Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Lanesborough's standout: it has 56 miles of trail and 34% conserved land. Overall it grades B+, 127th of 282 graded towns in Massachusetts. Its schools outperform 83% of the state's. 34% of the land in Lanesborough is conserved, above both the Massachusetts town median (19%) and the median of U.S. towns (4.3%). The biggest place to walk is Pittsfield State Forest, 1,678 acres with 23.5 miles of trail. Among 283 Massachusetts towns, just 5 have a lower January low than Lanesborough.
Where Lanesborough beats most towns.
Census counts: 2,142 in 1790, a low of 780 in 1900, 3,038 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1906 and 7 maps from 1886 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Massachusetts), ordered by how far Lanesborough is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Lanesborough. Close and well known come first.
8 mi MountainMount Greylock
13 mi TheatreTanglewood
12 mi MuseumClark Art Institute
18 mi MuseumNorman Rockwell Museum
37 mi MuseumOlana State Historic Site
13 mi MuseumMassachusetts Museum of Contemporary ArtMount Greylock: Jstergis, CC BY 3.0 · Tanglewood: Daderot., CC BY-SA 3.0 · Clark Art Institute: Daderot, Public domain · Norman Rockwell Museum: User:Rmrfstar, CC BY 2.5 · Olana State Historic Site: Netniks, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art: N-Lange.de, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Lanesborough, 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 Lanesborough.
Lanesborough keeps more of its land conserved than most of Massachusetts and is healthy by national standards but behind most towns in Massachusetts; it also has lost a quarter or more of its jobs in ten years.
Its 6,332 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 85% of Massachusetts towns.
56 miles of trail in 13 parks and preserves. At 1.9 miles per square mile, Lanesborough’s trail density is close to Massachusetts’ towns (1.8) and above U.S. towns (0.4).
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Pittsfield State Forest | 23.5 mi | 1,678 |
| 2. Mount Greylock State Reservation | 3.3 mi | 531 |
| 3. Constitution Hill | 2.2 mi | 283 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Mount Greylock school district. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lanesborough ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 231 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MA on state tests and graduation
Jobs based here fell from 1,087 in 2013 to 629. The average commute for its 1,305 working residents takes 21.8 minutes, against 29.1 across Massachusetts.
Most working residents leave Lanesborough for work: only 6% work in town. Lanesborough’s average trip to work is 22 minutes. Since 2013, Lanesborough has lost 458 jobs, to 629 in 2023.
| Lanesborough | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $86,000 | $120,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 5.6% | 6% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 6.1% | 9.9% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Adults 18 to 34 are 11% of residents (24% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 48% of residents (39% statewide). The median age in Lanesborough is 51.2 years. 42% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 47% across Massachusetts.
| Lanesborough | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 51.2 years | 43.4 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 22% | 19% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 42% | 47% | 29% |
53% women, 47% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±5.8 points. Across Massachusetts, 51.1% of residents are women. Among residents 75 and older, 61% are men (MA 41%).
| Lanesborough | MA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 8.1% | 10.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.9% | 9.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5.5% | 9.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 5.8% | 14% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.1% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 16% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 19.4% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.4% | 10.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 10.8% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.3% | 8.6% | 10.4% |
| High school | 27.4% | 22.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 15.9% | 14.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9% | 7.5% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 25.7% | 25.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 16.7% | 21.8% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 3,000, single groups can be off by several points
Within Massachusetts it is less healthy than 77% of the 279 graded towns: Massachusetts sets a high bar.
Lanesborough beats the Massachusetts average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 6. 82% of adults had a checkup this year in Lanesborough.
| Lanesborough | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 28% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 82% | 82% | 79% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 24% | 23% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 19% | 25% |
| What stands out | Lanesborough | MA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults screened for colon cancer | 73.2% | 68.4% |
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 78.7% | 75.4% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.7% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Lanesborough has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 81°, January nights drop to 13° and about 77 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 54% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 3 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Lanesborough.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
95% of Lanesborough households own their home.
| Lanesborough | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 95% | 79% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,349 a month | $1,683 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
3 within 15 miles of the center of Lanesborough
About 3 of every 100 Lanesborough residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Massachusetts.
Where Lanesborough’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
4 notable people were born in Lanesborough.
Town in Massachusetts, United States
Lanesborough is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 3,038 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Lanesborough.
| Town | MA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lanesborough | #127 | B+ | C | — | A− | B+ |
| Cheshire | #196 | B− | C | A+ | C− | B+ |
| Hancock | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| New Ashford | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Pittsfield | #265 | D | C− | C− | C− | B |
Lanesborough reports no FBI crime data of its own. Hancock and New Ashford aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Lanesborough with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Lanesborough grades B+ overall, better than 69% of U.S. towns and #127 of 282 in Massachusetts. It grades B+ for health and A− for schools.
The typical home is worth about $299,000, 54% below the Massachusetts typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
4 notable people were born here, including Josh Billings and Henry Shaw Briggs.
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