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.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Where Massachusetts ranks for AI use in US. Data shows its high