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Place dossier plate
SheetMA-PITTSFIELD-MA · Pittsfield, MA 43,559 pop · income 47th pct · 40 tracts
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Pittsfield
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Pittsfield on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Altoona · lowest
50,171
Altoona · lowest
50,171 median HH income
46.6% of the leader · rank #1
Rossford · near
68,381
Rossford · near
68,381 median HH income
63.5% of the leader · rank #2
Pittsfield · this city
68,386
Pittsfield · this city
68,386 median HH income
63.5% of the leader · rank #3
Mount Holly S… · near
68,388
Mount Holly S… · near
68,388 median HH income
63.5% of the leader · rank #4
Micanopy · near
68,393
Micanopy · near
68,393 median HH income
63.5% of the leader · rank #5
Neck City · near
68,393
Neck City · near
68,393 median HH income
63.5% of the leader · rank #6
Woburn · highest
107,754
Woburn · highest
107,754 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Pittsfield on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 43,559.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Pittsfield - the verdict
Nationally, Pittsfield sits in the 47th percentile for household income and the 38th percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
47th
percentile, household income
52nd
percentile, home value
98th
percentile, median rent
38th
percentile, safety
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Pittsfield, MA
Massachusetts's Pittsfield is a small city, with 43,559 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Pittsfield households earn a median of $68,386 annually, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 9.7%. Typical homes in Pittsfield are valued around $233,700, and the median resident age is 43.2 years. Educational attainment runs 34.2% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 59.6% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 15 residential building permits were authorized in Pittsfield (Building Boom), up 200% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Pittsfield reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR figures show 1750.9 crimes per 100,000 residents, below the national average (reporting is voluntary across agencies, so treat this as reporting activity rather than a definitive danger score). NOAA puts Pittsfield's yearly average temperature at 46.0°F with 44.2 inches of precipitation per year.
Massachusetts carries a cost-of-living premium: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Massachusetts at 105.8 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Above Average). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $2,261 per month. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Massachusetts run around $330, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 78.8 out of 100 (High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Pittsfield's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from within-city variation to comparison shortlist to reported crime to population change to work and mobility to housing and income to climate and hazard context to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Pittsfield, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, local building permits, matched public-school count, within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates, commute-mode shares.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
Question 1
What can 40 Census tracts reveal inside Pittsfield?
PlainCities matches 40 Census tracts to this city.
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
Which cities make useful reference points for Pittsfield?
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
Within Massachusetts, the closest population matches are Leominster (43,697 residents, $81,556 income); Salem (44,241 residents, $85,137 income); Beverly (42,408 residents, $103,739 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Channelview, TX (43,536 residents); Waxahachie, TX (43,591 residents); Ormond Beach, FL (43,514 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Pittsfield?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 1750.9 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 23% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
Is Pittsfield growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -928 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -2.1% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 15 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Recent estimates point downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Pittsfield?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 75.7%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Drive alone
75.7%
Work from home
8.5%
Public transit
1.8%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 21,139 workers age 16+.
How far does income reach against housing in Pittsfield?
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.4 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 9.7%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
3.4×
Home value
$233,700
Household income
$68,386
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
What physical conditions frame life in Pittsfield?
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 46.0°F, with 44.2 inches of precipitation. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Massachusetts is 78.8 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
FEMA risk index (state avg)
78.8
Annual precipitation
44.2 in
Mean temperature
46.0°F
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
What does the education layer cover for Pittsfield?
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
The NCES join finds 15 public schools within the city match. 34.2% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
Poverty estimate
9.7%
Bachelor's degree+
34.2%
Matched public schools
15
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Below median income · poverty 9.7% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
105.8 (US=100)
High cost · BEA RPP 2024, Massachusetts average
F
City profile score · Pittsfield, MA
36/100
5 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Bachelor's+ share B-
34.2%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income D
$68,386
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate D
9.7%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Cost of living F
105.8 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Violent crime F
511 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Pittsfield profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 65/100 (B-) · 34.2%
Household income: 47/100 (D) · $68,386
Poverty rate: 41/100 (D) · 9.7%
Cost of living: 18/100 (F) · 105.8 index
Violent crime: 15/100 (F) · 511 /100k
Where Pittsfield sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Pittsfield's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Pittsfield highlighted among 10 peers.Read the chart values
Pittsfield, MA (this city): home $233,700, crime 1,751/100k
Waxahachie, TX : home $307,900, crime 1,794/100k
Newnan, GA : home $327,800, crime 2,296/100k
Altoona, PA : home $113,600, crime 2,185/100k
Leominster, MA : home $345,000, crime 1,799/100k
Salem, MA : home $497,400, crime 1,706/100k
Beverly, MA : home $621,900, crime 579/100k
Fitchburg, MA : home $295,500, crime 1,831/100k
Marlborough, MA : home $485,400, crime 1,458/100k
Woburn, MA : home $641,800, crime 1,142/100k
How does Pittsfield compare to other US cities?
Where Pittsfield sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income47% higher than other cities
Home value52% pricier than other cities
Median rent98% pricier than other cities
Safety38% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
National percentiles can mask local variation. Looking only at Massachusetts, Pittsfield ranks #129 of 149 Massachusetts cities by lowest crime rate - a narrower, more locally useful cut than the national comparison above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Pittsfield against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Massachusetts only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Massachusetts-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Pittsfield near the bottom of Massachusetts's cities
Among the 247 Massachusetts cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Pittsfield ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Pittsfield only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#194 of 233
17th percentile in Massachusetts
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 247
0th percentile in Massachusetts
Median Home Value
#230 of 240
4th percentile in Massachusetts
Poverty Rate
#48 of 247
80th percentile in Massachusetts
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#176 of 247
28th percentile in Massachusetts
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Massachusetts only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
47th percentile nationally for median household income · 38th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Pittsfield's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Pittsfield's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Pittsfield's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$233,70048th percentilemore affordable than 48% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Pittsfield's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.4×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#8,642 of 15,516
More affordable than 44% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#1,412 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 3.4×, Pittsfield sits in the moderate band:
national rank #8,642 of 15,516 and #1,412 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$68,386Pittsfield, MA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Pittsfield, MA median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Pittsfield, MA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)34.2%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)9.7%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)59.6%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
43,559
Median Income
$68,386
Median Home Value
$233,700
Median Age
43.2
Poverty Rate
9.7%
Labor force participation
59.6%
Bachelor's Degree+
34.2%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1750.9
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
511.3
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1239.6
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Climate
Avg Temperature
46.0°F
Annual Precipitation
44.2"
Annual Snowfall
N/A
Schools
Total Schools
15
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Pittsfield's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
43,837 residents
2021
43,702 residents
2022
43,454 residents
2023
43,229 residents
2024
43,263 residents
2025
42,909 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
15
housing units authorized
Single-Family
6
detached homes
Multifamily
9
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
0.3
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
5
5
0
$1.0M
2020
5
5
0
$1.0M
2021
25
5
20
$7.5M
2022
6
2
4
$2.1M
2023
16
8
8
$7.9M
2024
15
6
9
$6.6M
Permit volume increased 200% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
75.7%
Carpool
9.5%
Public Transit
1.8%
Walk
3.0%
Work from Home
8.5%
Other
1.5%
Based on 21,139 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Massachusetts statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $330
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Massachusetts at $330 (electricity about $160 , water and sewer about $60 ).
These are Massachusetts statewide averages, not a meter reading for Pittsfield. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Massachusetts's BEA cost-of-living index is 105.8 (Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Pittsfield is $2,261/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Massachusetts statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 78.8 / 100 (High).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Massachusetts statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Pittsfield sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Pittsfield compares to similar-size Massachusetts cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.