City safety & data profile
North AdamsMA
North Adams, MA is a 13K-resident city in Berkshire County with a median household income of $47,500.
Berkshire County, Massachusetts. Federal health, economic, and safety indicators for North Adams, drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, CDC PLACES, and CMS Hospital Compare. North Adams has a population larger than 19% of the 4,640 U.S. cities Areazine tracks, a median home value of $195,900, and 1 hospital serving the surrounding area.
- 13K
- Population (place)
- Bottom 20%
- By size
- $47,500
- Median income (place)
- $195,900
- Median home (place)
- 18.6%
- Poverty rate (place)
The read on North Adams
North Adams posts a median household income higher than 6% of U.S. cities Areazine tracks, where 1 hospital serves the North Adams area.
- Bottom 7%
- by median income, US cities
- 1
- hospital in & near North Adams
Composite score · North Adams, MA
26/100
4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2024
A transparent index Areazine derives from Census ACS medians (income, poverty, bachelor's share) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when published, not an official Census Bureau or FBI rating. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability rating, not a recommendation to move to or avoid any place. Missing inputs drop out and redistribute weight. How it is calculated.
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents. State-level rate (per-city UCR reporting is incomplete/voluntary): every city in the state shares this value; lower is stronger on this axis.
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS 5-Year Estimates.
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis. ACS 5-Year Estimates.
Median household income vs cities tracked on Areazine; ACS 5-Year Estimates.
North Adams in context: the full national tables: Healthiest Cities in America (health outcomes only) · Community Wellbeing Cities (this page's blended composite).
Where North Adams income ranks nationally
Median household income vs. every place Areazine profiles (place-level ACS)
$47,500 Bottom 6% higher than 6% of 3,889 places Areazine profiles
Each bar is a $20,000-wide band; taller bars hold more places Areazine profiles. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) · 2024 ACS 5-year
Largest cities in MA
Ranked by headcount across the 78 MA places Areazine tracks with both population and income data. Tooltip carries the income rank.
- Boston
Boston, MA
653,833 residents
- Worcester 206,518
Worcester, MA
206,518 residents
- Springfield 154,341
Springfield, MA
154,341 residents
- Lowell 110,699
Lowell, MA
110,699 residents
- Cambridge 110,402
Cambridge, MA
110,402 residents
- New Bedford 101,079
New Bedford, MA
101,079 residents
- Brockton 95,314
Brockton, MA
95,314 residents
- Fall River 94,000
Fall River, MA
94,000 residents
- Quincy 93,618
Quincy, MA
93,618 residents
- Lynn 92,457
Lynn, MA
92,457 residents
What this shows Boston is the largest MA city on this list; Wellesley leads median income.
Top earners by city in MA
Median household income across 78 tracked MA places. Hover a bar for its population rank.
- Wellesley
Wellesley, MA
$250,001 median
- Lexington
Lexington, MA
$238,444 median
- Winchester
Winchester, MA
$230,198 median
- Needham
Needham, MA
$214,308 median
- Newton
Newton, MA
$190,304 median
- Milton
Milton, MA
$188,529 median
- Belmont
Belmont, MA
$183,137 median
- Marblehead
Marblehead, MA
$182,132 median
- Lynnfield
Lynnfield, MA
$175,265 median
- Wilmington
Wilmington, MA
$168,152 median
What this shows Income honors go to Wellesley here -- by headcount, that title belongs to Boston.
The quick read
Reading North Adams, MA beyond the headline numbers
North Adams sits inside Berkshire County, Massachusetts, at roughly 42.70°N, -73.11°W. Population 13,263, $47,500 median household income. Median home value $195,900, median rent $793. Poverty rate 18.6%, read against that income figure since two cities on the same median can differ underneath it.
1 hospital in/around North Adams, 0 with an ER. Climate: 46.9°F annual average, 42.3" precipitation.
Among the CDC measures on this page, current asthma departs furthest from its peer median: 13.2% in North Adams, the highest-prevalence quarter of the 3,722 cities reporting that measure.
At 44.1 years, North Adams's median age is in the oldest quarter of reporting cities.
A typical renter in North Adams, MA pays $793/month, in the cheapest quarter of reporting cities -- rent here is not what strains a local paycheck.
18.6% of North Adams, MA residents live below the poverty line, placing it in the hardest-hit quarter of reporting cities. Read every median on this page against that: half the households are above it, and a large minority are far below.
Remote work covers 9.2% of North Adams workers, under the midpoint for reporting cities.
28.4% of North Adams adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, below the midpoint of reporting cities.
A median home in North Adams runs about 4.1 times median household income, above the midpoint. Multiples in this range usually mean buyers are arriving from outside the local wage base.
Unemployment in North Adams sits at 5%, above the midpoint of reporting cities.
Sources: U.S. Census ACS, CDC PLACES, CMS Hospital Compare, plus live alerts for North Adams from FEMA, NOAA, FDA, and CPSC. Economic comparison bars use the unweighted average across tracked Census places with a reported value, not a household-weighted national median.
Looking Back a Decade 2013–2024
County-level trend (Berkshire County): North Adams's own historical series isn't separately published by the Census Bureau, so these year-over-year figures track the surrounding county, not the city alone.
Economic Snapshot
What stands out most about North Adams's economic profile: poverty rate at 18.6%, 50% above the average across tracked places. Median rent also diverges: $793/mo, 48% below average.
| Indicator | Value |
|---|---|
| Median Rent | |
| Poverty Rate | 18.6% +50% vs avg |
| Unemployment | 5% |
| Bachelor's Degree+ | 28.4% |
| Work From Home | 9.2% |
| Public Transit | 0.4% |
Population Snapshot
Health Profile 15 measures
Health Indicators
Preventive Care
Other Measures
Climate
NOAA 1991-2020 NormalsCost of Living
BEA 20244.9% below national average
Metro area: Pittsfield, MA (MSA)
Source: BEA Regional Price Parities via FRED. RPP of 100 = national average.
Flood Claims on Record
FEMA NFIP, county-levelBerkshire County has recorded 17 National Flood Insurance Program claims totaling $85K in payouts since 2016.
3 claims trace back to Hurricane Ida, the biggest named event in the county's flood-claim history.
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims, via OpenFEMA. County-level data: individual claims are not attributed to a specific city or address by FEMA.
What alerts and safety updates affect North Adams?
No area-tagged alerts are on record for North Adams right now. New federal and counterpart-agency notices still land in the site feed as agencies publish them.
City alert dispatch desk
Sheet MA-NORTH-ADAMS · North Adams
North Adams: no area-tagged alerts on record. State hubs carry the live CAP stream.
- FEED-QUIET No tagged alerts
- LEAD-NONE Feed idle
- DESK-IDLE Awaiting feed
Counts reflect published articles tagged to North Adams; untagged NOAA county warnings may still appear in the site feed. Browse Massachusetts state hubs · Methodology
Related reading
What People Ask 9
What is the population of North Adams, MA? ▼
What is the median household income in North Adams? ▼
What is the median home value in North Adams? ▼
What are the top health concerns in North Adams? ▼
How many hospitals are in North Adams? ▼
What is the median age in North Adams? ▼
What is the climate like in North Adams? ▼
What is the cost of living in North Adams? ▼
Has North Adams had flood insurance claims? ▼
Comparable cities by poverty or income, nationwide 8
Two ACS-derived peer sets for North Adams, both outside Massachusetts so the neighborhoods are not the geographic nearby list below.
Similar poverty rate
Nearest place-level ACS poverty rates outside MA (18.6% here).
Similar median income
Nearest place-level ACS median household incomes outside MA ($47,500 here).
Compare North Adams with another city
Pick a second U.S. city to open a side-by-side profile on population, income, health, and hospitals, the same federal datasets as this page.
Cities Close By 8
What to do with North Adams's numbers
Use this as a starting research checklist, not a verdict on whether to live here.
- Check live recalls, weather and hazard alerts scoped to the North Adams area before relying on national headlines. Check your area
- Income and poverty rate tell different stories, two places sharing a median can still diverge sharply on poverty.
- Compare North Adams against Massachusetts peers on any ranking lens. Explore Massachusetts
U.S. Census ACS supplies the place-level population and economics figures (income, home value, poverty, education); CDC PLACES supplies health; hospital counts reflect nearby facilities. County-level trends carry their own label.
Data Sources
All data on this page comes from official U.S. government sources. Population and economic data from the Census Bureau American Community Survey (2024 5-year estimates, place geography). Health data from the CDC PLACES program (2023). Hospital ratings from CMS Hospital Compare (2024). Climate data from NOAA. Education data from NCES. Cost of living from Bureau of Economic Analysis. Crime statistics, where referenced on Areazine, originate from the FBI Crime Data Explorer. Housing market figures referenced on Areazine come from HUD Fair Market Rents. Census economics and population are at place geography; some health and hospital indicators are reported at the county level (Berkshire County) where that is the smallest published unit.
Every figure on Areazine is published directly from official U.S. government sources, no number is typed in by an editor. City demographic and health figures are compiled directly from U.S. Census (place-level ACS), CDC, and CMS releases, updated quarterly within 30 days of upstream release. County-level trends are labeled when shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-09-16.