City · Berkshire County, Massachusetts

North Adams, Massachusetts

North Adams is a city in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, part of the Pittsfield, MA metro area. It has 12,606 residents. North Adams, Massachusetts has a quality-of-life score of 57 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #6,759 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Massachusetts it ranks #202 of 225 cities and towns. It ranks best on mental health providers (high), students per teacher (low) and public EV charging ports (high). It ranks worst on income inequality (Gini index) (high), frequent mental distress (high) and child care cost burden (high).

57Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #6,759 of 15,651 cities and towns
Massachusetts: #202 of 225 in MA
Population: 12,606 (2020-2024)
Land area: 20 mi²
Density: 619.6 /mi²
FIPS code: 2546225

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 76 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
Economy20#12,466/15,631
Housing5#14,283/14,977
Health28#11,187/15,609
Healthcare98#315/15,650
Environment80#3,028/15,453
Education66#5,297/15,649
Infrastructure59#6,406/15,650
Community62#5,960/15,651
Leisure & amenities87#1,979/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where North Adams, 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
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
Uninsured residents (under 65) · low1.5%
95/100Massachusetts 3.3%United States 9.8%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B27010
Restaurants and bars · high14.1 /10k
94/100Massachusetts 9.1 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsBerkshire County value

Weaknesses

Income inequality (Gini index) · high0.531
2/100Massachusetts 0.489United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
Frequent mental distress · high21.8%
6/100Massachusetts 17.5%United States 18.6%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Child care cost burden · high40.7%
7/100Massachusetts 39.7%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBerkshire County value
Depression · high29.3%
9/100Massachusetts 24.4%United States 20.7%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
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
Rent-burdened households · high63.7%
12/100Massachusetts 51.8%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070

Trends

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

New homes permittedWorsening
0.2 /1k (2021) → 0.0 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−100%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
75.6% (2015-2019) → 88.8% (2020-2024)
+13 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
53.2% (2015-2019) → 63.7% (2020-2024)
+10 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
High school diploma or higherImproving
84.0% (2015-2019) → 90.6% (2020-2024)
+6.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Child poverty rateImproving
23.2% (2015-2019) → 17.8% (2020-2024)
−5.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
23.0% (2015-2019) → 28.4% (2020-2024)
+5.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%

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, North Adams, Massachusetts improved on 3 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 10 moved within the margin of error and 0 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.

Improved3

Uninsured−3.6 points5.1% → 1.5%
Broadband+13 points75.6% → 88.8%
Bachelor's++5.3 points23.0% → 28.4%

Declined1

Rent / income+4.8 points31.0% → 35.8%

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of North Adams, Massachusetts between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	18.4 min2015-2019	17.4 min2020-2024	−1.0 min	Within the margin of error	60%
Bachelor's degree or higher	23.0%2015-2019	28.4%2020-2024	+5.3 points	Improved	70%
Broadband subscriptions	75.6%2015-2019	88.8%2020-2024	+13 points	Improved	73%
Child poverty rate	23.2%2015-2019	17.8%2020-2024	−5.3 points	Within the margin of error	70%
Effective property tax rate	1.51%2015-2019	1.28%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	64%
High school diploma or higher	84.0%2015-2019	90.6%2020-2024	+6.6 points	Within the margin of error	88%
Home price to income ratio	3.4×2015-2019	4.1×2020-2024	+0.7×	Within the margin of error	35%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4862015-2019	0.5312020-2024	+0.045	Within the margin of error	19%
Median household income	$41,4712015-2019	$47,5002020-2024	+15%	Within the margin of error	23%
Poverty rate	19.4%2015-2019	18.6%2020-2024	−0.8 points	Within the margin of error	51%
Rent as share of income	31.0%2015-2019	35.8%2020-2024	+4.8 points	Declined	23%
Rent-burdened households	53.2%2015-2019	63.7%2020-2024	+10 points	Within the margin of error	23%
Unemployment rate	5.5%2015-2019	5.0%2020-2024	−0.5 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	5.1%2015-2019	1.5%2020-2024	−3.6 points	Improved	80%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 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 North Adams, Massachusetts five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of North Adams, 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.

For comparison, North Adams, Massachusetts itself moved −1.8 points in standing on average over the same 10 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

12,606 residents (±27)

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

5,948 households (±313)

North Adams, Massachusetts
Massachusetts share

Under $25k27%1,589
$25k–50k25%1,496
$50k–75k16%941

Homes

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

Owners and renters

5,948 households (±313)

North Adams, Massachusetts
Massachusetts share

Own51%3,035
Rent49%2,913

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

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

5,442 workers (±422)

North Adams, Massachusetts
Massachusetts share

Drive alone76%4,139
Carpool6.2%†336
Public transit0.4%†

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 North Adams'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

In FY2026, an estimated $69.3K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in North Adams, Massachusetts: $5.50 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $69.3K; −5.4% vs FY2025
Per resident: $5.50; US $1,994
Sole-source: 59%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.0%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Department of Veterans Affairs$41.1K59%
Social Security Administration$28.2K41%

Top recipients

WILLOWOOD OF NORTH ADAMS INC$41.1K59%
FRANCONIA REAL ESTATE SERVICES, INC.$28.2K41%

Spending by fiscal year

239.2KFY2017
165.1KFY2018
82.3KFY2019
124.8KFY2020
97.9KFY2021
95.3KFY2023
45.2KFY2024
73.2KFY2025

Top industries (NAICS)

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in North Adams, Massachusetts, so they do not add up across cities.

North Adams, Massachusetts's figures are part of those of Berkshire County, MA ($793M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: North Adams 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.

North Adams, 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
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
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/2546225

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends