Berkshire County vs Hampshire County

A side-by-side comparison of Berkshire County and Hampshire County: population, income, housing, and more.

Berkshire County and Hampshire County are counties in Massachusetts. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Hampshire County has the higher population (156,595 vs 128,047 in Berkshire County). Hampshire County has the higher median household income ($86,391 vs $72,565 in Berkshire County). Hampshire County has the higher median home value ($363,400 vs $283,800 in Berkshire County).

Population, income & housing

	Berkshire County	Hampshire County
Population	128,047	156,595
Median age	47.8 yrs	38.7 yrs
Median household income	$72,565	$86,391
Median home value	$283,800	$363,400
Median gross rent	$1,042	$1,332
Housing units	69,861	66,490
Homeownership rate	70.0%	68.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	38.3%	51.1%
Unemployment rate	5.6%	5.1%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Berkshire County	Hampshire County
Population	126,425 → 128,047 (+1.3%)	161,032 → 156,595 (-2.8%)
Median household income	$59,230 → $72,565 (+22.5%)	$70,876 → $86,391 (+21.9%)
Median home value	$216,100 → $283,800 (+31.3%)	$283,100 → $363,400 (+28.4%)
Median gross rent	$872 → $1,042 (+19.5%)	$1,119 → $1,332 (+19.0%)

Berkshire County

Population

126,425128,047

Median household income

$59,230$72,565

Median home value

$216,100$283,800

Median gross rent

$872$1,042

Hampshire County

Population

161,032156,595

Median household income

$70,876$86,391

Median home value

$283,100$363,400

Median gross rent

$1,119$1,332

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Berkshire County	Hampshire County
Under 5	4.0%	3.3%
5 to 17	12.4%	11.6%
18 to 24	8.8%	21.2%
25 to 34	10.7%	10.0%
35 to 44	11.2%	10.4%
45 to 54	11.9%	10.8%
55 to 64	16.3%	13.3%
65 to 74	14.3%	11.9%
75 and over	10.4%	7.4%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Berkshire County	Hampshire County
White (non-Hispanic)	85.7%	81.3%
Black or African American	2.3%	2.2%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.1%
Asian	1.8%	5.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.1%
Some other race	0.4%	0.3%
Two or more races	4.1%	3.9%
Hispanic or Latino	5.6%	7.2%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Berkshire County	Hampshire County
No high school diploma	6.3%	4.5%
High school graduate	29.3%	20.4%
Some college or associate's	26.1%	24.0%
Bachelor's degree	20.3%	24.5%
Graduate or professional degree	17.9%	26.6%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Berkshire County	Hampshire County
Drove alone	71.8%	67.2%
Carpooled	8.0%	5.0%
Public transit	1.4%	2.6%
Walked	5.2%	7.3%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.9%
Worked from home	12.7%	16.5%
Other means	0.7%	0.6%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Berkshire County	Hampshire County
1-unit, detached	65.7%	59.7%
1-unit, attached	2.6%	6.2%
2 to 4 units	17.3%	17.1%
5 to 19 units	8.5%	9.1%
20 or more units	4.2%	6.5%
Mobile home & other	1.6%	1.3%

Poverty & households

	Berkshire County	Hampshire County
Poverty rate	11.0%	10.9%
Average household size	2.16	2.18
Mean commute (minutes)	21	24
Median year structure built	1955	1970