Talk:List of municipalities in Massachusetts

Map improvements
The map is somewhat problematic in that it doesn't show the names of cities and towns. Such a map is available at, though I don't know how the Commonwealth of Massachusetts handles copyright of its works. GIS files for production of new images from raw data are also available at. -- Beland (talk) 10:10, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

List merge
It should be fairly easy to merge in List of municipalities in Massachusetts by population by making a sortable wikitable with the following columns: -- Beland (talk) 15:05, 13 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Name
 * Population
 * Type ("city" or "town")


 * Support. Barring sufficient opposition (which I don't expect) by April 20, you should merged them into a single sortable table.—Markles 16:28, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

April 20 has come and gone... - edthebedhead - 11:00, 6 June 2008 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Edthebedhead (talk • contribs)

Discussion at Template talk:Massachusetts
Please see a discussion at. Thank you. —Markles 21:39, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

"State of Massachusetts"?
Near the top, I see "Minor civil divisions or "municipalities" in the U.S. state of Massachusetts ... " Afaik, Mass. is technically not a state, but a Commonwealth. Shouldn't that text be corrected, if this is true? (Fwiw, I'm a Mass. resident, although not really well-informed about this topic, just now.) Regards, Nikevich (talk) 21:38, 15 May 2010 (UTC)


 * It is correct to phrase a sentence "The U.S. state of Massachusetts", and more formally, also correct to rephrase to "The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a U.S. state...." -- Yellowdesk (talk) 12:37, 20 September 2010 (UTC)

It's true that Massachusetts is a "Commonwealth," although that is only because the word is used in the formal name of the state, not that it carries any legal or other distinction. But the initiato of this section writes, "Afaik, Mass. is technically not a state," Thjis is NOT true. Massachusetts is, technically, a state, and the fact that its formal name is "The Commonwealth of Massachusetts" does not in any wake make it less of a state. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.56.192.106 (talk) 20:28, 10 September 2023 (UTC)

Two incorrect entries
This list includes two entries, Bradford and Hyannis, that are not on the official list of Massachusetts cities and towns. http://www.mass.gov/portal/government-taxes/local/cities-towns/cities-and-towns.html NewtonCourt (talk) 20:39, 12 February 2013 (UTC)


 * Additionally, it contains a number of towns in a county, Somers, that doesn't seem to exist. One of which (Belchester) is purported to have a population of over 600,000 people, although I can't find any evidence of a city or town of Belchester on Wikipedia, and a city of that size would surely have an article.  I think the whole list needs to be checked for subtle vandalism.73.172.184.156 (talk) 19:16, 13 May 2015 (UTC)


 * I deleted all the towns (most of which do not even exist) that made up the fictional Somers County. The user who added them has vandalized a number of similar articles. Terageorge (talk) 19:24, 13 May 2015 (UTC)

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Completely unnecessary infobox
The infobox adds nothing, and just repeats. Why is it even there? Mattximus (talk) 14:01, 9 August 2021 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the. —Community Tech bot (talk) 11:52, 13 October 2022 (UTC)
 * Formation of Massachusetts towns.svg

Number of cities/towns in article "Massachusetts" differs from yours
You state there are 59 cities and 292 towns. But article "Massachusetts", which links to this page, no less, states a different number.

Because your numbers agree with a count of terms "city" and "town" in your table, offhand you sound right and they sound wrong. If so, fix their wagon.

That said, fantastic page of great factual details.

Jimlue (talk) 03:11, 26 July 2023 (UTC)

However, from the perspective of Massachusetts law, politics, and geography, cities and towns are the same type of municipal unit
"However, from the perspective of Massachusetts law, politics, and geography, cities and towns are the same type of municipal unit, differing only in their form of government." Not true. Some state laws have different provisions for cities and towns. For instance, some of the limits on liquor licenses are different for cities than they are for towns. They are not the same type of municipal unit; they are similar but distictly different forms of municipality. 172.56.192.106 (talk) 20:26, 10 September 2023 (UTC)


 * Perhaps "same type" of municipal unit isn't exactly correct—after all, the point of having both cities and towns are that there are two different types of municipal unit. But they exist at the same level of structure; cities and towns are both types of municipal unit on an equal footing. The context in the article in which this appears is in contrast to the Census's treatment of cities and towns, which treats cities as "places" but towns as "minor civil divisions". In Massachusetts law, politics, and government, cities are no more or less "place"-like than towns, and no more or less "minor" as civil divisions; that's what the sentence is trying to get at. How would you phrase it? AJD (talk) 02:04, 11 September 2023 (UTC)