Photo: Bestbudbrian · CC BY-SA 4.0Work and commuting in Hancock
10% of workers have no commute at all, next to 19% for Massachusetts as a whole. Only 7% work in Hancock; the top destination outside it is Pittsfield (35%, 6 miles). Working residents average 22 minutes each way (Massachusetts 29, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Hancock apart on work
A lot of Hancock works one town over
39% of working residents work in a town that borders Hancock: Pittsfield (35%) and Richmond (4%). Next door ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Hancock
66% of Hancock residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 35% of the jobs based in Hancock pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 93% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Many jobs in Hancock pay little
31% of the jobs based in Hancock pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 31% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
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 272 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Hancock
407 jobs are based in Hancock.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hancock, 2013 → 2023: 457 → 407. 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 Hancock’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Hancock by day and by night
On a workday 252 residents head out to work, 20 work right here, and 387 people come in from elsewhere.
About 880 people are in Hancock on a workday afternoon, 18% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.50 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Out of Hancock to work: where people go
Where Hancock clocks in
35% of workers
4% of workers
4% 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.
The daily trip from Hancock: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hancock workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 361 commuters (the 10% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Hancock
About 18% 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.
Work next door: 39% of Hancock’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Hancock workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hancock | – | — | — | 22 min | $96,250 |
| Pittsfield | 35% | C | A | 19 min | $70,582 |
| New Ashford | under 3% | — | — | 31 min | — |
| Lanesborough | under 3% | B+ | B− | 22 min | $86,219 |
| Richmond | 4% | B | C+ | 22 min | $106,250 |
Same-state neighbors only. New Ashford: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Pittsfield. Darker towns draw more of Hancock’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 Hancock: questions
What is the median household income in Hancock?
$96,250 (±$25,813) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hancock?
10.6%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hancock?
22 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hancock work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Pittsfield (35%, 6 mi), Stockbridge (4%, 16 mi), Richmond (4%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Hancock without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hancock, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hancock
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.