More than 136,000 Kids to Finally Experience New Boston Mayor

Mayor Tom Menino’s announcement that he won’t run for reelection got us thinking: How many kids in Boston have only known one mayor for their entire life?

Menino, after all, will have been in office for five terms—20 years—when his term ends. That’s a lot of kids who have only had one mayor. (And the guy is everywhere. According to a recent poll, 49 percent of the city’s residents have met him.)

Pulling some stats from the Census Bureau’s 2011 American Community Survey, we find that Boston has a total population of 624,969. Here’s the breakdown*:

Under 5 years: 5.4 percent
5 to 9 years: 4.3 percent
10 to 14 years: 4.2 percent
15 to 19 years: 8.0 percent

That’s a total of 21.9 percent, or more than a fifth of the city who’ve only lived under the reign of Menino! How many kids does that add up to? A stunning 136,868. All those young Boston residents are about to experience a whole new mayoral world.

*Yes, I’m aware that kids could have moved here with their family after they were born. But let’s just suppose that an equal number of kids have left.