Photo: ToddC4176 · CC BY-SA 3.0Lanesborough has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.5 for each
Lanesborough grades B+ for jobs and income and B− for walkability. There are 621 jobs in Lanesborough, and 1,345 of its residents work somewhere. 7% of workers work from home (Massachusetts 19%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Lanesborough
Lanesborough and Pittsfield trade workers both ways
Pittsfield is the top workplace for Lanesborough residents (40%) and also where the most people who work in Lanesborough come from (25% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Lanesborough than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Lanesborough fell from 1,107 in 2014 to 621 in 2024, −44%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Lanesborough 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 better-paid jobs are outside Lanesborough
66% of Lanesborough residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 47% of the jobs based in Lanesborough pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 93% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
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.
The figures behind Lanesborough’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lanesborough is better than 73% of U.S. towns, #186 of 283 in Massachusetts. Unemployment holds Lanesborough’s grade up (1.6%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 31% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lanesborough could be anywhere from C+ to A.
40% of working residents work in Pittsfield
Where Lanesborough clocks in
40% of workers
5% 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.
Jobs in Lanesborough: what the 621 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lanesborough, 2014 → 2024: 1,107 → 621. 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 Lanesborough’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 22 minutes in Lanesborough
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lanesborough workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,526 commuters (the 7% 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.
Who commutes out of Lanesborough, and who commutes in
On a workday 1,245 residents head out to work, 100 work right here, and 521 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,300 people are in Lanesborough on a workday afternoon, 24% 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 2024, primary jobs.
The commute from Lanesborough, by distance
About 15% 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.
Getting around Lanesborough: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lanesborough is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns, #222 of 283 in Massachusetts. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 14.1% across Massachusetts, on an EPA index of 5.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,639 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 2.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 70% 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). 2.1% of Lanesborough households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Lanesborough’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Lanesborough ranks: 1,104th of 4,618 U.S. towns of 2,100 to 4,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 152 | Princeton MA | 3,618 | $159K | 4.2% | 0.4% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 241 | Millville MA | 3,186 | $127K | 4.6% | 3.0% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 296 | Essex MA | 3,770 | $157K | 8.1% | 1.5% | 13% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,102 | Indian Rocks Beach FL | 3,563 | $99K | 9.5% | 3.8% | 9% | B+ |
| 1,103 | Sauk City WI | 3,439 | $91K | 8.4% | 2.9% | 13% | B+ |
| 1,104 | Lanesborough MA | 2,999 | $86K | 5.6% | 1.6% | 7% | B+ |
| 1,105 | Greenville NY | 3,707 | $81K | 2.5% | 1.0% | 13% | B+ |
| 1,106 | West Fallowfield Township PA | 2,488 | $93K | 2.6% | 4.7% | 10% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,618 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 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 Lanesborough, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Lanesborough and its neighbors: 42% work next door
The biggest share goes to Pittsfield (40%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lanesborough workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lanesborough | – | B+ | B− | 22 min | $86,219 |
| Cheshire | under 2% | C+ | A | 29 min | $69,803 |
| Hancock | 2% | — | — | 22 min | — |
| New Ashford | under 2% | — | — | 31 min | — |
| Pittsfield | 40% | C | A | 19 min | $70,582 |
Same-state neighbors only. Hancock and New Ashford: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Lanesborough’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 Lanesborough: questions
What is the median household income in Lanesborough?
$86,219 (±$18,758) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lanesborough?
5.6%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lanesborough?
22 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lanesborough work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Pittsfield (40%, 6 mi), Williamstown (5%, 11 mi), Lenox (5%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Lanesborough walkable?
Lanesborough is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 5.9 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lanesborough without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lanesborough, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lanesborough
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.