Michelle Wu has been the mayor of Boston since November 16, 2021, and began her second term after the November 2025 election. She is the first woman and the first Asian American elected to lead the city. This guide covers her biography, her record on the Boston City Council and as mayor, and the policies that now define City Hall, with links to the official records behind each point.
Michelle Wu biography: early life and education
Wu was born on January 14, 1985, in Chicago to Taiwanese immigrant parents and grew up in the Chicago area, graduating from Barrington High School in 2003. She earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Harvard College in 2007. After working as a consultant at Boston Consulting Group, she returned to Chicago to care for her mother and younger siblings and opened a teahouse there. She came back to Massachusetts in 2009 and graduated from Harvard Law School in 2012, according to her Wikipedia biography and the sources it cites.
Before running for office, Wu worked in Mayor Thomas Menino’s administration in 2010, where she worked on a simpler restaurant licensing process and a food truck program. She later provided legal services to low-income patients through a medical-legal partnership based at Boston Medical Center. In 2012 she was constituency director on Elizabeth Warren’s U.S. Senate campaign. Wu lives in Roslindale with her husband, Conor Pewarski, and their three children.
Boston City Council record (2014–2021)
Wu won an at-large City Council seat in November 2013 and was re-elected three times. From 2016 to 2018 she served as council president, the first woman of color in that role. Ordinances she authored or co-authored include:
- Paid parental leave for city employees (2015).
- A ban on city contracts with health insurers that discriminate based on gender identity (2014).
- The city’s plastic bag ban and adoption of Community Choice Aggregation for electricity (2017).
- A wetlands and climate adaptation ordinance (2019).
- The Good Food Purchasing Program for public food buyers such as Boston Public Schools (2019).
- Limits on short-term rentals, which restricted them to owner-occupied units (2018).
Mayor Wu’s elections
In 2021 Wu won the open mayoral race with about 64% of the vote over fellow councilor Annissa Essaibi George. She took office two weeks after the election because there was no permanent incumbent. In the September 2025 preliminary election she received about 72% of the vote. Challenger Josh Kraft then withdrew, and Wu was unopposed on the November ballot.
Key policies as mayor
Housing. Wu’s executive orders include the 2022 orders on fair housing and on speeding approval of affordable housing. The Mayor’s Office states her administration “has invested more in making housing affordable than any other administration in Boston’s history.” In 2023 the City Council approved her home rule petitions on rent stabilization and on restructuring the planning agency; both required state approval. The Boston Report has followed related items, including Wu’s BPDA housing tax incentive push and recent housing tax abatements.
Climate. In November 2021 she signed an ordinance divesting city funds from companies that draw more than 15% of revenue from fossil fuels, tobacco or prisons. A July 2023 executive order ended fossil fuel use in new city buildings and major renovations, and an October 2024 order created the Boston Climate Council.
Transit. Wu used $8 million in federal relief funds for two years of fare-free service on MBTA bus routes 23, 28 and 29, starting March 1, 2022. The Boston Report has also covered her comments on congestion pricing.
Public safety. The Mayor’s Office says gun violence fell to the lowest level on record in her first full year and has kept falling. A 2023 contract with the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association changed arbitration rules for officers convicted of certain crimes. That union endorsed her re-election in 2025.
Schools. Wu pledged $2 billion for school buildings in 2022, and the Mayor’s Office reports expanded Universal Pre-K and summer jobs for students who wanted them. She delivered her second State of the Schools address on October 19, 2026.
Federal relations. In March 2025 Wu testified before the House Oversight Committee about the Boston Trust Act. In September 2025 the U.S. Justice Department sued the city over that ordinance, naming the mayor as a defendant in her official capacity.
Boston by the numbers
The city Wu leads had an estimated 672,973 residents in July 2025. About 27.8% of residents were born outside the U.S., and the median household income is $97,344, according to U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts.
Sources
- City of Boston: Mayor’s Office: list of executive orders and the office’s statements on housing, gun violence, Pre-K and summer jobs.
- Wikipedia: Michelle Wu: biography, council ordinances, election results, fare-free buses, police contract and Trust Act litigation, with citations to the Boston Globe, WBUR, WGBH and the Boston Herald.
- U.S. Census Bureau: QuickFacts, Boston city: population, foreign-born share and income.
Additional sources
- City of Boston: Record year for street lighting upgrades (October 26, 2026): a recent example of city infrastructure work.
- City of Boston: $16 million to modernize Fairmount Apartments (October 2026): public housing investment.
- Wikimedia Commons: Michelle Wu at Roxbury Community College: photo credit.
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