The Opportunity Zone (OZ) program uses federal tax incentives to encourage private investment in low-income communities and was made into a permanent, decennial program through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 (OBBBA). This brief shifts attention to the next round of OZ designations and examining all 49 OZ eligible census tracts across Worcester County, including the 26 in the City of Worcester.

WRRB releases the fifth edition, Insights Insider: Worcester County's Growing Job Sectors. Insights Insider #5 will analyze job growth as well as commuting patterns within Worcester County.

Commercial Real Estate (CRE) is a key economic engine for municipalities. It provides space for jobs for the community, provides own economic value through its use and outputs, and serves as an important source of revenue for City governments.

The WRRB's Broadband Explorer is an interactive tool to show broadband status and other selected data on a Census Tract by Census Tract basis (or Zip Code if only available) for households in Auburn, Boylston, Grafton, Holden, Leicester, Millbury, Paxton, Shrewsbury, West Boylston, and Worcester.

Over the past few decades, the City of Worcester has undergone substantial demographic and economic changes. As an economic and population hub in central Massachusetts, studying past changes helps us to better understand the current regional conditions and to think in a more informed way about the future.

The City Manager's office put forth a proposal to adopt an "inclusionary zoning" (IZ) policy to amend the Worcester Zoning Ordinance, for new housing built in the city.

This document expands on that report, by looking at three years of data, examining internet connection speed, and WPS student access.

The American Dream is a nebulous concept—success looks like different things to different people. But one relative constant is the concept of homeownership.

This report catalogues many of Worcester’s official zones, districts, overlays and areas. Where available, information is taken from the City of Worcester’s Geographic Information System department. The intention is for those interested in Worcester to gain a better understanding of the underlying map that governs the structure and function of the world around them.

Adults who do not speak English well or at all are a substantial part of the Worcester population, and the classes and organizations that serve them struggle for resources. Making ESOL classes readily available to anyone is important for a number of unquantifiable reasons, but also for measurable economic reasons, making the issue a priority for further research and additional resources.