Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Adams earns a D, ranked 270th of 282 in Massachusetts, mostly because of schools and incomes. Its schools rank behind 84% of the state's. The median household income is $59K, and 13% of residents live below the poverty line. What it does well: it has 50 miles of trail and 48% conserved land. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 99% of U.S. towns, with 16 places on the National Register. 48% of the land in Adams is conserved, where Massachusetts’ towns sit at 19% and U.S. towns at 4.3%. Only 3 of Massachusetts’ 325 towns score lower on hazard risk. Its National Register listings include Quaker Meetinghouse and Park Street Firehouse.
Where Adams beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Census counts: 2,040 in 1790, a peak of 13,026 in 1910, 8,166 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1781 and 2 maps from 1886 on.
16 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Massachusetts), ordered by how far Adams is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Adams. Close and well known come first.
in town MountainMount Greylock
7 mi MuseumClark Art Institute
21 mi TheatreTanglewood
5 mi MuseumMassachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art
26 mi MuseumNorman Rockwell Museum
19 mi LandmarkBennington Battle MonumentMount Greylock: Jstergis, CC BY 3.0 · Clark Art Institute: Daderot, Public domain · Tanglewood: Daderot., CC BY-SA 3.0 · Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art: N-Lange.de, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Norman Rockwell Museum: User:Rmrfstar, CC BY 2.5 · Bennington Battle Monument: Phil Boucher, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Adams, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Adams.
Adams keeps more of its land conserved than most of Massachusetts and is safe by national standards but not by Massachusetts’s; it also carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Massachusetts (mostly inland flooding).
Its 7,009 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 99% of Massachusetts towns.
50 miles of trail in 14 parks and preserves. Adams’ trail density is 2.2 miles per square mile, against 1.8 in Massachusetts’ towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. The biggest place to walk is Mount Greylock State Reservation, 2,849 acres with 19.6 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Mount Greylock State Reservation | 19.6 mi | 2,849 |
| 2. Greylock Glen | 17.8 mi | 891 |
| 3. Savoy Mountain State Forest | 3 mi | 768 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Hoosac Valley Regional school district. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Berkshire Arts and Technology Charter Public School, with 364 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hoosac Valley Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–3 | Grades PK–3 | 398 | C+ |
| Berkshire Arts and Technology Charter Public SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 6–12 | Grades 6–12 | 364 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MA on state tests and graduation
Home values rose 44% in five years, to about $271K, against 26% across Massachusetts.
The typical Adams home is worth about $271,000, up 2.5% in a year, 59% below the Massachusetts typical home. Adams’ median rent is $963 a month.
| Adams | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 62% | 79% | 73% |
| Median rent | $963 a month | $1,683 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 99% of Massachusetts towns, with expected losses of about $542 per resident a year; that rating is what its D for hazard risk is built on.
The FEMA risk score in Adams is 86 of 100. Since 1979, 13 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Adams.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Only 7 of the 283 Massachusetts towns we compare have a lower median household income than Adams. 8.3% of workers work from home in Adams. Most working residents leave Adams for work: only 15% work in town.
| Adams | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $59,000 | $120,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 8.3% | 18% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 15% | 9.8% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Adams has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 81°, January nights drop to 13° and about 77 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 23.5 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 83% of Massachusetts’s graded towns.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Against the 8,635 U.S. towns with household incomes like Adams’s, it is healthier than 72%, so its B− isn’t only a matter of income.
Adams beats the Massachusetts average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 12. 27% of Adams adults have been diagnosed with depression.
| Adams | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 24% | 23% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 12% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 11% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 15% | 19% |
| What stands out | Adams | MA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 8.9% | 5.9% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 16.9% | 11.9% |
| More smokers | 15.9% | 11.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
2 within 15 miles of the center of Adams
About 5 of every 100 Adams residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Massachusetts.
48% of the town is conserved land, across 14 parks and preserves.
16 places in Adams on the National Register of Historic Places.
13 notable people were born in Adams.
Town in Massachusetts, United States
Adams is a town in northern Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 8,166 at the 2020 census. It contains the census-designated place of the same name.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Adams.
| Town | MA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adams | #270 | D | C+ | C+ | C− | B− |
| North Adams | #279 | D− | B− | D− | D | C |
| New Ashford | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Williamstown | #109 | A− | D− | B+ | A− | A |
New Ashford isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Adams with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Adams grades D overall, better than 7% of U.S. towns and #270 of 282 in Massachusetts. It grades B− for health, C+ for safety and C− for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D.
Massachusetts has less crime than most states, so among its own towns Adams sits nearer the middle.
That is 3.6 years of the area's median household income ($76,013 across the Pittsfield, MA metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
13 notable people were born here, including Susan B. Anthony and Lona Cohen.
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