Boston, MA-NH business phone guide

Boston, MA-NH at a glance

The Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area covers 7 counties in Massachusetts and New Hampshire and had 5.0 million residents in July 2024, up 1.6% since April 2020. The U.S. population grew 2.6% over the same period. Middlesex County, MA is the most populous, with 1.7 million people. By population it ranks 11th of the 925 metro and micropolitan areas and 10th by business establishments.

Businesses in Boston, MA-NH

County Business Patterns counted 133,807 establishments in the area in 2023, employing 2,681,704 people in mid-March with $252.5 billion in annual payroll. That is an average of 20.0 employees per establishment. 53.0% of establishments with employees had fewer than five people. By establishment count, the largest sectors are professional, scientific, and technical services (17,803), retail trade (15,568), and health care and social assistance (15,127).

How Boston, MA-NH's businesses compare

Boston, MA-NH has 26.6 business establishments per 1,000 residents, 8.3% above the U.S. figure of 24.6. Establishments average 20.0 employees against 16.7 nationally, and payroll per employee is $94,162 (37.8% above the U.S. $68,342). 53.0% of establishments with employees have fewer than five people (U.S.: 55.5%), while 6.5% have 50 or more. Most establishments are far smaller than the average suggests, so it pays to price a phone plan at the headcount you actually have rather than the average.

Small-business industries in Boston, MA-NH

Of the 141 industries these guides cover, 141 have a published Census count in Boston, MA-NH. The largest are full-service restaurants (4,652), limited-service restaurants (3,920), and residential remodelers (3,263). Relative to population, automobile driving schools are the most over-represented: 2.0 per 100,000 residents against 0.8 nationally.

Area codes in Boston, MA-NH

The area's named cities and towns have 3,130 NANPA-assigned exchanges across 9 area codes; 781 has the most (24%). A local number in the code your customers know is the simplest signal that you are nearby; Callata's plan includes up to 3.

Local numbers by city

Pages for 136 cities and towns in the area list their area codes, prefixes and carriers.

Phone costs for a typical Boston, MA-NH business

The comparison below uses 20 users, the rounded average establishment size in Boston, MA-NH. At list prices checked September 28, 2026, that is $499.00 a month on Ooma Office Pro and $600.00 on RingCentral RingEX Core. On Callata the same 20 people cost $399.00 a month, less than either per-seat plan.

Callata in Boston, MA-NH

Callata Office costs $99 per month for up to 5 people, and each additional user is $20 a month. That covers up to 3 local numbers, calling from a browser or your cell, transcribed voicemail, recorded calls with AI summaries, after-hours routing and E911 on each number.

If you already have a number in Boston, MA-NH, porting it to Callata is free. Texting from a local number requires a one-time carrier registration (10DLC, $49), and the numbers available in any area code depend on carrier inventory when you choose them.

Optional AI agents (receptionist, sales, support or scheduler) can answer calls after hours or when nobody picks up, take messages, text, email and transfer to your team. They are billed from prepaid AI minutes at $0.25 per minute, identify themselves as AI, and may only place outbound calls to people who consented, between 8am and 9pm.