Welcome to Lancaster ...
Lancaster is located in Worcester County<1>.
Lancaster was settled in 1643 and was incorporated in 1653.
From the Census Estimates for 2019, Lancaster has a population of 7,860 people<2> (see below for details).
Lancaster is 300 feet [91 m] above sea level.<3>.
Time Zone: Lancaster lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time
Area Codes for Lancaster: 978 & 351<4>
The ZIP code for Lancaster: 01523<5>
Population Details ...
Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Lancaster had an population of 7,860 people. This is a decrease of 2.42% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 6.5% since the 2000 Census).
At the time of the 2010 Census, Lancaster had a population of 8,055 people. This makes Lancaster the county's 31st most populous community.
The population of Lancaster represents 0.12% of the total population of Massachusetts (which has 6,547,629 people), making it the state's 199th most populous community.
With a 2010 count of 8,055 people, the population of Lancaster increased 9.15% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 7,380 people).
More information can be found on the Census Page for Lancaster.
Communities Also Named Lancaster ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 38 communities that are also named Lancaster - they are located in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida (2), Georgia (2), Illinois (3), Indiana (3), Iowa, Kansas (2), Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri (2), New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New York, Newfoundland and Labrador, North Carolina, Ohio, Ontario, Oregon (2), Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Lancaster.
Websites for Lancaster ...
Official Website: www.ci.lancaster.ma.us/
Communities near Lancaster ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Lancaster.
- Worcester
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Worcester
- Worcester is located in Worcester County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 184,570 people
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Worcester
- From Lancaster to Worcester
- Framingham
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Framingham
- Framingham is located in Middlesex County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 73,892 people
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Framingham
- From Lancaster to Framingham
- Leominster
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leominster
- Leominster is located in Worcester County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 41,548 people
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Leominster
- From Lancaster to Leominster
- Fitchburg
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fitchburg
- Fitchburg is located in Worcester County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 40,310 people
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Fitchburg
- From Lancaster to Fitchburg
- Marlborough
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marlborough
- Marlborough is located in Middlesex County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 39,290 people
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Marlborough
- From Lancaster to Marlborough
- Shrewsbury
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shrewsbury
- Shrewsbury is located in Worcester County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 38,910 people
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Shrewsbury
- From Lancaster to Shrewsbury
- Chelmsford
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chelmsford
- Chelmsford is located in Middlesex County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 35,528 people
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Chelmsford
- From Lancaster to Chelmsford
- Westford
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westford
- Westford is located in Middlesex County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 25,276 people
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Westford
- From Lancaster to Westford
- Acton
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east) - Gardner
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gardner
- Gardner is located in Worcester County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 20,585 people
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Gardner
- From Lancaster to Gardner
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 Lancaster. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Lancaster.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Lancaster. 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 Lancaster.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Lancaster. See our Newspapers Page for Lancaster.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Lancaster ...
Looking for more information about Lancaster? 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 Lancaster, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Lancaster.
Adding Lancaster to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Lancaster 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 Lancaster was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<7>
X2X - From that list, the Lancaster post office opened in 1794.
We also found Lancaster in the book titled U.S. Post Offices (1803).
For more details, see References and Mentions for Lancaster.
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Lancaster: www.ci.lancaster.ma.us/
The official website for State of Massachusetts: https://www.mass.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of Massachusetts' counties, including Worcester, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Lancaster. |
| <3> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Lancaster - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <4> | When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 978 code has been Overlayed with the 351 area code. New phone numbers in the Lancaster area will be assigned with one of these codes: 978 or 351. As a result, placing a call in the Lancaster area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number). |
| <5> | ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a community (such as Lancaster). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Lancaster or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS). |
| <6> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <7> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at: https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |