How to Reach Boston Neighborhoods with Targeted OOH
Boston blends tradition and innovation like no other city. Its distinct neighborhoods and diverse communities offer advertisers unmatched opportunities to connect with different types of consumers. With Clear Channel Outdoor’s broad presence throughout the city and suburbs, brands can reach audiences nearly everywhere.
Boston is a city of neighborhoods, and Clear Channel Outdoor (CCO) helps you reach every one of them. From upscale professionals downtown, to college students in Allston and diverse families in Dorchester, CCO’s pervasive outdoor advertising displays can connect your message with the right audience at the right moment.
Our strategically placed outdoor media displays reach people in Back Bay, Southie, Cambridge and beyond, delivering messages that resonate with the rhythms of daily life. Whether you're a national brand looking to connect on a local level, or a regional business ready to scale, Clear Channel Outdoor Boston offers a powerful platform to help you engage with consumers in meaningful and memorable ways.
Why local matters in Boston
Boston may be compact, but it's densely populated and demographically diverse. Each neighborhood has its own energy and its own audience. That’s why brands looking to make an impact in this market need to think hyperlocal. With Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising, brands can connect where it counts most: along roadways frequented by commuters, and in neighborhoods where people live, work and play. Whether you're running a billboard campaign in Dorchester, planning a transit takeover in Cambridge or targeting students near Fenway and Allston, OOH is a platform that allows you to deliver your message with the context of the community it serves.
Here’s what different parts of the city have to offer:
- Back Bay / Seaport / Downtown: Affluent professionals, high-end retail shoppers and business travelers.
- Allston / Brighton / Fenway: College students, young renters, nightlife seekers and sports fans.
- Cambridge / Somerville: Tech innovators, academics and startup communities.
- Dorchester / East Boston / Mattapan: Multicultural families, working professionals and commuters.
- Jamaica Plain / South Boston: Socially conscious Gen Z and Millennials and active locals.
Understanding these hyper-local audiences, their interests and their behaviors allows brands to craft messages that feel relevant, timely and authentic.
Understanding Boston’s audience by the numbers
Boston isn’t just historic—it’s high-performing. As the 9th largest DMA in the U.S., it’s a powerhouse market fueled by top-tier education, healthcare, finance and life sciences, and it’s only growing. With a highly mobile, well-educated and affluent population, Boston offers brands a unique opportunity to reach people who are active, informed and ready to engage.
Here’s a snapshot of who lives and moves through Greater Boston and what that means for your next campaign:
- Median Age: 41: Slightly older than the national median (~39), which means you're reaching a working-age, decision-making audience still open to brand influence.
- Avg. Household Income: $132,688: Well above the national average, signaling strong buying power across categories like finance, travel, education and lifestyle.
- 55% College Educated: As compared to national average at 43%, Boston offers a highly informed, highly discerning audience so messaging needs to be smart, clear and culturally attuned.
- 67.56% Employed: With a higher employment rate compared to the national average (63.46%), Boston has a strong employment base means more commuters, more movement and more opportunities to connect during the daily journey.
- 1.87 Vehicles per Household(avg.): Despite being a transit-connected city, Boston still leans heavily on cars and comes in just below the national average of 1.99 cars per household. That makes Boston’s roadside billboards a high-frequency, high-visibility channel.
The power of billboards in a moving city
Boston's population is highly mobile, with long commutes and some of the nation’s most congested roadways. This creates valuable visibility for OOH advertising.
- 88% of adults drove alone or carpooled in the past week.
- 70% commute more than 20 minutes one way.
- 24% travel over 200 miles weekly.
- Boston consistently ranks among the top U.S. cities for traffic congestion
That means your billboard campaigns don’t just reach a ton of people, they reach them repeatedly and during key moments in their daily routines.
Real reach, real results
With CCO’s extensive footprint across Boston, your brand can build awareness in the neighborhoods that matter most. Whether it’s a high-profile bulletin on the Mass Pike, a targeted poster in Dorchester, or a transit takeover in New England’s busiest transportation hub, South Station, our placements deliver measurable impact.
And with our data-informed planning tools, you can:
- Understand where your audience lives and travels most often.
- Tailor creative to specific neighborhoods or cultural moments.
- Track campaign performance with real insights.
Why advertisers choose Clear Channel Outdoor in Boston
- Strategic coverage: assets in high-traffic business, education and entertainment zones.
- Audience quality: highly educated, affluent and mobile population.
- Local relevance: messaging that resonates at the neighborhood level.
- Scalable solutions: from single neighborhood efforts to full-market takeovers.
Right message. Right place.
Boston is a city of neighborhoods and knowing how to navigate them matters. What works in Allston doesn’t always land in Back Bay. Messaging that resonates in Southie might not move the needle in Cambridge. With Clear Channel Outdoor Boston, your message travels as far and wide as Bostonians do. Reach them where they live, work, study and play—neighborhood by neighborhood, mile after mile.
Sources: U.S. Census Estimates 2024; Scarborough Release 1, 2024; Boston DMA; Geopath OOH Ratings, 2024; 2024 INRIX Global Traffic Score Card.
Frank "Huck" Huckabone
Branch President, Boston
Frank “Huck” Huckabone is President of Clear Channel Outdoor–Boston, overseeing revenue, sales, marketing, real estate, public affairs, operations, and finance across the market. A senior media and marketing executive with over 25 years in Sports and Entertainment, he has driven revenue growth across multimedia platforms, including out-of-home, TV, digital and sports venues. Huck previously held leadership roles at Just Publications, Madison Square Garden, Fenway Sports Management and SEEKR Technologies. A Hartwick College graduate, he resides in Newton, MA.
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