Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Lee's standout: it has 26 miles of trail and 36% conserved land. Overall it grades C, 237th of 282 graded towns in Massachusetts. CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 84% of the country and it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 91% of U.S. towns. Its weakest subject is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $424K, 5.6 years of the Pittsfield metro’s $76K median household income. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 97% of U.S. towns, with 7 places on the National Register. 36% of the land in Lee is conserved, above both the Massachusetts town median (19%) and the median of U.S. towns (4.3%). On hazard risk, just 19 of Massachusetts’ 325 towns do worse. Its National Register listings include Merrell Tavern and Lee Lower Main Street Historic District.
Where Lee beats most towns.
Census counts: 1,170 in 1790, 5,788 in 2020. The archive holds 44 old photos and papers going back to 1792 and 3 maps from 1945 on.
7 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Massachusetts), ordered by how far Lee is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Lee. Close and well known come first.
5 mi TheatreTanglewood
5 mi MuseumNorman Rockwell Museum
36 mi National Historic SiteSpringfield Armory National Historic Site14K visitors a year
23 mi MountainMount Greylock
37 mi Theme parkSix Flags New England
31 mi MuseumOlana State Historic SiteTanglewood: Daderot., CC BY-SA 3.0 · Norman Rockwell Museum: User:Rmrfstar, CC BY 2.5 · Springfield Armory National Historic Site: National Park Service, Public domain · Mount Greylock: Jstergis, CC BY 3.0 · Six Flags New England: Canadaolympic989, Public domain · Olana State Historic Site: Netniks, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Lee, 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 Lee.
Lee keeps more of its land conserved than most of Massachusetts and is safe by national standards but not by Massachusetts’s; it also carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Massachusetts (mostly inland flooding).
Its 6,245 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 90% of Massachusetts towns.
26 miles of trail in 19 parks and preserves. At 1.0 miles per square mile, Lee’s trail density is below Massachusetts’ towns (1.8) but above U.S. towns (0.4). The biggest place to walk is October Mountain State Forest, 1,259 acres with 8.6 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. October Mountain State Forest | 8.6 mi | 1,259 |
| 2. Beartown State Forest | 3.7 mi | 688 |
| 3. Basin Pond | 2.1 mi | 268 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Each of its 3 graded neighbors has a higher School Grade than its C, Lenox highest at A.
Its public schools are run by the Lee school district. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Lee Middle/High School, with 328 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lee ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 331 | C+ |
| Lee Middle/High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 328 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MA on state tests and graduation
Within Massachusetts it is less healthy than 57% of the 279 graded towns: Massachusetts sets a high bar.
83% of Lee adults had a checkup this year. Lee beats the Massachusetts average on 10 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 5. 29% of Lee adults have obesity.
| Lee | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 83% | 82% | 79% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 28% | 35% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 17% | 16% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 33% | 33% |
| What stands out | Lee | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 7.7% | 11.1% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 8.7% | 12.4% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11.7% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
People 65 and older are 33% of residents (18% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 14% of residents (24% statewide). The median age in Lee is 55.2 years. 44% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 47% across Massachusetts.
| Lee | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 55.2 years | 43.4 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 13% | 20% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 44% | 47% | 29% |
54% women, 46% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4.5 points. Across Massachusetts, 51.1% of residents are women.
| Lee | MA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 3.8% | 10.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.8% | 9.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5.5% | 9.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 8.3% | 14% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.9% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.5% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 16.8% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 12.4% | 10.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 21% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 1.4% | 8.6% | 10.4% |
| High school | 30.9% | 22.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 16.8% | 14.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 6.8% | 7.5% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 21.1% | 25.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 23% | 21.8% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
The typical Lee home is worth about $424,000, up 1% in a year, 35% below the Massachusetts typical home. Lee’s median rent is $1,375 a month.
| Lee | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,375 a month | $1,683 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 71% | 79% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 96% of Massachusetts towns, with expected losses of about $443 per resident a year; that rating is what its C for hazard risk is built on.
Since 1983, 10 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Lee.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Lee has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 14° and about 77 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Lee has about as many jobs (2,756) as working residents, but only 644 people both live and work here. The average commute takes 18.1 minutes, against 29.1 across Massachusetts.
About one in 4 of Lee’s working residents works in town. Jobs based in Lee fell to 2,756 in 2023, 344 fewer than in 2013. The top destinations are Pittsfield (19%), Lenox (7%) and Great Barrington (6%).
| Lee | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 18 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 26% | 9.8% | 8% |
| Median household income | $84,000 | $120,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 7.2% | 6% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 20.2 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 76% of Massachusetts’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 90 to 43 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
2 within 15 miles of the center of Lee
About 5 of every 100 Lee residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Massachusetts.
7 places in Lee on the National Register of Historic Places.
11 notable people were born in Lee.
Town in Massachusetts, United States
Lee is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, metropolitan statistical area. The population was 5,788 at the 2020 census. Lee, which includes the villages of South and East Lee and the census-designated place of Lee, is part of the Berkshires resort area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Lee.
| Town | MA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lee | #237 | C | D | B− | C | A− |
| Lenox | #156 | B | C− | B− | A | A− |
| Lenox Dale | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Washington | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Stockbridge | — | — | C+ | B+ | B− | A− |
| Tyringham | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Becket | — | — | D | B+ | B− | A− |
Stockbridge and Becket have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Lenox Dale, Washington and Tyringham aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Lee with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Lee grades C overall, better than 32% of U.S. towns and #237 of 282 in Massachusetts. It grades A− for health, B− for safety and C for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Massachusetts has less crime than most states, so among its own towns Lee sits nearer the middle.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
11 notable people were born here, including Thomas C. Durant and Henry Billings Brown.
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