Cooling and heating degree days - Cities and FUAs in Boston
Boston: Cooling and heating degree days - Cities and FUAs was 2,558 Degree days in 2025. ▼ Falling
Cooling and heating degree days - Cities and FUAs in Boston, 1950–2025
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Degree days.
Analysis
In 2025, cooling and heating degree days - cities and fuas in Boston stood at 2,558 Degree days.
That represents a change of up 5.3% on the previous year and down 6.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, cooling and heating degree days - cities and fuas in Boston peaked at 3,036 Degree days in 1972 and was at its lowest, 2,216 Degree days, in 2012.
Boston ranks 156th of 1314 regions on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 76 years of available data.
Cooling and heating degree days - Cities and FUAs in Boston, year by year
| Year | Degree days | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 2,688 Degree days | — |
| 1951 | 2,555 Degree days | -4.9% |
| 1952 | 2,665 Degree days | +4.3% |
| 1953 | 2,315 Degree days | -13.1% |
| 1954 | 2,709 Degree days | +17.0% |
| 1955 | 2,906 Degree days | +7.3% |
| 1956 | 2,924 Degree days | +0.6% |
| 1957 | 2,593 Degree days | -11.3% |
| 1958 | 2,999 Degree days | +15.7% |
| 1959 | 2,794 Degree days | -6.8% |
| 1960 | 2,843 Degree days | +1.7% |
| 1961 | 2,937 Degree days | +3.3% |
| 1962 | 2,972 Degree days | +1.2% |
| 1963 | 2,959 Degree days | -0.4% |
| 1964 | 2,850 Degree days | -3.7% |
| 1965 | 2,999 Degree days | +5.2% |
| 1966 | 2,840 Degree days | -5.3% |
| 1967 | 3,017 Degree days | +6.2% |
| 1968 | 2,983 Degree days | -1.1% |
| 1969 | 2,968 Degree days | -0.5% |
| 1970 | 3,028 Degree days | +2.0% |
| 1971 | 2,956 Degree days | -2.4% |
| 1972 | 3,036 Degree days | +2.7% |
| 1973 | 2,468 Degree days | -18.7% |
| 1974 | 2,710 Degree days | +9.8% |
| 1975 | 2,593 Degree days | -4.3% |
| 1976 | 2,832 Degree days | +9.2% |
| 1977 | 2,758 Degree days | -2.6% |
| 1978 | 2,991 Degree days | +8.4% |
| 1979 | 2,624 Degree days | -12.3% |
| 1980 | 2,958 Degree days | +12.8% |
| 1981 | 2,787 Degree days | -5.8% |
| 1982 | 2,774 Degree days | -0.5% |
| 1983 | 2,649 Degree days | -4.5% |
| 1984 | 2,667 Degree days | +0.7% |
| 1985 | 2,711 Degree days | +1.7% |
| 1986 | 2,709 Degree days | -0.1% |
| 1987 | 2,823 Degree days | +4.2% |
| 1988 | 2,774 Degree days | -1.7% |
| 1989 | 2,869 Degree days | +3.4% |
| 1990 | 2,292 Degree days | -20.1% |
| 1991 | 2,366 Degree days | +3.2% |
| 1992 | 2,826 Degree days | +19.4% |
| 1993 | 2,795 Degree days | -1.1% |
| 1994 | 2,742 Degree days | -1.9% |
| 1995 | 2,686 Degree days | -2.0% |
| 1996 | 2,822 Degree days | +5.1% |
| 1997 | 2,781 Degree days | -1.5% |
| 1998 | 2,337 Degree days | -16.0% |
| 1999 | 2,452 Degree days | +4.9% |
| 2000 | 2,763 Degree days | +12.7% |
| 2001 | 2,555 Degree days | -7.5% |
| 2002 | 2,563 Degree days | +0.3% |
| 2003 | 2,972 Degree days | +16.0% |
| 2004 | 2,812 Degree days | -5.4% |
| 2005 | 2,821 Degree days | +0.3% |
| 2006 | 2,297 Degree days | -18.6% |
| 2007 | 2,747 Degree days | +19.6% |
| 2008 | 2,596 Degree days | -5.5% |
| 2009 | 2,726 Degree days | +5.0% |
| 2010 | 2,467 Degree days | -9.5% |
| 2011 | 2,518 Degree days | +2.0% |
| 2012 | 2,216 Degree days | -12.0% |
| 2013 | 2,695 Degree days | +21.6% |
| 2014 | 2,781 Degree days | +3.2% |
| 2015 | 2,730 Degree days | -1.8% |
| 2016 | 2,444 Degree days | -10.5% |
| 2017 | 2,503 Degree days | +2.4% |
| 2018 | 2,632 Degree days | +5.1% |
| 2019 | 2,655 Degree days | +0.9% |
| 2020 | 2,341 Degree days | -11.8% |
| 2021 | 2,366 Degree days | +1.1% |
| 2022 | 2,405 Degree days | +1.6% |
| 2023 | 2,318 Degree days | -3.6% |
| 2024 | 2,429 Degree days | +4.8% |
| 2025 | 2,558 Degree days | +5.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 2,715 Degree days | 2,315 Degree days | 2,999 Degree days | 10 |
| 1960s | 2,937 Degree days | 2,840 Degree days | 3,017 Degree days | 10 |
| 1970s | 2,800 Degree days | 2,468 Degree days | 3,036 Degree days | 10 |
| 1980s | 2,772 Degree days | 2,649 Degree days | 2,958 Degree days | 10 |
| 1990s | 2,610 Degree days | 2,292 Degree days | 2,826 Degree days | 10 |
| 2000s | 2,685 Degree days | 2,297 Degree days | 2,972 Degree days | 10 |
| 2010s | 2,564 Degree days | 2,216 Degree days | 2,781 Degree days | 10 |
| 2020s | 2,403 Degree days | 2,318 Degree days | 2,558 Degree days | 6 |
More reference data data for Boston
- Cooling and heating degree days - Cities and FUAs — Cooling degree 113.22 Degree days (2025)
- Cooling and heating degree days - Cities and FUAs — Change in cooling -49.75 Degree days (2025)
- Cooling and heating degree days - Cities and FUAs — Change in heating -115.35 Degree days (2025)
- Cooling and heating degree days - Cities and FUAs — Change in heating 52.65 % change on previous year (2025)
- Cooling and heating degree days - Cities and FUAs, annual growth rate 5.28 % change on previous year (2025)
- Cooling and heating degree days - Cities and FUAs — Change in cooling -248.43 % change on previous year (2025)
- Cooling and heating degree days - Cities and FUAs — Cooling degree -42.38 % change on previous year (2025)
- Precipitation - Cities and FUAs — Extreme precipitation days 14.09 Days per year (2024)
- Precipitation - Cities and FUAs — Change in extreme precipitation 0.0888 Days per year (2024)
- Dependency ratio - Cities and FUAs 25.5 Percentage of population aged 15-64 years (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is cooling and heating degree days - cities and fuas in Boston?
- Cooling and heating degree days - cities and fuas in Boston was 2,558 Degree days in 2025, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
- What is the highest cooling and heating degree days - cities and fuas recorded in Boston?
- The highest recorded value was 3,036 Degree days in 1972.
- What is the lowest cooling and heating degree days - cities and fuas recorded in Boston?
- The lowest recorded value was 2,216 Degree days in 2012.
- How does Boston rank for cooling and heating degree days - cities and fuas?
- Boston ranks 156th out of 1314 regions with data for 2025.
- Is cooling and heating degree days - cities and fuas rising or falling in Boston?
- Over the last ten years it is down 6.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Boston data come from?
- The figures come from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as part of Cooling and heating degree days - Cities and FUAs. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 76 observations, free to reuse under OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required).
About this data
This dataset provides indicators of Cooling and Heating Degree Days (CDDs and HDDs) for FUAs and cities. CDDs and HDDs are measurements used to estimate energy usage based on outdoor temperature. CDD measures the demand for cooling, while HDD measures the demand for heating, both calculated relative to a baseline temperature. Data sources and methodology The indicators use 0.1-degree resolution grids from the ERA5-Land dataset. ERA5-Land is used as it provides harmonised, globally consistent coverage at fine spatial resolution (0.1 degree), enabling the production of comparable subnational indicators also where national meteorological data are not available at the required scale. Annual CDDs are the sum over a year of the differences between the daily mean outdoor air temperature and the threshold temperature when the outdoor temperature is above the threshold temperature. HDDs are the sum over a year of the differences between the threshold temperature and the daily mean outdoor air temperature when the outdoor temperature is below the threshold temperature. Threshold temperatures are set to 22°C for CDDs and 15°C for HDDs. These estimates may differ from official subnational climate statistics due to differences in methodological approaches, such as the use of reanalysis based top down modelling versus in situ observations, along with variations in input data sources, spatial resolution, and the models and algorithms used to generate temperature estimates. Defining FUAs and cities The OECD, in cooperation with the EU, has developed a harmonised definition of functional urban areas (FUAs) to capture the economic and functional reach of cities based on daily commuting patterns (OECD, 2012). FUAs consist of: A city – defined by urban centres in the degree of urbanisation, adapted to the closest local administrative units to define a city. A commuting zone – including all local areas where at least 15% of employed residents work in the city. The delineation process includes: Assigning municipalities surrounded by a single FUA to that FUA. Excluding non-contiguous municipalities. The correspondence table between SAUs and FUAs/cities is available in parquet and csv format. The definition identifies 1 272 FUAs and 1 269 cities in all OECD member countries except Costa Rica and three accession countries. Cite this dataset OECD Regions, cities and local areas database (Cooling and heating degree days - Cities and FUAs), http://oe.cd/geostats Further information OECD Local Data Portal OECD Regions and Cities at a Glance For questions and/or comments, please email CitiesStat@oecd.org