Adams vs North Adams

A side-by-side comparison of Adams and North Adams: population, income, housing, and more.

Adams and North Adams are places in Massachusetts. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

North Adams has the higher population (12,660 vs 5,584 in Adams). Adams has the higher median household income ($48,750 vs $48,521 in North Adams). Adams has the higher median home value ($189,100 vs $185,300 in North Adams).

Population, income & housing

	Adams	North Adams
Population	5,584	12,660
Median age	47.9 yrs	44.4 yrs
Median household income	$48,750	$48,521
Median home value	$189,100	$185,300
Median gross rent	$909	$777
Housing units	3,294	6,833
Homeownership rate	54.8%	53.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	26.0%	27.0%
Unemployment rate	5.9%	6.1%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Adams	North Adams
Population	5,335 → 5,584 (+4.7%)	12,959 → 12,660 (-2.3%)
Median household income	$48,252 → $48,750 (+1.0%)	$41,471 → $48,521 (+17.0%)
Median home value	$158,300 → $189,100 (+19.5%)	$140,900 → $185,300 (+31.5%)
Median gross rent	$736 → $909 (+23.5%)	$757 → $777 (+2.6%)

Adams

Population

5,3355,584

Median household income

$48,252$48,750

Median home value

$158,300$189,100

Median gross rent

$736$909

North Adams

Population

12,95912,660

Median household income

$41,471$48,521

Median home value

$140,900$185,300

Median gross rent

$757$777

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Adams	North Adams
Under 5	5.0%	3.4%
5 to 17	9.7%	13.2%
18 to 24	7.3%	12.0%
25 to 34	14.7%	10.7%
35 to 44	10.8%	12.4%
45 to 54	9.0%	9.9%
55 to 64	15.3%	15.8%
65 to 74	16.4%	13.7%
75 and over	11.8%	8.9%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Adams	North Adams
White (non-Hispanic)	92.7%	86.7%
Black or African American	0.6%	1.1%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.3%
Asian	1.2%	3.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.3%	0.3%
Two or more races	1.8%	2.4%
Hispanic or Latino	3.4%	6.1%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Adams	North Adams
No high school diploma	6.7%	10.6%
High school graduate	38.0%	38.4%
Some college or associate's	29.3%	23.9%
Bachelor's degree	19.1%	15.1%
Graduate or professional degree	6.9%	11.9%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Adams	North Adams
Drove alone	82.0%	72.1%
Carpooled	8.4%	8.3%
Public transit	0.6%	0.0%
Walked	0.8%	9.4%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.2%
Worked from home	7.6%	9.7%
Other means	0.6%	0.3%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Adams	North Adams
1-unit, detached	39.3%	45.9%
1-unit, attached	2.2%	0.7%
2 to 4 units	37.8%	31.1%
5 to 19 units	13.7%	11.4%
20 or more units	6.8%	8.5%
Mobile home & other	0.2%	2.4%

Poverty & households

	Adams	North Adams
Poverty rate	17.2%	18.1%
Average household size	1.88	2.05
Mean commute (minutes)	25	17
Median year structure built	1938	1938