How many people in Massachusetts are using AI right now? What data shows

One in three Massachusetts residents use generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and Claude, according to Microsoft data.

Generative AI can create words, music, pictures, or videos, based on user prompts. For example, if you type a prompt asking for a fictional story, the AI tool will generate a passage with a setting, characters, and plot.

About 33.4% of working-age residents in Massachusetts use these tools, placing the state 11th in the U.S., according to Q1 2026 data. Hampshire County, home to the Five College Consortium, has the highest AI usage rate, at 45.1%.

Microsoft found that counties with more employment in professional and technical services, corporate management, healthcare, information and media, and finance tend to have higher AI usage. Additionally, counties with larger shares of residents ages 18 to 24 tend to have higher levels of AI usage.

Counties with larger shares of workers in manufacturing, agriculture, mining, oil and gas, and construction tend to have lower AI usage, according to Microsoft.

The figures are based on anonymized Microsoft usage data and adjusted for differences in devices, operating systems, internet access, and population size.

Top Massachusetts counties by generative AI usage

Here are Massachusetts’ 14 counties ranked by generative AI usage in Quarter 1 of 2026, and how they rank nationally, according to Microsoft:

1. Hampshire County – 45.1% of residents (#28 nationally)
2. Middlesex County – 37.9% of residents (#118 nationally)
3. Suffolk County – 35.6% of residents (#191 nationally)
4. Norfolk County – 34.3% of residents (#233 nationally)
5. Worcester County – 33.5% of residents (#265 nationally)
6. Plymouth County – 32.9% of residents (#283 nationally)
7. Essex County – 30.8% of residents (#385 nationally)
8. Bristol County – 28.2% of residents (#553 nationally)
9. Hampden County – 27.1% of residents (#645 nationally)
10. Barnstable County – 25.5% of residents (#790 nationally)
11. Berkshire County – 24.7% of residents (#878 nationally)
12. Nantucket County – 24.1% of residents (#937 nationally)
13. Franklin County – 23.8% of residents (#961 nationally)
14. Dukes County – 15.4% of residents (#2,450 nationally)

Top states by generative AI usage

Here are the 50 states ranked by generative AI usage in Quarter 1 of 2026, according to Microsoft:

1. Maryland (24 counties) – 36.3% of residents
2. Utah (29 counties) – 35.7% of residents
3. Texas (254 counties) – 35.3% of residents
4. Virginia (133 counties) – 34.7% of residents
5. New Jersey (21 counties) – 34.5% of residents
6. Nevada (17 counties) – 34.2% of residents
7. California (58 counties) – 34.0% of residents
8. Connecticut (9 counties) – 34.0% of residents
9. Georgia (159 counties) – 33.7% of residents
10. Florida (67 counties) – 33.6% of residents
11. Massachusetts (14 counties) – 33.4% of residents
12. Illinois (102 counties) – 33.3% of residents
13. New York (62 counties) – 32.7% of residents
14. Rhode Island (5 counties) – 32.5% of residents
15. Colorado (64 counties) – 32.3% of residents
16. Washington (39 counties) – 32.2% of residents
17. Arizona (15 counties) – 31.4% of residents
18. Hawaii (5 counties) – 30.6% of residents
19. Delaware (3 counties) – 30.6% of residents
20. New Hampshire (10 counties) – 30.2% of residents
21. North Carolina (100 counties) – 30.1% of residents
22. South Carolina (46 counties) – 29.1% of residents
23. Oklahoma (77 counties) – 28.9% of residents
24. Idaho (44 counties) – 28.8% of residents
25. Kansas (105 counties) – 28.6% of residents
26. Tennessee (95 counties) – 28.5% of residents
27. Oregon (36 counties) – 28.4% of residents
28. Ohio (88 counties) – 28.3% of residents
29. Wisconsin (72 counties) – 28.2% of residents
30. North Dakota (53 counties) – 28.2% of residents
31. Michigan (83 counties) – 27.4% of residents
32. South Dakota (66 counties) – 27.4% of residents
33. Alabama (67 counties) – 27.3% of residents
34. Pennsylvania (67 counties) – 27.2% of residents
35. Indiana (92 counties) – 26.8% of residents
36. Missouri (114 counties, 1 independent city) – 26.8% of residents
37. Nebraska (93 counties) – 26.4% of residents
38. Minnesota (87 counties) – 26.3% of residents
39. Louisiana (64 parishes) – 26.1% of residents
40. Arkansas (75 counties) – 26.0% of residents
41. Wyoming (23 counties) – 25.5% of residents
42. Kentucky (120 counties) – 25.1% of residents
43. Iowa (99 counties) – 24.4% of residents
44. New Mexico (33 counties) – 23.9% of residents
45. Alaska (19 organized boroughs, 1 unorganized borough) – 23.6% of residents
46. Vermont (14 counties) – 23.3% of residents
47. Mississippi (82 counties) – 22.9% of residents
48. Montana (56 counties) – 22.7% of residents
49. Maine (16 counties) – 21.4% of residents
50. West Virginia (55 counties) – 20.8% of residents

Clare Mulroy of USA TODAY contributed to this report.