Market data
Immigration in Massachusetts: market data
What public records say about the market for immigration in Massachusetts: how much demand the courts and agencies count, how many law offices serve it, how many people need help in Spanish, and the ad rules that apply. Every number links to the record it comes from.
Demand: what courts and agencies count
Counts of filings, crashes, complaints and enforcement in the records each agency keeps. A count shows where problems were recorded, not how many people will hire a lawyer.
| Measure | Value | Period | Place | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal civil cases filed by county of the plaintiff: immigration | 450 cases filed, fiscal year | FY2025 | Massachusetts state | federal-filings-county v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750628 record federal-filings-county:MA · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Pending immigration court proceedings (respondents living in the state) | 124,932 proceedings | as of 2026-10-01 | Massachusetts state | immigration-courts v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739986 record eoir-state-ma · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Residents with limited English (any language) | 669,748 ±8,485 people age 5+ | 2020-2024 | Massachusetts state | legal-need v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23741886 record legal-need-ma · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Noncitizen residents | 587,699 ±9,669 people | 2020-2024 | Massachusetts state | legal-need v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23741886 record legal-need-ma · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Federal immigration-offense defendants | 36 defendants | 12 months ending 2026-06-30 | District of Massachusetts federal district | criminal-filings v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23744206 record criminal-filings:MA:2026-06-30 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Federal civil cases filed: immigration | 831 cases filed, three fiscal years | FY2023-2025 | District of Massachusetts federal district | idb-civil v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739969 record idb-ma-immigration · status P · checked 2026-10-27 |
| Pending proceedings at the immigration court | 84,131 proceedings | as of 2026-10-01 | Boston Immigration Court immigration court | immigration-courts v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739986 record eoir-court-bos · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Pending proceedings at the immigration court | 63,389 proceedings | as of 2026-10-01 | Chelmsford Immigration Court immigration court | immigration-courts v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739986 record eoir-court-che · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Pending proceedings at the immigration court | 26 proceedings | as of 2026-10-01 | Chelmsford Immigration Court immigration court | immigration-courts v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739986 record eoir-court-low · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
Rising or falling
The change between the last two periods each source publishes. No threshold and no smoothing.
| Measure | Before | Latest | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federal civil cases filed by county of the plaintiff: immigration Massachusetts · record federal-filings-county:MA | 206 FY2024 | 450 FY2025 | rising (+118.4%) |
Lawyer supply
How many law offices and lawyers the federal statistics count here.
| Measure | Value | Period | Place | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New lawyers admitted | 1,860 lawyers a year | 2025 | Massachusetts state | bar-pipeline v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721443 record ma-bar-pipeline · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Counties under 1 law office per 10,000 residents | 0 counties | 2026-Q1 | Massachusetts state | deserts v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721430 record deserts-25 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Counties with no law office | 0 counties | 2026-Q1 | Massachusetts state | deserts v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721430 record deserts-25 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Residents living in those low-office counties | 0 percent of residents | 2026-Q1 | Massachusetts state | deserts v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721430 record deserts-25 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Employer law firms | 3,964 firms | 2022 | Massachusetts state | law-firm-economy v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739997 record lfe-ma-all · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Receipts of employer law firms | 10,789,009,000 US dollars | 2022 | Massachusetts state | law-firm-economy v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739997 record lfe-ma-all · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Law offices per 10,000 residents | 6.1 per 10,000 residents | 2026-Q1 | Massachusetts state | law-offices v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721415 record law-offices-25 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Self-employed lawyers (nonemployer firms) | 8,463 firms | latest Nonemployer Statistics year | Massachusetts state | law-offices v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721415 record law-offices-25 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Private law offices | 4,365 establishments | 2026-Q1 | Massachusetts state | law-offices v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721415 record law-offices-25 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Lawyers employed (wage-earning, BLS OEWS) | 23,560 jobs | May 2025 | Massachusetts state | lawyer-wages v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734840 record lawyer-wages:MA:231011:2025 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Median annual wage of employed lawyers | 176,680 US dollars a year | May 2025 | Massachusetts state | lawyer-wages v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734840 record lawyer-wages:MA:231011:2025 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
Counties with the most demand per law office
Of the 25 counties in Massachusetts with the most federal civil cases filed by county of the plaintiff: immigration, the ten with the most per private law office. Both counts are shown with their records.
| County | Demand | Law offices | Per office |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barnstable County, MA | 105 record federal-filings-county:25001 | 154 record law-offices-25001 | 0.68 |
| Plymouth County, MA | 58 record federal-filings-county:25023 | 269 record law-offices-25023 | 0.22 |
| Middlesex County, MA | 121 record federal-filings-county:25017 | 814 record law-offices-25017 | 0.15 |
| Nantucket County, MA | 1 record federal-filings-county:25019 | 7 record law-offices-25019 | 0.14 |
| Dukes County, MA | 1 record federal-filings-county:25007 | 11 record law-offices-25007 | 0.09 |
| Suffolk County, MA | 69 record federal-filings-county:25025 | 862 record law-offices-25025 | 0.08 |
| Essex County, MA | 24 record federal-filings-county:25009 | 409 record law-offices-25009 | 0.06 |
| Worcester County, MA | 16 record federal-filings-county:25027 | 311 record law-offices-25027 | 0.05 |
| Norfolk County, MA | 16 record federal-filings-county:25021 | 520 record law-offices-25021 | 0.03 |
| Bristol County, MA | 9 record federal-filings-county:25005 | 263 record law-offices-25005 | 0.03 |
Federal civil cases filed by county of the plaintiff: immigration (federal-filings-county v1.0.0, FY2025) ÷ Private law offices (law-offices v1.0.0, 2026-Q1). ratio = federal-filings-county.ffc.immigration / law-offices.qcew_estabs, rounded to 2 decimals; ranked highest first, among the 25 units with the most demand. Units with zero supply are listed apart (ratio undefined); units without a published value are listed as missing.
Spanish-language demand
People who speak Spanish and speak English less than very well, and the lawyers who speak Spanish, from the Census Bureau survey (with margins of error).
| Measure | Value | Period | Place | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lawyers who speak Spanish at home (ACS) | 1,086 ±328 lawyers | 2020-2024 | Massachusetts state | language v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23656758 record language:state:MA:lawyers-spanish · status P · checked 2026-10-25 |
| Spanish speakers with limited English per Spanish-speaking lawyer | 261 ±79 people per lawyer | 2020-2024 | Massachusetts state | language v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23656758 record language:state:MA:lep-per-spanish-lawyer · status P · checked 2026-10-25 |
| Spanish speakers with limited English (ACS) | 283,213 ±5,095 people age 5+ | 2020-2024 | Massachusetts state | language v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23656758 record language:state:MA:spanish-lep · status P · checked 2026-10-25 |
| Spanish speakers with limited English | 283,213 ±5,674 people age 5+ | 2020-2024 | Massachusetts state | legal-need v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23741886 record legal-need-ma · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
Ad rules that apply
The rules a law firm's ads in Massachusetts have to meet, summarized from the official texts. The full rules, with quotes, are on the state page.
| Topic | Status | What it says |
|---|---|---|
| Ad filing or review | P primary source | No filing or pre-approval is required. Rule 7.2(a) lets a lawyer communicate information about services through any media. Chapter 7 of the Massachusetts rules has only Rules 7.1 to 7.3, and none has a filing clause. official source · rules v1.4.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750572 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Required content | P primary source | Any communication under Rule 7.2 must include the name of at least one lawyer or law firm responsible for its content (7.2(d)). The rule requires no address or other contact detail. official source · rules v1.4.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750572 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Waiting periods for contact | P primary source | The rules set no fixed waiting period after an accident. Rule 7.3(c)(3) bars solicitation of a person whose physical, mental or emotional state means the person cannot exercise reasonable judgment in hiring a lawyer, for a fee. official source · rules v1.4.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750572 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Claims and results | P primary source | No ad may be false or misleading, including by omission (7.1). A comment says a truthful report of past results can mislead if it suggests the same result for other clients, and unsubstantiated claims or comparisons can mislead (7.1 cmt. [3]). official source · rules v1.4.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750572 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Paying for referrals | P primary source | A lawyer may not compensate or give or promise anything of value for a recommendation, except to pay reasonable ad costs, the usual charges of a legal service plan, not-for-profit lawyer referral service or qualified legal assistance organization, the price… official source · rules v1.4.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750572 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Call recording | P primary source | Secretly recording a wire or oral communication is an interception unless every party has given prior authority. official source · rules v1.4.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750572 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Texting | P primary source | A consumer who receives more than one unsolicited telephonic sales call in 12 months in violation of chapter 159C may sue to enjoin it and to recover actual loss or up to $5,000 per knowing violation. The attorney general also enforces it. official source · rules v1.4.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750572 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Ad filing or review | P primary source | Massachusetts: no filing or review of lawyer ads is required. official source · filing v1.2.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721409 · checked 2026-10-25 |
| Paying for referrals | P primary source | Lawyers in different firms may split a fee, including a referral fee, without a proportion or joint-responsibility test, if the client is told up front and consents in writing and the total fee is reasonable. official source · referral v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23747113 · checked 2026-10-27 |
Prices and pay (national)
| Measure | Value | Period | Place | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jobs in legal services (seasonally adjusted) | 1,249 thousand jobs | 2026-09 | United States United States | legal-prices v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734854 record legal-prices:CES6054110001:2026-09 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| CPI-U: legal services | 230 index | 2026-09 | United States United States | legal-prices v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734854 record legal-prices:CUUR0000SEGC01:2026-09 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| PPI: offices of lawyers | 338 index | 2026-09 | United States United States | legal-prices v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734854 record legal-prices:PCU541110541110:2026-09 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
What is missing
Datasets linked to this practice that have no figure here, and values the source withholds. We never fill these in.
- findings (demand): the dataset has no records for Massachusetts (it covers other places)
- findings (supply): the dataset has no records for Massachusetts (it covers other places)
- firm-web-census (supply): the dataset has no records for Massachusetts (it covers other places)
Download and cite
The rows behind this page, with every dataset, version, DOI, record id and check date.
Cite as: Probative Growth, The new-lawyer pipeline by jurisdiction: bar exam pass rates and new admissions, 2025 v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721443); Federal criminal cases by offense and district (U.S. Courts Tables D-1, D-2 and D-3) v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23744206); Legal deserts: law offices and lawyers per resident in every U.S. county v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721430); Federal civil cases filed, by county of the plaintiff's residence, case type and year (Federal Judicial Center) v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23750628); How long federal civil cases take: outcomes, class actions and pro se share by district, nature of suit and year v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739969); Immigration court backlog, representation and asylum outcomes (EOIR workload statistics and case data) v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739986); Spanish-speaking demand vs Spanish-speaking lawyer supply, by state and metro v1.1.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23656758); Law firm size, solos and receipts, by state: Census SUSB 2022, Nonemployer Statistics 2024 and Economic Census 2022 v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739997); Law offices, jobs and pay by county, with solo-practice counts: BLS QCEW, Census CBP and Nonemployer Statistics v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721415); Lawyer, paralegal and legal-staff pay by state and metro (BLS OEWS) v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734840); Legal need by county: who may need a lawyer, from the American Community Survey v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23741886); Legal-services prices and jobs, monthly (BLS CPI, PPI and CES) v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734854); CC BY 4.0. https://probativegrowth.com/markets/massachusetts/immigration/
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How this page is built
Each figure is copied from one record of the dataset named with it, joined to this state and practice through the open practice and place crosswalk. Nothing is estimated. Methods, inputs and limits.