Amherst is a somewhat small town located in the state of New Hampshire. With a population of 10,769 people and two constituent neighborhoods, Amherst is the 30th largest community in New Hampshire.

Amherst is a decidedly white-collar town, with fully 88.39% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Amherst is a town of professionals, sales and office workers, and managers. There are especially a lot of people living in Amherst who work in management occupations (16.70%), sales jobs (13.99%), and office and administrative support jobs (9.70%).

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

A relatively large number of people in Amherst telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 8.56% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

In addition, Amherst is home to many people who could be described as "urban sophisticates," which are people who are not only wealthy and employed in professional occupations, but highly educated to boot. Urban sophisticates have urbane tastes - whether they reside in a big or small city, a suburb, or a little town. Urban sophisticates support bookstores, quality clothing stores, enjoy luxury travel, and in big cities, they are truly the patrons of the arts, attending and supporting institutions such as opera, symphony, ballet, and theatre.

Because of many things, Amherst is a great place for families with children to consider. First of all, many other families with children live here, making Amherst a place where both parents and children are more likely to develop social ties with other families, as well as find family-oriented services and community. The town's good public school district and large population of college-educated adults provide an environment conducive to academic values. With regard to real estate, Amherst has a high rate of owner-occupied single family homes, which tends to reflect stability in the local community. Finally, Amherst's overall crime rate is lower than average for the country.

Amherst is a very car-oriented town. 97.98% of residents commute to work in a private automobile rather than by other means, such as public transit, bicycling, or walking. This is because Amherst is a small town, and most people who live here have to drive out of town for work, and the town population is not large nor dense enough to support an extensive public transportation system. Amherst has a lot of rural roads, and houses can be far apart. Many residents drive out of town for regular shopping trips as well.

Amherst Information and Demographics

If knowledge is power, Amherst is a pretty powerful place. 55.61% of the adults in Amherst 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 Amherst in 2000 was $35,531, which is wealthy relative to New Hampshire and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $142,124 for a family of four. However, Amherst contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

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

The most common language spoken in Amherst is English.