We measured burn incidence rates for residents of five Massachusetts cities. The data set included all non-occupational burn injuries and cases of smoke inhalation requiring treatment on an inpatient or an outpatient basis in a hospital, occurring between October 1, 1973 and September 30, 1976. Rates of burn injuries by age, and by burn type were calculated for each city. Examination of the data revealed large differences in the magnitude of the age-specific incidence rates among cities but remarkably similar patterns of rates for each city. Differences in the economic status among the cities and among census tracts within the cities appeared to explain a large proportion of the variation in the crude burn rates. A similar specificity of certain types of burn injury by age and sex was common to each city. These findings can be used by health education specialists to design and implement burn prevention programs in these communities appropriate for those individuals at highest risk.