North Adams vs Williamstown

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

North Adams and Williamstown 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 4,352 in Williamstown). Williamstown has the higher median household income ($82,917 vs $48,521 in North Adams). Williamstown has the higher median home value ($436,900 vs $185,300 in North Adams).

Population, income & housing

	North Adams	Williamstown
Population	12,660	4,352
Median age	44.4 yrs	21.9 yrs
Median household income	$48,521	$82,917
Median home value	$185,300	$436,900
Median gross rent	$777	$1,244
Housing units	6,833	1,499
Homeownership rate	53.2%	57.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	27.0%	74.4%
Unemployment rate	6.1%	1.9%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	North Adams	Williamstown
Population	12,959 → 12,660 (-2.3%)	4,506 → 4,352 (-3.4%)
Median household income	$41,471 → $48,521 (+17.0%)	$82,917 → $82,917 (+0.0%)
Median home value	$140,900 → $185,300 (+31.5%)	$374,600 → $436,900 (+16.6%)
Median gross rent	$757 → $777 (+2.6%)	$986 → $1,244 (+26.2%)

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

Williamstown

Population

4,5064,352

Median household income

$82,917$82,917

Median home value

$374,600$436,900

Median gross rent

$986$1,244

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	North Adams	Williamstown
Under 5	3.4%	2.6%
5 to 17	13.2%	10.8%
18 to 24	12.0%	48.1%
25 to 34	10.7%	5.4%
35 to 44	12.4%	4.7%
45 to 54	9.9%	7.6%
55 to 64	15.8%	5.8%
65 to 74	13.7%	9.6%
75 and over	8.9%	5.4%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	North Adams	Williamstown
White (non-Hispanic)	86.7%	75.4%
Black or African American	1.1%	4.1%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.3%	0.0%
Asian	3.1%	7.2%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.3%	1.6%
Two or more races	2.4%	7.1%
Hispanic or Latino	6.1%	4.6%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	North Adams	Williamstown
No high school diploma	10.6%	1.0%
High school graduate	38.4%	13.7%
Some college or associate's	23.9%	11.0%
Bachelor's degree	15.1%	24.4%
Graduate or professional degree	11.9%	49.9%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	North Adams	Williamstown
Drove alone	72.1%	28.0%
Carpooled	8.3%	2.5%
Public transit	0.0%	0.8%
Walked	9.4%	49.2%
Bicycle	0.2%	1.0%
Worked from home	9.7%	17.4%
Other means	0.3%	1.1%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	North Adams	Williamstown
1-unit, detached	45.9%	48.6%
1-unit, attached	0.7%	8.6%
2 to 4 units	31.1%	20.9%
5 to 19 units	11.4%	18.1%
20 or more units	8.5%	3.8%
Mobile home & other	2.4%	0.0%

Poverty & households

	North Adams	Williamstown
Poverty rate	18.1%	15.9%
Average household size	2.05	1.97
Mean commute (minutes)	17	11
Median year structure built	1938	1945