Acton is a medium-sized town located in the state of Massachusetts. With a population of 20,331 people and four constituent neighborhoods, Acton is the 91st largest community in Massachusetts.

Acton is a decidedly white-collar town, with fully 93.10% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Acton is a town of professionals, managers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Acton who work in management occupations (18.34%), computer science and math (12.00%), and sales jobs (10.79%).

Also of interest is that Acton has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

Acton, while not large, also appears to be attractive to some younger, educated professionals, who help shape the character of the town.

In addition to being popular with young singles, Acton is also home to many people who can be described as "urban sophisticates." While both of these categories describe educated professionals, urban sophisticates are quite a different demographic. Urban sophisticates are people who are both educated and wealthy, and thus tend to be older, richer, and more established than young professionals. "Urban sophisticates" is not just about being educated and well-off financially: it is a point of view and state of mind, one that you might call 'urbaneness.' But such people can and do regularly live in small towns, suburbs and rural areas, as well as in big cities. They read, support the arts and high-end shops, and love travel.

Acton is a good choice for families with children because of several factors. Many other families with children live here, making it a place where both parents and children are more likely to develop social ties with other families. The town's good public school district and large population of college-educated adults provide an environment conducive to academic success. Many people own their own single-family homes, providing areas for children to play and stability in the community. Finally, Acton's overall crime rate is lower than average for the country.

One downside of living in Acton, however, is that residents on average have to contend with a long commute, spending on average 30.99 minutes every day commuting to work.

As is often the case in a small town, Acton doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.

Acton Information and Demographics

If knowledge is power, Acton is a pretty powerful place. 69.29% of the adults in Acton have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 14.96% for all cities and towns.

The per capita income in Acton in 2000 was $41,901, which is wealthy relative to Massachusetts and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $167,604 for a family of four. However, Acton contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

The people who call Acton home come from a variety of different races and ancestries. The most prevalent race in Acton is White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Acton include Irish, Italian, English, German, Polish, Scottish, French, Russian, French Canadian, and European.

The most common language spoken in Acton is English. Some people also speak Chinese.