Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Household incomes in Lenox top those of 81% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Lenox B−; getting around on foot earns it B+. 8.5% of residents are in poverty; Massachusetts has 10.0%. About one in five stay in Lenox for work; outside it, Pittsfield is the main destination (25%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Lenox apart
Lenox and Pittsfield trade workers both ways
Pittsfield is the top workplace for Lenox residents (25%) and also where the most people who work in Lenox come from (35% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Lenox is where the jobs are
Lenox has 3,071 jobs, 1.7 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Lenox are quick
The average trip to work takes 23 minutes, against 29 across Massachusetts. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Massachusetts worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
Jobs & income in Lenox: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lenox is better than 50% of U.S. towns, #243 of 283 in Massachusetts. Household income holds Lenox’s grade up ($106,080, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (6.2%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lenox could be anywhere from C− to A.
The towns that send workers to Lenox
Where Lenox clocks in
25% of workers
7% 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.
How a workday changes Lenox
On a workday 1,435 residents head out to work, 371 work right here, and 2,700 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,300 people are in Lenox on a workday afternoon, 25% more than live here.
1.7 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 2023, primary jobs.
About 23 minutes each way, quicker than most of Massachusetts
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lenox workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,742 commuters (the 18% 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.
The 3,071 jobs based in Lenox
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lenox, 2013 → 2023: 3,059 → 3,071. 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 Lenox’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Lenox
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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
For most of Lenox, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lenox is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns, #158 of 283 in Massachusetts. Both inputs place Lenox 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 2,133 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 30% 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 1.2 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). 9.7% of Lenox households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Lenox’s commuters take a bus or train.
2,042nd of 3,758: where Lenox ranks among U.S. towns of 3,500 to 6,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 104 | Hopedale MA | 6,066 | $116K | 2.9% | 1.6% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 109 | West Newbury MA | 4,709 | $180K | 1.6% | 2.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 120 | Wenham MA | 4,952 | $195K | 3.7% | 2.6% | 14% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,040 | Avalon PA | 4,572 | $51K | 14.6% | 3.2% | 3% | B− |
| 2,041 | Groesbeck TX | 3,995 | $62K | 7.2% | 2.0% | 18% | B− |
| 2,042 | Lenox MA | 5,059 | $106K | 8.5% | 6.2% | 21% | B− |
| 2,043 | Higginsville MO | 4,770 | $81K | 6.8% | 4.4% | 20% | B− |
| 2,044 | Iowa Park TX | 6,542 | $67K | 9.7% | 3.2% | 9% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,758 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Lenox, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Lenox and its neighbors: 10% work next door
The biggest share goes to Lee (7%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lenox workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lenox | – | B− | B+ | 23 min | $106,080 |
| Lee | 7% | B | A | 18 min | $83,750 |
| Richmond | under 2% | B | C+ | 22 min | $106,250 |
| Stockbridge | 3% | B− | A | 20 min | $146,250 |
| Washington | under 2% | — | — | 25 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Washington: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Lenox’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 Lenox: questions
What is the median household income in Lenox?
$106,080 (±$30,541) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lenox?
8.5%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lenox?
23 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lenox work?
21% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Pittsfield (25%, 6 mi), Lee (7%, 5 mi), Great Barrington (5%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lenox walkable?
Lenox is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.9 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lenox without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lenox, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lenox
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. 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.