TLDR
- Boston is the birthplace of the Albanian Orthodox Church in America, founded by Fan Noli in 1908
- Key areas by Census count: Worcester (about 4,000), Boston (about 1,900), Quincy (about 1,800) and Peabody (about 900)
- The community spans both Albanian and Kosovar Albanian families with distinct but overlapping networks
- Albanian entrepreneurs run restaurants, construction companies, real estate agencies, and professional services across Greater Boston
- ALB Connection’s Boston directory connects you to verified Albanian-owned businesses in the metro
Table of Contents
- Where Albanians Live in Boston
- A Brief History of Albanians in Boston
- Community Life
- Find Albanian-Owned Businesses in Boston
- Add Your Business
- FAQs
Where Albanians Live in Boston
The Albanian community in Greater Boston is spread across several cities and towns, each with its own character and history.The North Shore: Peabody, Swampscott & Lynn
North of Boston, Essex County has about 3,100 residents reporting Albanian ancestry (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates, 2020 to 2024, Table B04006). Peabody has the largest estimate, about 930 (margin of error roughly 500), followed by Swampscott (about 510), Beverly (about 330), Lynn (about 260), Danvers (about 240) and Saugus (about 240). These are small-sample estimates, so treat the order loosely, but together they make the North Shore the third Albanian cluster in eastern Massachusetts, after Worcester and the Boston and Quincy area.
Watertown is sometimes mentioned as an Albanian area, but it does not stand out in the data: the Census estimate is about 150 residents, with a margin of error as large as the estimate, and we found no Albanian church, mosque or association based there.
South Boston
South Boston is the institutional home of Albanian Boston. St. George Albanian Orthodox Cathedral, the seat of the Albanian Archdiocese of the Orthodox Church in America, stands at 523 East Broadway. The parish traces its start to March 22, 1908, when Fan Noli celebrated the first Divine Liturgy in the Albanian language in a rented hall in Boston. According to the parish history published by the Orthodox Church in America, the congregation worshipped in rented halls and lofts around the city until 1922, when it bought a church on Emerald Street in the South End.
As a place to live, the city of Boston as a whole has about 1,900 residents reporting Albanian ancestry (margin of error roughly 600). Neighborhood-level estimates are too small to be reliable, so we do not give figures for South Boston or Dorchester.
Quincy & the South Shore
South of Boston, Quincy has the third-largest Albanian population of any Massachusetts city: about 1,850 residents reporting Albanian ancestry (margin of error roughly 800), close to 2 percent of the city. Norfolk County as a whole has about 4,100, including Weymouth (about 500), Dedham (about 340) and Braintree (about 270).
Braintree is also the address of the Massachusetts Albanian American Society, known as MAASBESA, an independent non-profit at 71 Cleveland Avenue. It runs Shkolla Shqipe, an Albanian language and heritage school that started in March 2006 and meets on Saturdays, and the Bashkimi dance program for children and adults.
Brockton, by contrast, is a small community in Census data: about 160 residents, with a margin of error larger than the estimate.
Worcester
Worcester, about an hour west of Boston, has the largest Albanian community in Massachusetts: about 4,000 residents by Census ancestry count (margin of error roughly 700), nearly 2 percent of the city, and about 5,900 across Worcester County.
It is also one of the oldest Albanian communities in the country. On August 13, 1911 the Albanians of Worcester organized a chapter of St. George Cathedral of Boston; in 1915 it became the Church of St. Mary’s Assumption, and in 1918 the parish bought a former German Presbyterian church at 63 Wellington Street. An Albanian school opened beside the church in August 1922, according to a history published by the newspaper Dielli. The parish held the first liturgy in its present church at 535 Salisbury Street in 1982, and in 1991 it opened a 72-unit senior housing development.
Greater Boston Suburbs
Outside those clusters, Albanian families are spread thinly across the suburban ring. Middlesex County has about 3,300 residents reporting Albanian ancestry, but no single town dominates: the largest estimates are in Malden (about 310), Woburn (about 300), Newton (about 280), Arlington (about 230) and Belmont (about 220), each with a margin of error close to the size of the estimate. Revere and Winthrop, just north of the city, add about 350 and 280.
Natick deserves a mention for its history rather than its size. It was one of the early Albanian settlements in Massachusetts, along with Worcester, Southbridge, Cambridge and Lowell, and the Church of the Annunciation in Natick is still one of the four Massachusetts parishes of the Albanian Archdiocese. Today the Census estimate for Natick is under 100.
A Brief History of Albanians in Boston
Boston is where organized Albanian life in America began. Early Albanian immigrants settled around Boston and then moved to other Massachusetts towns where factory work was plentiful. Before 1920 most were Orthodox Tosks from the Korçë area of southern Albania, young men who lived cheaply in shared lodgings called konaks and sent money home.
In 1906 Sotir Peci, who had arrived in Boston the year before, launched Kombi (The Nation), the first Albanian-language newspaper in the United States; its first issue is dated June 12, 1906. Fan Noli, who landed in New York in May 1906 and worked in a Buffalo lumber mill and then as a machine operator in Boston, soon joined it as an editor. On January 6, 1907 Noli founded Besa-Besën, the first Albanian nationalist organization in the United States.
In 1908 Noli was ordained a priest in New York on March 18, and on March 22 he celebrated the first Divine Liturgy in the Albanian language, in a hall on Tremont Street in Boston. That service is the founding date of St. George Cathedral and of the Albanian Orthodox Church in America, a distinction Boston has carried ever since.
Dielli (The Sun) began publication in Boston in February 1909, with Noli and Faik Konica among its first editors, and on April 28, 1912 the Albanian societies merged in Boston to form Vatra, the Pan-Albanian Federation of America. Noli graduated from Harvard the same year and went on to serve as prime minister of Albania in 1924. The cathedral chapter model spread outward: Worcester organized a chapter in 1911, and new parishes later formed in Natick, Southbridge, Philadelphia and Jamestown, New York.
The immigrants also moved quickly into small business. One study cited by EveryCulture found that by 1925 Albanians in Greater Boston owned more than three hundred grocery and fruit stores.
After World War II, another wave arrived once Albania came under communist control in 1944. Noli himself settled permanently in the United States in the 1930s, earned a doctorate from Boston University in 1945, and died in 1965; he is buried at Forest Hills Cemetery in Jamaica Plain.
The 1990s brought a large wave from Albania after the fall of communism, and then the 1999 Kosovo war brought about 14,000 Kosovar refugees to the United States. The older roots still show in the data: a 2015 Harvard Growth Lab profile found that the Massachusetts community had a mean and median age of 39, older than the New York or Michigan communities, with a sizeable population over the age of 50.
Community Life
Albanian community life in Greater Boston is anchored by institutions that are more than a century old, alongside newer secular groups.
The Albanian Orthodox tradition remains the oldest institutional thread. The Albanian Archdiocese of the Orthodox Church in America lists four Massachusetts parishes: St. George Cathedral in South Boston, St. Mary’s Assumption in Worcester, the Church of the Annunciation in Natick and St. Nicholas in Southbridge. All trace their lineage back to Fan Noli’s founding congregation, and they serve as cultural centers as much as places of worship.
Muslim and Catholic families, with roots in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Montenegro, are part of the community too. We have not been able to confirm an Albanian-specific mosque or an Albanian-language Catholic parish in Greater Boston; if you know of one, tell us and we will add it to our directory of Albanian American organizations.
Cultural organizations carry much of the work of passing things on. The Massachusetts Albanian American Society (MAASBESA), based in Braintree, runs a Saturday Albanian language and heritage school and the Bashkimi dance program, and lists an Albanian Independence Day celebration on its calendar each November. Dielli, the newspaper founded in Boston in 1909, is still published. These groups are essential for keeping the next generation connected to Albanian language and culture.
Food is the other connector. The Albanian-owned restaurants, bakeries and cafes in our Boston directory double as informal gathering places where news travels and connections are made over coffee.
Albanian Population in Massachusetts
Massachusetts is home to one of the largest Albanian-American communities in the United States. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, Table B04006), roughly 21,600 Massachusetts residents report Albanian ancestry, placing the state third in the nation, behind only New York and Michigan.
Hungry? Find Albanian restaurants near you, searchable by city or ZIP code.
About 14,700 live in the Boston metropolitan area (margin of error roughly 1,700) and about 5,900 in the Worcester metropolitan area. By city, Worcester has about 4,000, Boston about 1,900 and Quincy about 1,800. The Census undercounts Albanians because ancestry is self-reported and optional, only two ancestries per person are tabulated, many Albanians from Kosovo, North Macedonia and Montenegro are recorded under other ancestries or under none, and later generations often stop reporting it. Many families trace their roots to earlier waves of immigration, while newer arrivals from Albania, Kosovo, and North Macedonia continue to settle in the area.
Curious how this community compares nationwide? See our guide to the Albanian population in the United States, and explore the latest sector trends in the 2026 State of Albanian-Owned Business in America report.
Need legal help? Browse our directory of Albanian lawyers and attorneys in the US to find an Albanian-speaking attorney.
Find Albanian-Owned Businesses in Boston
Albanian entrepreneurs are active across Greater Boston in restaurants, construction, real estate, legal services, healthcare, and more. ALB Connection lists verified Albanian-owned businesses across the metro area. Top business categories in the Boston area include:- Restaurants & Bakeries
- Construction & Trades
- Legal Services
- Real Estate
- Healthcare & Medical Practices
Own an Albanian Business in Boston?
If you run an Albanian-owned business in the Greater Boston area, list it for free on ALB Connection. Make it easier for the community to find and support you. Add your listing today.Frequently Asked Questions
How many Albanians live in Boston?
About 1,900 Boston residents report Albanian ancestry, with a margin of error of roughly 600, and about 14,700 across the Boston metropolitan area (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates, 2020 to 2024, Table B04006); the statewide count is about 21,600. The Census undercounts Albanians because ancestry is self-reported and optional, only two ancestries per person are tabulated, and many Albanians from Kosovo, North Macedonia and Montenegro are recorded under other ancestries or under none. The community includes families from Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Montenegro.Where is the largest Albanian community in Massachusetts?
Worcester has the largest Census count of any Massachusetts city, about 4,000, followed by Boston (about 1,900), Quincy (about 1,800) and Peabody (about 900). South Boston, home of St. George Albanian Orthodox Cathedral, has historically been the institutional center of Albanian life in the metro, while Worcester has grown from about 2,600 in the 2006 to 2010 estimates to about 4,000.What is the history of Albanians in Boston?
Boston is the birthplace of the Albanian Orthodox Church in America. Fan Noli founded the first parish here in 1908. Albanian immigration to the region has continued in waves ever since, from early laborers in the 1900s to post-communist arrivals in the 1990s to Kosovo war refugees in 1999.Are there Albanian restaurants in Boston?
Yes. Greater Boston has Albanian-owned restaurants, bakeries, and cafes serving traditional dishes like byrek, qofte, and grilled meats. Check ALB Connection’s Boston directory to find them.How can I find Albanian businesses in Boston?
ALB Connection maintains a verified directory of Albanian-owned businesses in the Greater Boston area. Visit our Boston business directory to search by category or location.For broader demographic context, see the U.S. Census American Community Survey-based Albanian population rankings compiled by Neilsberg and Harvard Kennedy School Growth Lab’s foundational Statistical Profiling of the Albanian-Americans.
Related community guides
Explore Albanian communities in other US cities and states:
- Albanians in New York
- Albanians in the Bronx
- Albanians in Westchester & Yonkers
- Albanians in New Jersey
- Albanians in Connecticut
- Albanians in Philadelphia & Pennsylvania
- Albanians in Ohio
- Albanians in Chicago
- Albanians in Michigan
- Albanians in Metro Detroit
- Albanians in Massachusetts
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau: American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020 to 2024, Table B04006 (People Reporting Ancestry)
- Orthodox Church in America: St. George Cathedral, South Boston, parish history
- Orthodox Church in America: Assumption of the Virgin Mary Church, Worcester, parish history
- Orthodox Church in America: parishes of the Albanian Archdiocese
- Orthodox Church in America: Albanian Orthodox celebrate Centennial Year in Boston
- St. George Albanian Orthodox Cathedral: Fan Noli
- Dielli: Boston and Worcester, head and heart of the first organized Albanian community in the New World (Neka Doko, 2022)
- Dielli: Fan Noli in America, a brief review (2020)
- Every Culture: Albanian Americans (settlement patterns, Kombi, Besa-Besën, Vatra)
- Massachusetts Albanian American Society (MAASBESA): official website
- Harvard Kennedy School Growth Lab: The Albanian Community in the United States, statistical profile (2015)
Author: Val Demiri
Valbona is an editor and writer at ALB Connection, where she covers the people, businesses, and culture shaping the Albanian diaspora. A journalism graduate of the University of Iowa, her work spans community profiles, success stories, and features on Albanian life across the US, Europe, and beyond. She is drawn to stories that celebrate Albanian achievement and keep the community connected across borders.
