Census-designated place · Berkshire County, Massachusetts

Housatonic, Massachusetts

Housatonic is a census-designated place in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, part of the Pittsfield, MA metro area. It has 1,113 residents. Housatonic, Massachusetts has a quality-of-life score of 75 out of 100 (high), ranking #3,956 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Massachusetts it ranks #166 of 225 cities and towns. It ranks best on mental health providers (high), uninsured residents (under 65) (low) and unemployment rate (low). It ranks worst on rent as share of income (high), child care cost burden (high) and income inequality (Gini index) (high).

75High

Quality-of-life score: #3,956 of 15,651 cities and towns
Massachusetts: #166 of 225 in MA
Population: 1,113 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 1,248.8 /mi²
FIPS code: 2531295

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 75 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety42#9,015/15,637
Economy66#5,349/15,631
Housing5#14,157/14,977
Health64#5,695/15,609
Healthcare98#272/15,650
Environment80#3,028/15,453
Education82#2,780/15,649
Infrastructure54#7,277/15,650
Community69#4,823/15,651
Leisure & amenities87#1,979/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Housatonic, Massachusetts ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Berkshire County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Mental health providers · high1,021 /100k
99/100Massachusetts 787 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBerkshire County value
Uninsured residents (under 65) · low0.0%
99/100Massachusetts 3.3%United States 9.8%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B27010
Unemployment rate · low0.0%
98/100Massachusetts 4.5%United States 4.3%2020-2024U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census table B23025
Students per teacher · low10.1×
98/100Massachusetts 11.9×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsBerkshire County value
Public EV charging ports · high20.6 /10k
96/100Massachusetts 16.4 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyBerkshire County value
Hot days · low2 days
95/100Massachusetts 8 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationBerkshire County value

Weaknesses

Rent as share of income · high51.0%
2/100Massachusetts 30.9%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071At least this value: the publisher's top bracket is open-ended
Child care cost burden · high40.7%
7/100Massachusetts 39.7%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBerkshire County value
Income inequality (Gini index) · high0.539
9/100Massachusetts 0.489United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
Drug overdose deaths · high28.4 /100k
11/100Massachusetts 18.2 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataBerkshire County value
Violent crime rate · high436 /100k
14/100Massachusetts 303 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationBerkshire County value
Home price to income ratio · high4.9×
17/100Massachusetts 5.4×United States 4.1×2019-2023U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
753 (2015-2019) → 1,113 (2020-2024)
+48%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
100.0% (2015-2019) → 51.7% (2020-2024)
−48 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Child poverty rateImproving
56.3% (2015-2019) → 8.5% (2020-2024)
−48 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Median household incomeImproving
$35,481 (2015-2019) → $86,920 (2019-2023)
+145%4 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $77,719
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
25.2% (2015-2019) → 52.3% (2020-2024)
+27 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
High school diploma or higherImproving
85.4% (2015-2019) → 98.4% (2020-2024)
+13 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Housatonic, Massachusetts improved on 1 of 7 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 5 moved within the margin of error and 1 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved1

Rent burden−48 points100.0% → 51.7%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 7 measures

Change of every measure of Housatonic, Massachusetts between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Broadband subscriptions	90.7%2015-2019	89.0%2020-2024	−1.8 points	Within the margin of error	5%
High school diploma or higher	85.4%2015-2019	98.4%2020-2024	+13 points	Within the margin of error	98%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4862015-2019	0.5392020-2024	+0.054	Within the margin of error	15%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	51.0%2015-2019	51.0%2020-2024	0 points	Little change	55%
Rent-burdened households	100.0%2015-2019	51.7%2020-2024	−48 points	Improved	99%
Unemployment rate	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	49%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 5712 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Housatonic, Massachusetts five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Housatonic, Massachusetts in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

No place that looked like Housatonic, Massachusetts five years ago has more measures that improved than declined, with a higher standing among its peers today.

For comparison, Housatonic, Massachusetts itself moved +10.7 points in standing on average over the same 5 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

1,113 residents (±290)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

525 households (±105)

Housatonic, Massachusetts
Massachusetts share

Under $25k32%†168
$25k–50k16%†83
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

525 households (±105)

Housatonic, Massachusetts
Massachusetts share

Own70%366
Rent30%†159

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

651 workers (±208)

Housatonic, Massachusetts
Massachusetts share

Drive alone67%†436
Carpool7.1%†46
Public transit

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Pittsfield, MA

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Berkshire County, the county holding most of Housatonic's residents.

Berkshire County has 3,749 employer establishments, 291 for every 10,000 residents (1.17× the US rate of 248; 1.12× Massachusetts's), with 50,051 paid employees at an average annual pay of $57,095. The Census Bureau also counts 11,661 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 3,749; 11,661 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 291; US 248 · Massachusetts 260
Paid employees: 50,051
Average annual pay: $57,095; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Berkshire County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Restaurants and other eating places	333	25.8	1.41×More than typical	3,960	$26,027	33
Specialty trade contractors	325	25.2	1.63×More than typical	1,617	$73,477	974
Ambulatory health care services	233	18.1	0.87×About typical	2,716	$74,806	726
Full-service restaurants	189	14.6	1.91×More than typical	2,590	$27,238	10
Construction of buildings	179	13.9	1.83×More than typical	813	$65,791	337
Services to buildings and dwellings	171	13.3	1.97×More than typical	693	$55,039	784
Building equipment contractors	137	10.6	1.76×More than typical	913	$70,067	177
Landscaping services	129	10	2.85×More than typical	322	$72,742	363
Lessors of real estate	127	9.8	0.80×Fewer than typical	513	$47,419	1,230
Limited-service restaurants	96	7.4	0.93×About typical	885	$26,609	12
Automotive repair and maintenance	83	6.4	1.28×More than typical	315	$45,810	77
Clothing and accessories stores	79	6.1	1.69×More than typical	679	$24,570	111

Rank places for an industry Open Berkshire County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 129,026 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

No federal contract obligations recorded here in FY2026.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Housatonic is mostly in Berkshire County.

See federal money in Berkshire County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Housatonic, Massachusetts is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Richard E. NealD-MA-1 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 7.0%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Berkshire County83100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Pittsfield, MA84

Other cities and towns in Berkshire County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/2531295

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends