Boston Death Records
Boston death records go back to 1630, making this one of the oldest civil registration systems in North America. The Boston Registry Division holds the city's records directly and offers both in-person and online access, with a searchable database covering deaths from 1956 to the present.
Boston Overview
Boston Registry Division: Death Records Office
The Boston Registry Division handles all death records for the city. It operates out of Room 213 in Boston City Hall and serves as the primary custodian of birth, death, and marriage records for Boston residents. You can reach the office by phone, email, or by visiting in person during business hours.
| Address | 1 City Hall Square, Room 213, Boston, MA 02201-2006 |
|---|---|
| Phone | (617) 635-4175 |
| registry@boston.gov | |
| Website | boston.gov/departments/registry |
| Hours | Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM |
| In-Person Fee | $12 per certified copy |
| Mail/Online Fee | $14 per certified copy |
When you visit in person, you can pay with cash, credit card, check, or money order. Pinless debit cards are accepted. Debit cards that require a PIN will not work at the window. There is a 2.5% processing fee (minimum $1.00) for credit card payments. Staff can generally process same-day requests for records from 1956 onward.
The Boston City Archives is a separate resource from the Registry Division. It is located at 201 Rivermoor Street, West Roxbury, MA 02132. You can reach the Archives at (617) 635-1195 or archives@boston.gov. Hours are Monday through Friday, 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM. The Archives holds older city documents and can be helpful for historical death record research that goes beyond what the Registry Division maintains in active files.
How to Order Boston Death Records
Boston offers three ways to get a certified death certificate: in person at City Hall, by mail, or online through the city's own ordering portal. The online search tool at registry.boston.gov/death covers deaths from 1956 to the present. You can search by name alone, or narrow results by adding a year or year range. For example, searching "johnson 1956-1957" will return results for that surname across that two-year span. Note that this search tool shows you whether a record exists. It does not let you view the actual certificate.
Online ordering through the city portal at registry.boston.gov costs $14 per copy, which includes shipping. The city processes most online orders within two to three business days. You pay by credit or debit card at checkout. This is the fastest option if you cannot get to City Hall in person.
Mail requests go to Registry Death, 1 City Hall Square, Room 213, Boston, MA 02201-2006. The fee is $14 per copy. Make your check payable to "City of Boston." Include a completed request form, your payment, and a self-addressed stamped envelope. Mail requests take roughly two weeks to process. If the record you need predates 1870, add a $10 non-refundable research fee. That extra charge covers the staff time required to locate older documents that are not in the active filing system.
Note: For pre-1870 Boston death records, include an extra $10 research fee with your mail request. This fee is non-refundable even if the record is not found.
What Boston Death Certificates Show
A standard Massachusetts death certificate contains the full legal name of the deceased, date and place of death, age, sex, and race. It also lists the cause of death as reported by the attending physician or medical examiner, along with the manner of death (natural, accident, homicide, suicide, or undetermined). The document identifies the informant who provided the information, which is often a family member or funeral director.
Certificates also include the decedent's place of birth, occupation, marital status, and the names of parents, including the mother's maiden name. The place of burial or disposition of remains appears near the bottom. For genealogical work, that combination of birth origin and parental names can help connect Boston records to records in other states or countries. Older certificates may have less detail, particularly those from the 1800s, when recording standards were less uniform.
Under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 46, Section 9, death certificates must capture specific categories of information. The state has updated its required fields over time, so what appears on a record from 1890 differs from what appears on one filed in 2010.
Note: The cause of death field on older certificates may reflect outdated medical terminology or imprecise diagnoses that do not translate directly to modern conditions.
Public Access to Boston Death Records Under Massachusetts Law
Massachusetts death records are public records. MGL Chapter 46, Section 2A governs who can access vital records and under what conditions. Death certificates in Massachusetts become publicly accessible after a set period. Anyone can request a death record, but the level of detail available may vary based on how recently the death occurred.
Certified copies carry the official seal and signature of the city registrar. These are the versions you need for legal and financial purposes, such as settling an estate, claiming life insurance benefits, or transferring property. A plain or informational copy may be issued for research purposes but lacks the certification required for legal proceedings.
The city of Boston does not restrict death record requests by relationship to the deceased, unlike birth records, which have tighter access rules. You do not need to prove you are a family member to order a death certificate. The fee structure is the same for all requesters.
If a death certificate contains an error, the process for correcting it falls under MGL Chapter 46, Section 13. Amendments require documentation supporting the correction, and the Registry Division staff can walk you through the steps.
Historical Boston Death Records and Genealogy Resources
Boston has one of the longest continuous civil death registration histories in the United States. City records run from 1630 onward, though the early decades are far from complete. Massachusetts required statewide vital records registration starting in 1841, but Boston was notably late to comply with that mandate. The city did not begin reporting deaths to the state system until around 1850. Before that point, only about 7% of Boston deaths appear in any surviving record. Researchers working on pre-1850 Boston deaths should go directly to the Boston Registry Division, not the state archives, since those older city-held documents were never transferred to the state system.
The Massachusetts State Archives at 220 Morrissey Blvd in Boston holds death records from 1841 through 1930. For the years 1841 through 1925, the Archives has digitized its records and made them available free of charge. You can browse these images without making a formal request or paying a fee. Certified copies from the Archives cost $3.00 each and typically take four to six weeks to process. Call the Archives at (617) 727-2816 for more information.
The Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records and Statistics (RVRS) at 150 Mount Vernon Street, Dorchester, holds the state's records from 1936 onward. Certified copies from the RVRS cost $20 in person, $32 by mail, or $54 online through VitalChek. For Boston deaths between roughly 1930 and 1956 that fall in the gap between the Archives cutoff and the city's online search range, you will need to contact the Boston Registry Division directly for a manual search.
The RVRS website explains its holdings and ordering process. The FamilySearch Massachusetts Vital Records page also lists free digital indexes and image collections that can help narrow down a search before you place a formal request.
The lead-in to the Boston Registry Division's website shows the full range of services offered. Visit boston.gov/departments/registry for the current office details and links to the online ordering portal.
The Boston Registry Division's ordering portal lets you search and place requests for death records from 1956 onward directly through the city's website.
The city's death record search interface allows name-based queries with optional year filters, making it straightforward to check whether a record exists before submitting a formal order.
Note: The search tool at registry.boston.gov shows index results only. Viewing a full death certificate requires placing an order and paying the applicable fee.
Suffolk County Death Records
Boston is the county seat of Suffolk County. Most Boston death records are held at the city level by the Boston Registry Division, but the Suffolk County Probate and Family Court handles estate proceedings and related legal matters that may reference death records. For county-level resources and information on accessing records across Suffolk County, visit the county page.
Suffolk County Death RecordsNearby Cities
Death records for neighboring cities are held by each city's own clerk office. These cities all qualify for individual pages: