Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domainAdams has 0.5 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Working from home is the commute for 8% of workers, where Massachusetts as a whole has 19%. Adams has 1,589 jobs for 3,515 working residents. The two grades for Adams are C− for jobs and income and B− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Adams stands out on work
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Adams
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Adams is better than 18% of U.S. towns, #281 of 283 in Massachusetts. The poverty rate holds Adams’ grade up (13.2%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 18% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Adams could be anywhere from D to C+.
Time on the road from Adams: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Adams workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,399 commuters (the 8% who work from home are left out). Across Massachusetts: 75% drive alone, 8% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
The daily commute in and out of Adams
On a workday 2,975 residents head out to work, 540 work right here, and 1,049 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,000 people are in Adams on a workday afternoon, 24% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
26% of working residents work in Pittsfield
Where Adams clocks in
26% of workers
16% of workers
6% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
33% of the jobs in Adams make or build things
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Adams, 2013 → 2023: 1,579 → 1,589. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Adams’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where in the region Adams works
About 17% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Adams is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Adams is more walkable than 49% of U.S. towns, #225 of 283 in Massachusetts. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 14.1% across Massachusetts.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,707 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 59% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 48% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 14.5% of Adams households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Adams’ commuters take a bus or train.
Adams is 2,613th of 2,981 U.S. towns of 5,600 to 10,700 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Lincoln MA | 6,925 | $175K | 2.3% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 89 | Georgetown MA | 8,577 | $152K | 3.8% | 1.7% | 8% | A+ |
| 90 | Hopedale MA | 6,066 | $116K | 2.9% | 1.6% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,611 | Clinton MO | 9,504 | $51K | 15.2% | 4.7% | 42% | C− |
| 2,612 | Bellevue OH | 8,154 | $54K | 18.9% | 6.4% | 21% | C− |
| 2,613 | Adams MA | 7,934 | $59K | 13.2% | 5.6% | 15% | C− |
| 2,614 | Eatonton GA | 6,749 | $56K | 16.6% | 4.3% | 23% | C− |
| 2,615 | Hillsdale MI | 8,002 | $51K | 22.9% | 4.4% | 29% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,981 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Adams, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Adams and its neighbors: 22% work next door
The biggest share goes to North Adams (16%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Adams workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adams | – | C− | B− | 24 min | $58,929 |
| North Adams | 16% | D | A | 17 min | $47,500 |
| New Ashford | under 2% | — | — | 31 min | — |
| Williamstown | 6% | B | A | 16 min | $106,650 |
Same-state neighbors only. New Ashford: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Adams’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Adams: questions
What is the median household income in Adams?
$58,929 (±$6,279) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Adams?
13.2%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Adams?
24 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Adams work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Pittsfield (26%, 14 mi), North Adams (16%, 4 mi), Williamstown (6%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Adams walkable?
Adams is more walkable than 49% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 9.0 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Adams without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Adams, from the people who make the trip.
More of Adams
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.