Photo: Anc516 · CC BY 3.0Great Barrington has higher household incomes than 61% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Great Barrington are C+ for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. 9.2% of residents live below the poverty line, where Massachusetts as a whole has 10.0%. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 1.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 47.9 in Boston.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Great Barrington: the gist
Great Barrington is where the jobs are
Great Barrington has 3,786 jobs, 1.5 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Great Barrington are quick
The average trip to work takes 22 minutes, against 29 across Massachusetts. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Massachusetts worker. Time on the road ↓
The biggest group of Great Barrington’s workers comes from Pittsfield
474 of the people who work in Great Barrington live in Pittsfield, 16 miles away, more than from any other town. The commute map ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Great Barrington
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Great Barrington is better than 42% of U.S. towns, #255 of 283 in Massachusetts. Household income holds Great Barrington’s grade up ($84,132, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 25% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Great Barrington could be anywhere from C− to A−.
Great Barrington on a workday afternoon
On a workday 1,677 residents head out to work, 839 work right here, and 2,947 people come in from elsewhere.
About 8,500 people are in Great Barrington on a workday afternoon, 18% more than live here.
1.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Each way, about 22 minutes from Great Barrington
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Great Barrington workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,776 commuters (the 24% 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.
Where Great Barrington’s workforce comes from
Where Great Barrington clocks in
9% of workers
6% of workers
5% 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.
What work there is in Great Barrington: 3,786 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Great Barrington, 2014 → 2024: 4,210 → 3,786. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Great Barrington’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of Great Barrington commutes less than 9 miles
About 21% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In Great Barrington, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Great Barrington is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns, #38 of 283 in Massachusetts. Both inputs place Great Barrington near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,634 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 82% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 8% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 60% 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). 4.6% of Great Barrington households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Great Barrington’s commuters take a bus or train.
2,026th of 3,122: where Great Barrington ranks among U.S. towns of 5,100 to 9,800
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 88 | Georgetown MA | 8,577 | $152K | 3.8% | 1.7% | 8% | A+ |
| 89 | Hopedale MA | 6,066 | $116K | 2.9% | 1.6% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,024 | Hastings NY | 9,438 | $84K | 10.5% | 7.3% | 9% | C+ |
| 2,025 | Putnam CT | 9,402 | $71K | 11.5% | 4.4% | 20% | C+ |
| 2,026 | Great Barrington MA | 7,239 | $84K | 9.2% | 5.0% | 33% | C+ |
| 2,027 | Pittstown NY | 5,472 | $92K | 13.2% | 5.1% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,028 | Hamilton MT | 5,451 | $49K | 8.8% | 2.0% | 41% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,122 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 6% | 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 Great Barrington, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Great Barrington and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Stockbridge (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Great Barrington workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Barrington | – | C+ | A+ | 22 min | $84,132 |
| Egremont | 2% | B | B− | 44 min | $101,458 |
| Alford | under 2% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Stockbridge | 6% | B− | A | 20 min | $146,250 |
| West Stockbridge | under 2% | B | B | 25 min | $107,083 |
| Monterey | under 2% | B+ | B | 23 min | $152,353 |
Same-state neighbors only. Alford: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Great Barrington’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 2024, 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 Great Barrington: questions
What is the median household income in Great Barrington?
$84,132 (±$11,339) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Great Barrington?
9.2%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Great Barrington?
22 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 24% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Great Barrington work?
33% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Pittsfield (9%, 16 mi), Stockbridge (6%, 6 mi), Sheffield (5%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Great Barrington walkable?
Great Barrington is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 11.4 out of 20, and 15% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Great Barrington without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 8% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Great Barrington, from the people who make the trip.
More of Great Barrington
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.