Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The best of Colrain’s subject grades are an A+ for history and an A for the outdoors; the weakest is a D for walkability. 30% of residents are 65 or older in Colrain, against 19% in Massachusetts’ towns and 18% across U.S. towns. On hazard risk, just 8 of Massachusetts’ 325 towns do worse. 22% of the land in Colrain is conserved, where Massachusetts’ towns sit at 19% and U.S. towns at 4.3%. Only 25 of Massachusetts’ 325 towns score higher on history. Catamount State Forest, at 1,337 acres with 9.5 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Colrain has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Colrain beats most towns.
Census counts: 1,417 in 1790, 1,606 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1868 and 6 maps from 1890 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Massachusetts), ordered by how far Colrain is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Colrain, 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 Colrain.
The typical Colrain home is worth about $320,000, up 1.7% in a year, 51% below the Massachusetts typical home. The median rent in Colrain is $1,102 a month.
| Colrain | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 87% | 79% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,102 a month | $1,683 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by the Mohawk Trail school district. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colrain CentralLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 94 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MA on state tests and graduation
Colrain beats the Massachusetts average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 7. 26% of Colrain adults have obesity.
| Colrain | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 28% | 35% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 36% | 32% | 35% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 24% | 23% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 82% | 82% | 79% |
| What stands out | Colrain | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 8.9% | 11.1% |
| More adults screened for colon cancer | 74.9% | 68.4% |
| More adults with COPD | 7.7% | 5.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Most working residents leave Colrain for work: only 3% work in town. Colrain’s average trip to work is 34 minutes. The top destinations are Greenfield (13%), Charlemont (8%) and Shelburne (6%).
| Colrain | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 34 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 8.4% | 18% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.7% | 9.8% | 8% |
| Median household income | $81,000 | $120,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 78% of U.S. communities. Since 1987, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Colrain.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
15% of residents are under 18 in Colrain. Colrain has grown 3.1% since 2020, to 1,654 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 37% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Colrain.
| Colrain | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 49.6 years | 43.4 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 15% | 20% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 37% | 47% | 29% |
46% women, 54% men
About 117 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±1.6 points). Across Massachusetts, 51.1% of residents are women.
| Colrain | MA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 7.2% | 10.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.1% | 9.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8% | 9.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 8.8% | 14% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 14.2% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 7.9% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.5% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 16.1% | 10.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 14.3% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.7% | 8.6% | 10.4% |
| High school | 35.5% | 22.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 13.2% | 14.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.3% | 7.5% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 17.1% | 25.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 20.3% | 21.8% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,700, single groups can be off by several points
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Catamount State Forest | 9.5 mi | 1,337 |
| 2. Catamount Wildlife Management Area | 5.4 mi | 495 |
| 3. H.O. Cook State Forest | — | 939 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Colrain has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 13° and about 37 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Of the 278 Massachusetts towns we compare, none has a lower property crime rate than Colrain. Colrain's reported crime rate is well below Massachusetts's. Among 278 Massachusetts towns, just 6 have a lower violent crime rate than Colrain.
| Colrain | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0 per 1,000 residents | 4.9 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0 per 1,000 residents | 1.5 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Colrain. Close and well known come first.
24 mi MountainMount Greylock
33 mi MountainMount Monadnock
31 mi LakeQuabbin Reservoir
26 mi MuseumClark Art Institute
39 mi TheatreTanglewood
21 mi Ski areaMount Snow119 runs · 1,648 ft verticalMount Greylock: Jstergis, CC BY 3.0 · Mount Monadnock: Jonwmcinenrey, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Quabbin Reservoir: engineerchange, CC BY 2.0 · Clark Art Institute: Daderot, Public domain · Tanglewood: Daderot., CC BY-SA 3.0 · Mount Snow: William J Sisti from Morristown, NJ, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0
1 within 15 miles of the center of Colrain
About 3 of every 100 Colrain residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Massachusetts.
Where Colrain’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
2 places in Colrain on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in Massachusetts, United States
Colrain is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,606 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield metropolitan area, Massachusetts.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Colrain.
| Town | MA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colrain | — | — | C | — | C− | A− |
| Leyden | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Heath | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Charlemont | — | — | C | — | D− | A− |
Colrain and Charlemont have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Colrain and Charlemont report no FBI crime data of their own. Leyden and Heath aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Colrain with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Home to 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
That is 4.3 years of the area's median household income ($74,907 across the Greenfield, MA 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.
2 notable people were born here, including Elisabeth Bardwell and Lorenzo Lyons.
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