Massachusetts has 13,049 licensed hams, ranking 37 of 51 per capita
Licensed ham radio operators in Massachusetts by class, with the county map and monthly trend.
As of September 2026, Massachusetts has 13,049 licensed ham radio operators, 182.4 per 100,000 residents, ranking 37 of 51 (50 states and DC).
Massachusetts at a glance
Active, in-term licenses held by individuals living in Massachusetts: about one in 548 residents. Massachusetts has 1.8% of the country's hams and 2.1% of its people, so it is under-represented among US hams.
Ranked by licensed hams per 100,000 residents, the fairest way to compare states of different sizes. Idaho is first at 542.8. Massachusetts is 13.9% below the national rate of 211.8.
49 first-time licenses in September, about the same as the 12-month average of 49 a month. Over 12 months that is 8.3 per 100,000 residents, T-14 of 51 for new licensees per capita.
Licenses by class
Technician 44.1%, General 26.1%, Amateur Extra 25.0%, Advanced 4.0%, Novice 0.8%. Most newcomers start with the Technician exam.
- Technician5,760 (44.1%)
- General3,400 (26.1%)
- Amateur Extra3,263 (25.0%)
- Advanced521 (4.0%)
- Novice105 (0.8%)
County map
Darker means more licensed hams per resident. Tap a county for the share of residents, how it compares with the state, and the raw count. Small counties can look extreme because a few hams are a big share of a small population. Hatched counties have fewer than 10 hams and are withheld, not zero.
Tap a county to see its counts.
First-time licenses by month
49 first-time licenses were granted in September, about the same as the 12-month average of 49 a month. Over 12 months: 593 first-time licenses and 451 class upgrades.
Near me
Enter a ZIP code or pick a county to see licensed hams and first-time licenses in the latest month. Counts only.
Counts only, data through September 2026. Counts below 10 are withheld. Counties come from each ZIP's largest land share; addresses are self-reported. (MA)
More
How we measure this
Source and definitions
Source: the FCC's Universal Licensing System public access files (the transaction and complete files the FCC publishes at data.fcc.gov). Names, addresses and other personal fields are discarded on arrival; we store and publish aggregates only.
Counts follow the definitions on the hub page: active, in-term licenses held by individuals. First-time licenses and upgrades are counted at grant date.
County and ZIP counts
Counties are assigned from ZIP codes with the Census Bureau's 2020 ZIP code tabulation area to county relationship file: each ZIP goes to the county holding the largest share of its land area. 2.7% of licensed hams nationwide have a ZIP that does not appear in the file and are counted in the state total only. Counts below 10 are withheld.
Connecticut's county shapes and ZIP file use the eight historical counties while Census population estimates now use nine planning regions, so Connecticut counties show counts only, without per-capita rates.
Limits
Licensed does not mean active on the air. Addresses are self-reported and can be years old, so a county count reflects where licensees say they live.
Credit
For many years the amateur radio community relied on Joe Speroni (AH0A)'s FCC licensing statistics. Our counting uses the same public data and a comparable approach, and we credit his long-running work.
US ham radio statistics FAQ
How many ham radio operators are in Massachusetts?+
Massachusetts has 13,049 licensed hams as of September 2026.
Where does Massachusetts rank for ham radio operators per capita?+
37 of 51 at 182.4 per 100,000 residents.
How many new hams were licensed in Massachusetts recently?+
593 first-time licenses in the last 12 months.