Welcome to Acton ...

Acton is located in Middlesex County<1>.

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

Acton was settled in 1680 and was incorporated in 1735.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Acton has a population of 23,670 people<3> (see below for details).

Acton is 260 feet [79 m] above sea level.<4>.

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

Telephone area codes for Acton: (978) and (351)<5>

The ZIP code for Acton: 01720<6>

Websites for Acton ...

Official Website: www.town.acton.ma.us/

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Acton had an population of 23,670 people. This is an increase of 7.96% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 16.42% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Acton had a population of 21,924 people. This makes Acton the county's 27th most populous community.

The population of Acton represents 0.33% of the total population of Massachusetts (which has 6,547,629 people), making it the state's 87th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 21,924 people, the population of Acton increased 7.84% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 20,331 people).

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

Communities Also Named Acton ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 21 communities that are also named Acton - they are located in Alabama (2), California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Brunswick, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Ontario, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Washington.

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

Communities near Acton ...

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

• Cambridge
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambridge
  • Cambridge is located in Middlesex County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 119,192 people
• Lowell
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowell
  • Lowell is located in Middlesex County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 110,904 people
• Nashua
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nashua
  • Nashua is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 89,167 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nashua <7>
• Newton
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newton
  • Newton is located in Middlesex County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 87,803 people
• Somerville
  (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somerville
  • Somerville is located in Middlesex County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 80,935 people
• Framingham
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Framingham
  • Framingham is located in Middlesex County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 73,892 people
• Waltham
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waltham
  • Waltham is located in Middlesex County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 62,069 people
• Medford
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medford
  • Medford is located in Middlesex County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 60,847 people
• Malden
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malden
  • Malden is located in Middlesex County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 59,922 people
• Brookline
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookline
  • Brookline is located in Norfolk County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 59,022 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 Acton. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Acton.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Acton. 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 Acton.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Acton. Our list includes 6 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Acton.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Acton ...

Looking for more information about Acton? 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 Acton, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Acton.

Adding Acton to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Acton 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 Acton was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<8>

From that list, the Acton post office opened in 1810.

We also found Acton in the book titled U.S. Post Offices (Oct. 1846).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Acton.

Off-the-Road Links ...

The official website for Acton: www.town.acton.ma.us/

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