Need Demographic Data For Boston 21- to 35-Year Olds: Age, Income, Expenses and Occupation, etc.

I’ve exhausted my Google-fu and am now turning to you. I need specific demographic information for the city of Boston broken down by age that is more current that the 2000 census. Something like this, for example:



Age      Average Income     Expenses by Item             Occupation by Percent             Activities by Hour Per week
21-24    $12,345            Food:           $2,345       Student:       75%                Movies:                         2 hrs
                            Housing:        $4,567       Unemployed:    12%                Television:                    34 hrs
                            Entertainment:  $1,234       Professional:  10%                Internet:                      12 hrs
                            Clothing        $678         Blue Collar:    3%                Socializing (Bar/Nightclub):   18 hrs
                            …                            …                                 …

Age      Average Income     Expenses by Item             Occupation by Percent             Activities by Hour Per week
24-35    $34,567            Food:           $4,567       Student:        2%                Movies:                       .25 hrs
                            Housing:        $12,345      Unemployed:     3%                Television:                    16 hrs
                            Entertainment:  $5,678       Professional:  90%                Internet:                      12 hrs
                            Clothing        $1,234       Blue Collar:    5%                Socializing (Bar/Nightclub):   12 hrs
                            …                            …                                 …


Anyone know where to look? Thanks.

I do know that the census only does an actual count every ten years, so the full data set you need might only exist in ten-year increments. I also know that there’s a Microsoft product called Microsoft MapPoint that lets you map a certain amount of demographic data, including the kind of stuff you’re looking for. The data sets come bundled with the product, and my version of the software (2006) has 2004 demographic data. Looking through the help menu, I find that this data is bought by Microsoft from Applied Geographic (appliedgeographic.com) and Simmons (smrb.net).

Long story short, you might have to pony up for the data. Or you could buy MapPoint, though it might be kind of a chore to use it to extract data tables, since the software is really for mapping.

On edit, I just remembered that Massachusetts has a state data center. You’ve probably already found it, but the URL is here: MassBenchmarks. Looking at that site, I don’t see much that’s more recent than 2000, which suggests that the data genuinely doesn’t exist, except where commercial firms have assembled it to sell back to you.