cambodian0.5%0.4%—
Vietnamese0.4%0.8%0.6%
Korean0.4%0.4%0.4%
Puerto Rican1.4%4.6%1.8%
Salvadoran0.8%1.1%0.7%
Mexican0.5%0.8%11.3%
Guatemalan0.5%0.8%0.5%
Dominican0.4%2.7%0.7%
Colombian0.4%0.6%0.4%
Ecuadorian0.2%0.3%—
Hispanic or Latino counts residents of any race; the race groups count only their non-Hispanic residents, so the groups are mutually exclusive and sum to 100%. Expand a row to see ancestries reported within that group.
Age and life stage
Measure
Reading
Massachusetts
United States
Median age
43.7
40.3
39.1
Age 18–24
6.2%
9.9%
9.2%
Age 65 and older
20.7%
17.9%
17.2%
Household economy
Measure
Reading
Massachusetts
United States
Median household income
$165,912
$103,960
$84,427
Poverty rate
3.2%
10.1%
12.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher (25+)
66.3%
47.3%
35.6%
Languages at home
Measure
Reading
Massachusetts
United States
Speaks a non-English language at home
12.6%
25.1%
22.3%
Spanish
2.0%
9.7%
13.6%
French (incl. Cajun & Haitian)
1.2%
1.9%
0.7%
Other Indo-European
4.1%
6.1%
2.0%
Chinese (incl. Mandarin & Cantonese)
3.9%
2.2%
1.1%
Religious landscape
Measure
Reading
Massachusetts
United States
Catholic
—
35.5%
18.6%
Evangelical Protestant
—
3.6%
16.5%
Unclaimed / not counted
—
51.4%
51.5%
American Community Survey 2024 5-year (CVAP, income, age, poverty, education, language, race, ancestry) · presidential returns from MIT Election Lab through 2024 · 2020 U.S. Religion Census (ASARB) — congregational adherents; unclaimed is the residual not counted by congregations.
Reading, Massachusetts
presidential history
Presidential margin, 2004–2024
Democratic minus Republican, by election
Presidential margin over time
Year
Margin (D minus R)
2004
+12.8%
2008
+13.6%
2012
+5.7%
2016
+22.6%
2020
+33.3%
2024
+29.0%
DemocraticRepublican
6 presidential elections
Third column names the leading third-party or independent finisher. Source · MIT Election Lab · ICPSR · VEST (precinct-level 2024). Swing · margin change from the prior cycle. vs U.S. · margin relative to the national result that year. Third-party votes in 2012 are allocated from certified county totals by this place's share of each county's two-party vote — that cycle's precinct source records two-party splits. † 2004 sub-county results are estimated: the source's block-level detail for this cycle was unreliable — either county/municipality-level consolidated reporting (COVID-era) or a precinct-to-block allocation that misplaced votes — so the figures are allocated from the constituent county totals in proportion to the place and scaled to certified totals.
Year
Won
Democratic
Republican
Other
Margin
Swing
vs U.S.
Total
D
62.6%Harris10,431
33.7%Trump5,607
3.7%
D+29.0
R+4.4
D+30.4
16,650
D
65.5%Biden11,165
32.2%Trump5,486
2.2%
D+33.3
D+10.7
D+28.9
17,034
D
57.6%Clinton8,848
35.0%Trump5,373
7.5%
D+22.6
D+16.9
D+20.5
15,372
D
51.9%Obama7,604
46.1%Romney6,765
2.0%
D+5.7
R+7.8
D+1.9
14,661
D
56.0%Obama7,694
42.5%McCain5,831
1.5%
D+13.6
D+0.8
D+6.3
13,729
D
55.7%Kerry7,293
42.9%Bush5,620
1.3%
D+12.8
—
D+15.2
13,088
Reading sits in New England. In 2024 it voted Democratic.
Across the recorded series it reached a Democratic high of 33.3 points in 2020. Between 2020 and 2024 the city moved 4.4 points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was 29.0 points.
A population of 25,612, a 86% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $165,912 describe the city. The city's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Wakefield and Burlington.
Akashic
Political twins — cities
The cities whose fingerprint — 2000–2024 trajectory, demographics, ancestry, religion — sits closest to this one, and why.
Twin score (0–100) = weighted cosine between tier-standardized fingerprints: presidential margins 2000–2024 with 12-yr trend and elasticity, ACS income, age, education, population and race, top reported ancestries, and religious adherence — chips name the closest-shared dimensions and the widest gap. Re-weight the groups in the twins explorer.
In 2024, Reading, Massachusetts voted Democratic by 29.0 points (D+29.0), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 16,650 votes cast, 10,431 went Democratic and 5,607 went Republican.
How many people live in Reading, Massachusetts?
Reading, Massachusetts has a population of 25,612 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Reading, Massachusetts?
Median household income in Reading, Massachusetts is $165,912 — above the national median of $80,734. The Massachusetts state median is $103,960.
What is the political history of Reading, Massachusetts?
Akashic tracks 6 presidential elections in Reading, Massachusetts from 2004 to 2024. Of those, 6 went Democratic and 0 went Republican.
