Photo: ToddC4176 · CC BY-SA 3.0With 0.3 jobs for every working resident, most of Colrain works elsewhere
8% of workers work from home, against 19% across Massachusetts. There are 165 jobs in Colrain; 659 of its residents have a job. Jobs and income earn Colrain C+; getting around on foot earns it D.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Colrain apart
Colrain is a place people come home to
There are 165 jobs based in Colrain, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Colrain has about 1,200 people in it, 30% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Colrain workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 34 minutes each way, against 29 across Massachusetts. Over a year that’s about 261 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 659 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Colrain: the grade in detail
On income, poverty and job access, Colrain is better than 42% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Colrain’s grade up (7.2%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 10% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (4.1%) is left out: Colrain’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Colrain could be anywhere from C to B−.
How many people are in Colrain by day
On a workday 641 residents head out to work, 18 work right here, and 147 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,200 people are in Colrain on a workday afternoon, 30% 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.
From Colrain, about 34 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Colrain workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 738 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.
13% of working residents work in Greenfield
Where Colrain clocks in
13% of workers
8% 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.
Colrain works in goods: 36% of its jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Colrain, 2013 → 2023: 165 → 165. 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 Colrain’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Colrain commutes
About 24% 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.
Getting around Colrain: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Colrain is more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 14.1% across Massachusetts, on an EPA index of 3.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 806 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 1.3% of Colrain households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Colrain’s commuters take a bus or train.
Colrain next to U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,200: 2,474th of 5,381 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 509 | Whately MA | 1,622 | $117K | 5.4% | 4.7% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 606 | Otis MA | 1,610 | $109K | 1.2% | 6.2% | 10% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 638 | Wales MA | 1,833 | $89K | 5.1% | 5.5% | 3% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,472 | Sour Lake TX | 1,841 | $73K | 12.6% | 6.6% | 12% | C+ |
| 2,473 | Jackson Township IN | 1,397 | $62K | 7.1% | 1.3% | 4% | C+ |
| 2,474 | Colrain MA | 1,654 | $81K | 7.2% | 4.1% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,475 | Erie Township MN | 1,737 | $74K | 6.7% | 2.5% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,476 | Homer Township OH | 1,639 | $76K | 15.8% | 1.6% | 1% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,381 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Colrain, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
The towns around Colrain
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Colrain workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colrain | – | C+ | D | 34 min | $80,673 |
| Leyden | under 3% | — | — | 33 min | — |
| Heath | under 3% | — | — | 35 min | — |
| Charlemont | 8% | D | B | 37 min | $53,063 |
Same-state neighbors only. Leyden and Heath: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Charlemont. Darker towns draw more of Colrain’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 Colrain: questions
What is the median household income in Colrain?
$80,673 (±$9,695) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Colrain?
7.2%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Colrain?
34 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Colrain work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Greenfield (13%, 8 mi), Charlemont (8%, 8 mi), Shelburne (6%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Colrain walkable?
Colrain is more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 3.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Colrain without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Colrain, from the people who make the trip.
More of Colrain
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.