Hampden County vs Hampshire County

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

Hampden 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.

Hampden County has the higher population (462,853 vs 156,595 in Hampshire County). Hampshire County has the higher median household income ($86,391 vs $70,535 in Hampden County). Hampshire County has the higher median home value ($363,400 vs $276,300 in Hampden County).

Population, income & housing

	Hampden County	Hampshire County
Population	462,853	156,595
Median age	39.8 yrs	38.7 yrs
Median household income	$70,535	$86,391
Median home value	$276,300	$363,400
Median gross rent	$1,105	$1,332
Housing units	197,210	66,490
Homeownership rate	62.2%	68.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	28.9%	51.1%
Unemployment rate	6.0%	5.1%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Hampden County	Hampshire County
Population	467,871 → 462,853 (-1.1%)	161,032 → 156,595 (-2.8%)
Median household income	$55,429 → $70,535 (+27.3%)	$70,876 → $86,391 (+21.9%)
Median home value	$207,800 → $276,300 (+33.0%)	$283,100 → $363,400 (+28.4%)
Median gross rent	$906 → $1,105 (+22.0%)	$1,119 → $1,332 (+19.0%)

Hampden County

Population

467,871462,853

Median household income

$55,429$70,535

Median home value

$207,800$276,300

Median gross rent

$906$1,105

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)

	Hampden County	Hampshire County
Under 5	5.3%	3.3%
5 to 17	15.8%	11.6%
18 to 24	9.8%	21.2%
25 to 34	13.3%	10.0%
35 to 44	12.2%	10.4%
45 to 54	12.1%	10.8%
55 to 64	13.7%	13.3%
65 to 74	10.6%	11.9%
75 and over	7.2%	7.4%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Hampden County	Hampshire County
White (non-Hispanic)	60.2%	81.3%
Black or African American	7.6%	2.2%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.1%
Asian	2.5%	5.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.1%
Some other race	0.3%	0.3%
Two or more races	2.8%	3.9%
Hispanic or Latino	26.6%	7.2%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Hampden County	Hampshire County
No high school diploma	12.8%	4.5%
High school graduate	30.8%	20.4%
Some college or associate's	27.5%	24.0%
Bachelor's degree	17.0%	24.5%
Graduate or professional degree	11.9%	26.6%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Hampden County	Hampshire County
Drove alone	77.8%	67.2%
Carpooled	7.6%	5.0%
Public transit	1.8%	2.6%
Walked	1.9%	7.3%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.9%
Worked from home	9.4%	16.5%
Other means	1.3%	0.6%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Hampden County	Hampshire County
1-unit, detached	56.1%	59.7%
1-unit, attached	4.7%	6.2%
2 to 4 units	19.6%	17.1%
5 to 19 units	9.6%	9.1%
20 or more units	8.5%	6.5%
Mobile home & other	1.5%	1.3%

Poverty & households

	Hampden County	Hampshire County
Poverty rate	15.7%	10.9%
Average household size	2.44	2.18
Mean commute (minutes)	23	24
Median year structure built	1958	1970