The map above is centered on Boston, United States, near Boston Common, with a default 10 mi radius. Drag to move it, search for a different address, or change the radius and unit using the controls.
A radius drawn from Boston Common reaches the inner harbor and the Charles River fast, then crosses into the ring of neighboring cities and towns that look continuous with Boston but are politically separate. Within 10 miles the circle already reaches Newton (~7 miles west), Quincy (~8 miles southeast), Waltham (~9 miles west), and Lexington (~10 miles northwest). Distances here are measured from Boston Common (42.355° N, 71.066° W). Distances here are straight-line from Boston Common — the same way the radius map measures them.
Population figure: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Census Redistricting Data (P.L. 94-171), Table P1.
A radius drawn from Boston Common reaches far beyond the city limits fast — a 10-mile radius already pulls in Newton (~7 miles west), Quincy (~8 miles southeast), and Lexington (~10 miles northwest).
Also known as: Beantown, The Hub, Hub of the Universe, Bean Town, The Cradle of Liberty.
Coverage at common radii, including notable places that fall just outside the circle. Use these as a quick reference — check exact boundaries before relying on a circle for real-estate, retail, or service-area decisions.
Place locations: USGS GNIS and GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Distances are straight-line (great-circle) from Boston Common, the same way the radius map measures them.
A 3-mile radius from Boston Common covers downtown and the central neighborhoods — Beacon Hill, Back Bay, the North End, the South End — plus the harborfront and the dense inner core across the Charles River.
A 5-mile radius from Boston Common covers the downtown core and the continuous ring of neighboring cities and towns pressed up against it, reaching out toward the inner suburbs. It stops short of Newton (~7 miles west), Quincy (~8 miles southeast), Waltham (~9 miles west), and Lexington (~10 miles northwest).
A 10-mile radius reaches Newton (~7 miles west), Quincy (~8 miles southeast), Waltham (~9 miles west), and Lexington (~10 miles northwest), while staying short of Framingham (~19 miles west) and Lowell (~23 miles northwest).
A 25-mile radius from Boston Common captures the inner suburban ring plus the MetroWest towns — reaching Framingham (~19 miles west) and Lowell (~23 miles northwest).
A 50-mile radius reaches Plymouth (~34 miles southeast), Worcester (~38 miles west), and the tip of Cape Cod at Provincetown (~50 miles southeast), while staying short of Framingham's far western neighbors and the southern New Hampshire interior.
City-specific scenarios where a radius is the right tool — and a sensible radius to start with.
Boston and its immediately neighboring cities form a continuous urban core, but they're politically separate. A small radius from downtown Boston covers this continuous inner fabric — the practical "inner Boston" rental market — without drawing an administrative boundary.
Suggested starting radius: 3 miles for inner urban Boston
A 10-mile radius reaches Newton (~7 miles west), Quincy (~8 miles southeast), Waltham (~9 miles west), and Lexington (~10 miles northwest). Use it to size an inner-suburb catchment around downtown.
Suggested starting radius: 10 miles for the inner suburban ring
A 25-mile radius extends past the inner ring into the MetroWest towns, reaching Framingham (~19 miles west) and Lowell (~23 miles northwest). Draw this when you need a wider Greater Boston catchment for hiring or service delivery.
Suggested starting radius: 25 miles for Greater Boston
A 50-mile radius reaches Worcester (~38 miles west), Plymouth (~34 miles southeast), and the tip of Cape Cod at Provincetown (~50 miles southeast) — useful for a regional retail or distribution footprint. Remember that highway traffic can distort drive time against straight-line distance.
Suggested starting radius: 50 miles for regional eastern Massachusetts
Local geography and infrastructure that change how a radius behaves here. Skipping these is the most common reason a radius decision goes sideways.
Boston Harbor and the Atlantic sit to the east of Boston Common, so part of a radius drawn from the Common falls over water rather than land before reaching the open ocean. Check how much of your circle's eastern arc lands on the harbor.
A radius from Boston Common crosses out of the city and into neighboring towns within just a few miles. By 10 miles the circle already reaches Newton (~7 miles west), Quincy (~8 miles southeast), and Lexington (~10 miles northwest).
At the same radius the circle pulls in different towns by direction: to the west it reaches Newton (~7 miles), Waltham (~9 miles), and Framingham (~19 miles), while to the southeast it reaches Quincy (~8 miles) and then Plymouth (~34 miles). Check which direction matters for your catchment.
A 10-mile radius from Boston Common reaches Newton (~7 miles west), Quincy (~8 miles southeast), Waltham (~9 miles west), and Lexington (~10 miles northwest).
A 5-mile radius from Boston Common covers the downtown core plus the continuous ring of neighboring cities and towns pressed against it. It stops short of Newton (~7 miles west), Quincy (~8 miles southeast), and Waltham (~9 miles west).
Worcester sits about 38 miles west of Boston Common, straight-line — inside a 50-mile radius but well beyond a 25-mile one.
Yes. Framingham is about 19 miles west of Boston Common and Lowell about 23 miles northwest, so both fall inside a 25-mile radius.
Plymouth sits about 34 miles southeast of Boston Common, straight-line — inside a 50-mile radius but outside a 25-mile one.
A 50-mile radius from Boston Common reaches the tip of Cape Cod at Provincetown, about 50 miles southeast — right at the edge of the circle.