Norfolk County, Massachusetts

Norfolk County is a county in Massachusetts, United States, on Boston’s southern and
western border. It had a population of 725,981 at the 2020 census, an estimated 739,749 by 2025,
and covers 444 square miles (1,150 km2) centred near 42°12′N 71°09′W.

Dedham is the county seat; its postal code is 02026. The county holds 5 cities and 23 towns, no
unincorporated territory of its own since Massachusetts assigns every acre to a municipal
government, and it runs on Eastern Time. Its FIPS code is 25021.

Towns & Villages in Norfolk County

Norfolk County has 28 municipalities on record: 5 cities and 23 towns. Massachusetts has no
unincorporated communities — every address falls inside one of these 28 governments, though
several, especially Quincy and Weymouth, contain named villages and neighborhoods within their
borders.

Two towns are geographic exclaves, separated from the county’s main body by land that
belongs to other counties. Brookline is bordered on every side by the city of Boston (Suffolk
County), and Cohasset is wedged between Plymouth County towns to its south and Boston Harbor
islands to its north, connecting to the rest of Norfolk County only along a narrow coastal
strip.

ZIP Codes

• 02169 — Quincy (also serves 02170 and 02171, other Quincy ZIPs)
• 02188 — Weymouth (also serves 02189, East Weymouth, and 02190, South Weymouth)
• 02184 — Braintree
• 02368 — Randolph
• 02038 — Franklin
• 02492 — Needham (also serves 02494, Needham Heights)
• 02062 — Norwood
• 02481 — Wellesley (also serves 02482 and 02457, Babson Park)
• 02072 — Stoughton
• 02186 — Milton
• 02026 — Dedham
• 02081 — Walpole (also serves 02032, East Walpole, and 02071, South Walpole)
• 02021 — Canton
• 02067 — Sharon
• 02035 — Foxborough
• 02019 — Bellingham
• 02090 — Westwood
• 02053 — Medway
• 02052 — Medfield
• 02056 — Norfolk
• 02093 — Wrentham
• 02343 — Holbrook
• 02762 — Plainville
• 02054 — Millis
• 02025 — Cohasset
• 02030 — Dover
• 02322 — Avon

Several ZIP codes cover named villages that share their town’s government but keep a
separate post office address, including East Weymouth, South Weymouth, North Weymouth, East
Walpole, South Walpole and Needham Heights — all delivered under their parent town’s
code range rather than a standalone one.

Geography

Norfolk County sits directly south and west of Boston, in the coastal lowland that runs
between the Blue Hills and Massachusetts Bay. Of its 444 square miles, 396 are land and 48 are
water, about 11 percent — a high share for an inland-leaning county, driven mainly by tidal
rivers and Boston Harbor inlets along its Quincy and Weymouth shoreline rather than any single
large lake. The Neponset River crosses the county’s northern towns, and the Charles River
forms part of its western and northwestern boundary. The Blue Hills Reservation, a 7,000-acre
state park straddling Milton, Quincy, Canton and Randolph, is the county’s largest
protected open space and its highest ground.

Suffolk County and the city of Boston lie to the north and northeast, Middlesex County to the
northwest, Worcester County to the west, Bristol County to the south, Plymouth County to the
southeast, and Providence County, Rhode Island, to the southwest.
Middlesex County,
Worcester County,
Plymouth County and
Providence County each have their
own pages on this site; Suffolk and Bristol counties do not.

Demographics

Norfolk County had a population of 725,981 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts
the county near 739,749 residents. Quincy and Brookline are by far the two largest communities,
together holding about a fifth of the county’s population. Median household income
runs about $107,361, well above Massachusetts’s statewide figure of $99,858 (2023 ACS),
making Norfolk the highest-income county in the state and one of the highest-income counties in
the country. Population density works out to roughly 1,833 people per square mile of land, among
the densest in Massachusetts outside Suffolk County, reflecting the county’s position
inside the Boston-Cambridge-Newton metropolitan area.

Economy & Local Life

Health care and social assistance employs the most workers in the county, followed by
professional, scientific and technical services and educational services. Wellesley College, a
private liberal-arts college for women founded in 1870, anchors the town of Wellesley’s
economy and gives the county one of its best-known academic institutions. Milton Academy, a
private school founded in 1798, sits in Milton. Quincy’s waterfront, once the site of the
Fore River Shipyard, where the Navy and General Dynamics built warships from the 1900s through
the 1980s, has since been redeveloped for housing and commercial use. Quincy also holds the
nation’s oldest continuously running Flag Day parade, held each June since 1952 to mark the
town’s claim as the birthplace of the observance.

History

The Massachusetts General Court created Norfolk County on 20 June 1793, splitting it off from
Suffolk County. It took its name from Norfolk, England, home county of many early Puritan
settlers. Dedham, already settled since 1636, became the county seat.

Norfolk County calls itself the “County of Presidents”: John Adams and John Quincy
Adams were both born in Quincy, John F. Kennedy was born in Brookline, and George H. W. Bush was
born in Milton. In 1921, Dedham hosted the trial of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, two
Italian immigrant anarchists convicted of murder in a case that drew international protest over
its handling and remains one of the most disputed criminal trials in American history; the two
were executed in 1927.

Getting There

Interstate 93 crosses the county through Braintree, Randolph and Milton, and Interstate 95
runs along the Route 128 corridor through Canton, Dedham, Westwood and Needham. Route 1, Route 3,
Route 24 and Route 128 also serve the county.

• Boston — about 10 miles north
• Providence, Rhode Island — about 35 miles southwest
• Worcester — about 35 miles west
• Brockton — about 15 miles south

Logan International Airport, roughly 15 miles northeast of Dedham via Quincy, is the nearest
major commercial airport. Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor trains stop at Route 128 Station on
the Westwood-Canton line, and the MBTA’s Commuter Rail Providence/Stoughton, Franklin and
Fairmount lines serve most of the county’s towns with connections into Boston’s South
Station.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Norfolk County located?
It sits directly south and west of Boston in eastern Massachusetts, bordered by Suffolk,
Middlesex, Worcester, Bristol and Plymouth counties and by Providence County, Rhode Island.

What is the population of Norfolk County?
725,981 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 739,749.

How big is Norfolk County?
444 square miles (1,150 km2), of which 396 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of Norfolk County?
Dedham, settled in 1636 and made county seat when Norfolk County was formed in 1793.

How many towns and cities are in Norfolk County?
Twenty-eight — five cities (Quincy, Weymouth, Braintree, Randolph and Franklin) and
twenty-three towns, including Brookline, Wellesley, Needham, Milton and Dedham itself.

What ZIP codes does Norfolk County use?
28 primary codes, one per municipality, from 02019 (Bellingham) to 02762 (Plainville), plus
village-level codes such as 02189 for East Weymouth and 02494 for Needham Heights.

What is Norfolk County known for?
Being the birthplace of four U.S. presidents — John Adams, John Quincy Adams, John F.
Kennedy and George H. W. Bush — and for having the highest median household income of any
county in Massachusetts.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Massachusetts.