Massachusetts , officially the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a
state in the
New England region of the
Northeastern United States. It is bordered by
Rhode Island and
Connecticut to the south,
New York to the west,
Vermont and
New Hampshire to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Massachusetts is the
7th smallest state by land area, but the
15th most populous and the
3rd most densely populated of the 50 states. With an estimated 6.8 million residents in 2015, it is the most populous of the six New England states and has the nation's sixth highest
GDP per capita. The capital of Massachusetts, as well as the state's largest city, is
Boston. The state features four separate
metropolitan statistical areas: the
Boston-Cambridge-Quincy metropolitan area in the east, the
Worcester metropolitan area in the center, the
Springfield metropolitan area in the west, and the
Barnstable metropolitan area in the southeast. Over 80% of Massachusetts' population currently lives in the
Greater Boston Combined Statistical Area.