Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Household incomes in West Stockbridge are higher than in 82% of U.S. towns
7.7% of residents are in poverty; Massachusetts has 10.0%. Jobs and income earn West Stockbridge B; getting around on foot earns it B. About one in ten stay in West Stockbridge for work; outside it, Pittsfield is the main destination (15%, 12 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets West Stockbridge apart on work
West Stockbridge and Pittsfield trade workers both ways
Pittsfield is the top workplace for West Stockbridge residents (15%) and also where the most people who work in West Stockbridge come from (22% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
West Stockbridge’s workforce skews older
39% of West Stockbridge’s working residents are 55 or older. The jobs ↓
West Stockbridge makes and builds things
35% of the jobs based in West Stockbridge are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs West Stockbridge residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 9%. 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; with 468 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in West Stockbridge
On income, poverty and job access, West Stockbridge is better than 60% of U.S. towns. Household income holds West Stockbridge’s grade up ($107,083, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 25% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
Unemployment (4.2%) is left out: West Stockbridge’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, West Stockbridge could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
Out of West Stockbridge to work: where people go
Where West Stockbridge clocks in
15% of workers
13% of workers
7% 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.
Factories, building and farms: 35% of the jobs in West Stockbridge
320 jobs are based in West Stockbridge.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in West Stockbridge, 2014 → 2024: 141 → 320. 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 West Stockbridge’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who works in West Stockbridge, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 419 residents head out to work, 49 work right here, and 271 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,200 people are in West Stockbridge on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.
0.68 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
West Stockbridge’s commute takes about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of West Stockbridge workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 448 commuters (the 27% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from West Stockbridge
About 22% 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.
In West Stockbridge, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, West Stockbridge is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 9.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 14.1% across Massachusetts, on an EPA index of 5.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 616 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 0.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 48% 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 West Stockbridge households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of West Stockbridge’s commuters take a bus or train.
How West Stockbridge ranks: 1,345th of 5,400 U.S. towns of 900 to 1,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 435 | Whately MA | 1,622 | $117K | 5.4% | 4.7% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 524 | Otis MA | 1,610 | $109K | 1.2% | 6.2% | 8% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 588 | Westhampton MA | 1,618 | $100K | 6.5% | 7.7% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,343 | Bangor WI | 1,564 | $81K | 8.6% | 2.7% | 3% | B |
| 1,344 | Franklin Township IN | 1,326 | $95K | 7.6% | 0.0% | 2% | B |
| 1,345 | West Stockbridge MA | 1,319 | $107K | 7.7% | 4.2% | 10% | B |
| 1,346 | Charlestown Township OH | 1,772 | $62K | 10.5% | 2.4% | 1% | B |
| 1,347 | Jackson Township OH | 1,756 | $82K | 0.0% | 2.0% | 1% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 5,400 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 1% | 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 West Stockbridge, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Next door is work for 19% of West Stockbridge
The biggest share goes to Great Barrington (13%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | West Stockbridge workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Stockbridge | – | B | B | 25 min | $107,083 |
| Alford | under 2% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Stockbridge | 6% | B− | A | 20 min | $146,250 |
| Great Barrington | 13% | C+ | A+ | 22 min | $84,132 |
Same-state neighbors only. Alford: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of West Stockbridge’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 West Stockbridge: questions
What is the median household income in West Stockbridge?
$107,083 (±$20,178) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in West Stockbridge?
7.7%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from West Stockbridge?
25 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 27% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in West Stockbridge work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Pittsfield (15%, 12 mi), Great Barrington (13%, 7 mi), Lenox (7%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is West Stockbridge walkable?
West Stockbridge is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 5.1 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around West Stockbridge without a car?
3% 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 West Stockbridge, from the people who make the trip.
More of West Stockbridge
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.