Athol vs Spencer

A side-by-side comparison of Athol and Spencer: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Athol has the higher population (8,711 vs 5,520 in Spencer). Athol has the higher median household income ($61,742 vs $59,618 in Spencer). Spencer has the higher median home value ($297,700 vs $227,000 in Athol).

Population, income & housing

	Athol	Spencer
Population	8,711	5,520
Median age	36.7 yrs	50.8 yrs
Median household income	$61,742	$59,618
Median home value	$227,000	$297,700
Median gross rent	$1,018	$1,052
Housing units	3,784	3,153
Homeownership rate	63.8%	40.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher	21.9%	15.7%
Unemployment rate	9.0%	6.4%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Athol	Spencer
Population	8,617 → 8,711 (+1.1%)	5,792 → 5,520 (-4.7%)
Median household income	$49,653 → $61,742 (+24.3%)	$59,331 → $59,618 (+0.5%)
Median home value	$146,400 → $227,000 (+55.1%)	$222,500 → $297,700 (+33.8%)
Median gross rent	$858 → $1,018 (+18.6%)	$873 → $1,052 (+20.5%)

Athol

Population

8,6178,711

Median household income

$49,653$61,742

Median home value

$146,400$227,000

Median gross rent

$858$1,018

Spencer

Population

5,7925,520

Median household income

$59,331$59,618

Median home value

$222,500$297,700

Median gross rent

$873$1,052

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Athol	Spencer
Under 5	6.1%	1.5%
5 to 17	18.7%	12.4%
18 to 24	7.7%	8.7%
25 to 34	14.1%	10.2%
35 to 44	14.6%	10.2%
45 to 54	10.8%	11.4%
55 to 64	13.2%	19.9%
65 to 74	10.0%	13.9%
75 and over	4.7%	11.9%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Athol	Spencer
White (non-Hispanic)	84.5%	88.2%
Black or African American	2.9%	0.9%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	0.4%	0.8%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.4%	0.0%
Two or more races	3.8%	3.8%
Hispanic or Latino	8.1%	6.3%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Athol	Spencer
No high school diploma	11.7%	11.5%
High school graduate	39.2%	43.5%
Some college or associate's	27.2%	29.3%
Bachelor's degree	15.4%	11.4%
Graduate or professional degree	6.5%	4.2%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Athol	Spencer
Drove alone	71.5%	76.6%
Carpooled	11.8%	9.4%
Public transit	1.1%	4.3%
Walked	6.1%	0.0%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	8.2%	9.7%
Other means	1.2%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Athol	Spencer
1-unit, detached	62.6%	31.6%
1-unit, attached	2.5%	0.4%
2 to 4 units	26.3%	44.0%
5 to 19 units	4.7%	21.4%
20 or more units	3.9%	2.7%
Mobile home & other	0.0%	0.0%

Poverty & households

	Athol	Spencer
Poverty rate	18.1%	11.4%
Average household size	2.56	2.05
Mean commute (minutes)	27	35
Median year structure built	1944	1944