Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Williamstown grades A− overall, 109th among Massachusetts's 282 graded towns. It has 110 miles of trail and 36% conserved land. It is healthier than 91% of U.S. towns and its schools rank ahead of 83% of Massachusetts towns. The trade-off is money: the typical home is worth about $498K, 6.5 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. 40% of working residents work locally in Williamstown, above both the Massachusetts town median (9.8%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). Williamstown is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 94% of U.S. towns. Only 24 of Massachusetts’ 325 towns score lower on hazard risk.
Where Williamstown beats most towns.
Census counts: 1,769 in 1790, 7,513 in 2020. The archive holds 42 old photos and papers going back to 1770 and 7 maps from 1886 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 Williamstown is from typical.
Its grades run from A for walkability (better than 94% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 3%), so the A− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Williamstown. Close and well known come first.
5 mi MountainMount Greylock
in town MuseumClark Art Institute
5 mi MuseumMassachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art
24 mi TheatreTanglewood
29 mi MuseumNorman Rockwell Museum
13 mi LandmarkBennington Battle MonumentMount Greylock: Jstergis, CC BY 3.0 · Clark Art Institute: Daderot, Public domain · Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art: N-Lange.de, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Tanglewood: Daderot., CC BY-SA 3.0 · Norman Rockwell Museum: User:Rmrfstar, CC BY 2.5 · Bennington Battle Monument: Phil Boucher, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Williamstown, 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 Williamstown.
Williamstown pairs an A− overall with homes cheaper than the Massachusetts norm and is shaped by its college students, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Massachusetts (mostly inland flooding).
Its 10,686 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 89% of Massachusetts towns.
Count the trails in 26 parks and preserves and they come to 110 miles. The biggest place to walk is Mount Greylock State Reservation, 3,648 acres with 20.3 miles of trail. For Williamstown, the trail density is 2.4 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Mount Greylock State Reservation | 20.3 mi | 3,648 |
| 2. Field Farm | 5.1 mi | 295 |
| 3. Pine Cobble Preserve | 3.9 mi | 369 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
That grade is the best School Grade on its borders; Clarksburg (C−) is next. It comes with a D− for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $498K.
The largest public high school is Mt Greylock Regional High, with 539 students. The public schools here belong to the Mount Greylock school district. Below: Two of its 4 schools, each with why it was picked.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Williamstown ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 407 | A |
| Mt Greylock Regional HighLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 539 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MA on state tests and graduation
Within Massachusetts it is healthier than 64% of the 279 graded towns: Massachusetts sets a high bar. That grade tops all 3 graded neighbors; Adams (B−) comes closest.
The share of adults in Williamstown who say their health is fair or poor: 14%. On the CDC’s 32 measures, Williamstown is ahead of Massachusetts on 13 and behind on 1. Among adults in the town, 8.4% smoke cigarettes and 26% have obesity.
| Williamstown | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 32% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 8.4% | 11% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 28% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 8.1% | 9.3% | 12% |
| What stands out | Williamstown | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 7.6% | 11.1% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 3.6% | 5.2% |
| Fewer adults getting cholesterol checked | 87.6% | 89.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 10.9 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 53% of Massachusetts’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 83 to 55 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Williamstown’s rate of reported violence comes in at 0.2 per 1,000 residents. In Williamstown, the property offense rate is 5.7 per 1,000 residents.
| Williamstown | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.2 per 1,000 residents | 1.5 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.7 per 1,000 residents | 4.9 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Williamstown grades A− overall with a typical home of about $498K, below the Massachusetts typical value; only 21 of the 109 Massachusetts towns graded A− or better can say that. Its typical home is the priciest on its borders; Clarksburg is next at $278K.
Typical home values rose 1.7% in the year to September 2026. Williamstown’s midpoint rent stands at $1,584 a month. Also worth knowing: among households in the town, 74% live in a home they own.
| Williamstown | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,584 a month | $1,683 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 74% | 79% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 94% of Massachusetts towns, with expected losses of about $331 per resident a year; that rating is what its C for hazard risk is built on.
Of the losses FEMA expects in Williamstown, 82% come from inland flooding and 6% from hurricanes. Its natural-hazard score from FEMA is 65 of 100. Flood insurance has paid out on 17 claims in the town since 1978.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The average commute for its 2,275 working residents takes 16 minutes, against 29.1 across Massachusetts. 27.3% of workers work from home, against 18.6% across Massachusetts.
Jobs based in Williamstown fell to 3,358 in 2023, 299 fewer than in 2013. For workers in the town, the share who work remotely from home is 27%. Half the trips to work are shorter than 8 miles. The typical household income for Williamstown comes to $107,000.
| Williamstown | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 16 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 27% | 18% | 11% |
| Median household income | $107,000 | $120,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 11% | 6% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
2 within 15 miles of the center of Williamstown
College town 29 of every 100 Williamstown residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Massachusetts.
7 places in Williamstown on the National Register of Historic Places.
28 notable people were born in Williamstown.
Town in Massachusetts, United States
Williamstown is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It shares a border with Vermont to the north and New York to the west. Located in Berkshire County, the town is part of the Pittsfield metropolitan statistical area. The population was 7,513 at the 2020 census. A college town, it is home to Williams College, the Clark Art Institute and the Tony-awarded Williamstown Theatre Festival.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Williamstown.
| Town | MA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Williamstown | #109 | A− | D− | B+ | A− | A |
| North Adams | #279 | D− | B− | D− | D | C |
| Clarksburg | — | — | C+ | — | C− | C+ |
| Adams | #270 | D | C+ | C+ | C− | B− |
Clarksburg has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Clarksburg reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Williamstown with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Williamstown grades A− overall, better than 75% of U.S. towns and #109 of 282 in Massachusetts. It grades A for health, B+ for safety and A− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D−.
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−.
28 notable people were born here, including Matthew Perry and Florence Bascom.
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