Welcome to Leicester ...

Leicester is located in Worcester County<1>.

The location of Leicester has been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (ie- the GNIS).<2>

The pronunciation of Leicester: les-ter<3>

Leicester was settled in 1713 and was incorporated in 1714.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Leicester has a population of 11,325 people<4> (see below for details).

Leicester is 970 feet [296 m] above sea level.<5>.

Time Zone: Leicester lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area codes for Leicester: (508) & (774)<6>

The ZIP code for Leicester: 01524<7>

Websites for Leicester ...

Official Website: www.ci.leicester.ma.us/

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Leicester had an population of 11,325 people. This is an increase of 3.24% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 8.16% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Leicester had a population of 10,970 people. This makes Leicester the county's 23rd most populous community.

The population of Leicester represents 0.17% of the total population of Massachusetts (which has 6,547,629 people), making it the state's 168th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 10,970 people, the population of Leicester increased 4.77% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 10,471 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Leicester.

Communities Also Named Leicester ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 3 communities that are also named Leicester - they are located in New York, North Carolina and Vermont.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Leicester.

Communities near Leicester ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Leicester.

• Marlborough
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marlborough
  • Marlborough is located in Middlesex County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 39,290 people
• Shrewsbury
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shrewsbury
  • Shrewsbury is located in Worcester County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 38,910 people
• Holden
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holden
  • Holden is located in Worcester County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 19,259 people
• Grafton
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grafton
  • Grafton is located in Worcester County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 19,082 people
• Westborough
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westborough
  • Westborough is located in Worcester County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 19,063 people
• Hopkinton
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopkinton
  • Hopkinton is located in Middlesex County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,624 people
• Webster
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webster
  • Webster is located in Worcester County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 16,822 people
  • Webster has also been known as:
  • Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg
• Southbridge
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southbridge
  • Southbridge is located in Worcester County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 16,788 people
• Northbridge
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northbridge
  • Northbridge is located in Worcester County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 16,621 people
• Northborough
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Northborough have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northborough
  • Northborough is located in Worcester County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 15,038 people

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Leicester. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Leicester.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Leicester. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Leicester.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Leicester. See our Newspapers Page for Leicester.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Leicester ...

Looking for more information about Leicester? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to Leicester, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Leicester.

Adding Leicester to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Leicester in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Leicester was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<8>

From that list, the Leicester post office opened in 1801.

We also found Leicester in the book titled U.S. Post Offices (1803).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Leicester.

Off-the-Road Links ...

The official website for Leicester: www.ci.leicester.ma.us/

The official website for State of Massachusetts: https://www.mass.gov/