Bay State Atlas
Massachusetts Living Index

Adams

Berkshires · pop. 8,200

Adams is a working mill town at the base of Mount Greylock, cheap, outdoors-adjacent, and culturally unpretentious. The Hoosac Valley school district is rated C+ by Niche.

Historic VillageCommuter ValueOutdoors & Trails
Livability Index
49
/ 100
Ranks #184 of 194 MA towns

The numbers

Median home
$260k
4.4× household income
Household income
$59k
ACS median
Commute to Boston
186 min
peak driving
Population
8,200
5-yr trend 50/100

How Adams scores

Schools
62
Safety
60
Walkability
38
Transit
18
Biking
25
Dining
32
Nightlife
22
Arts & Culture
60
Green Space
45
Diversity
18
Climate
75

Who lives in Adams

U.S. Census ACS 2018–2022 estimates. Rounded.

Median age
48.2
Foreign-born
2.4%
Bachelor's or higher
25.1%
Population
8,149
White94%
Hispanic / Latino3%
Asian0.8%
Black0.3%
Other / multi1.9%

Schools in Adams

Hoosac Valley Regional School District. Massachusetts DESE FY2024 (FY2025 graduation rates).

Overall vs MA
Bottom 25%
14/100
ELA · 3-8
p11
23.4%
Math · 3-8
p3
17%
ELA · 10
p18
32.4%
Math · 10
p19
23.2%
Grad rate
86%
Bottom 25%
Spend / pupil
$20.3k
Below average
Teachers / 100
9.2
Above average
Enrollment
978

Source: Massachusetts DESE Education-to-Career Research and Data Hub. Percentile ranks against 194 MA towns in our index.

The honest read

Best for
Buyers who want the cheapest entry point in the Berkshires with access to Greylock hiking and North Adams arts spillover.
The tradeoff
Schools are C+ (Niche), incomes are low, and there is virtually nothing here beyond basics, drive to North Adams or Pittsfield for anything else.

You've now seen the honest read. Here's what most sites don't give you.

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Compare on your terms

These scores reflect a neutral weighting. Your priorities are not neutral. Open the full atlas to tune schools, walkability, affordability, commute, and seven more dimensions, and see where Adams lands for you.

Nearby towns

Bordering and adjacent Massachusetts towns near Adams.

Adams appears in

Rankings where Adams qualifies on the data. See where it lands vs the other 14 picks.

Popular comparisons

Common head‑to‑heads people search when looking at Adams.

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