West Stockbridge is a very small town located in the state of Massachusetts. With a population of 1,338 people and just one neighborhood, West Stockbridge is the 310th largest community in Massachusetts. West Stockbridge has a large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic towns in the country.
West Stockbridge is neither predominantly blue-collar nor white-collar, instead having a mixed workforce of both blue-collar and white-collar jobs. Overall, West Stockbridge is a town of professionals, managers, and service providers. There are especially a lot of people living in West Stockbridge who work in management occupations (18.39%), art, media, and design (11.17%), and healthcare (6.57%).
Of important note, West Stockbridge is also a town of artists. West Stockbridge has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape West Stockbridge’s character.
Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 20.99% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. 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.
Another notable thing is that West Stockbridge is a major vacation destination. Much of the town’s population is seasonal: many people own second homes and only live there part-time, during the vacation season. The effect on the local economy is that many of the businesses are dependent on tourist dollars, and may operate only during the high season. As the vacation season ends, West Stockbridge’s population drops significantly, such that year-round residents will notice that the city is a much quieter place to live.
West Stockbridge 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, West Stockbridge’s overall crime rate ranks among the lowest in the country, making it one of the safest places to raise a family.
One downside of living in West Stockbridge, however, is that residents on average have to contend with a long commute, spending on average 30.66 minutes every day commuting to work.
Being a small town, West Stockbridge does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.
If knowledge is power, West Stockbridge is a pretty powerful place. 67.82% of the adults in West Stockbridge have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns.
The per capita income in West Stockbridge in 2018 was $48,741, which is middle income relative to Massachusetts, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $194,964 for a family of four. However, West Stockbridge contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
The people who call West Stockbridge home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of West Stockbridge residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in West Stockbridge include Irish, Italian, English, German, and French.
The most common language spoken in West Stockbridge is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Japanese.
Many things matter about a neighborhood, but the first thing most people notice is the way a neighborhood looks and its particular character. For example, one might notice whether the buildings all date from a certain time period or whether shop signs are in multiple languages. This particular neighborhood in West Stockbridge, the neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
If you are planning to retire in Massachusetts, this neighborhood should be on your must-see list. For many reasons, may be considered a retiree's dream neighborhood. According to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis and metrics, it's peaceful and quiet, has above average safety from crime compared to other neighborhoods in Massachusetts, while also offering a diverse range of housing options. This, along with the vibrant mix of very educated seniors and other age groups who choose to live here, makes the neighborhood more retiree-friendly than 98.6% of neighborhoods in MA. If a Massachusetts retirement is in your future, this neighborhood should be one of the places you visit. In addition to being an excellent choice for active retirees, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for urban sophisticates.
Vacant homes and apartments are a significant characteristic of this neighborhood. In fact, with 45.1% of the residential real estate vacant, the neighborhood claims the distinction of having a higher vacancy rate than 98.1% of the neighborhoods in America. This can either be because much of the property is seasonally occupied, like in many vacation areas, or that much of the real estate is more permanently abandoned.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Irish and French ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 24.1% of this neighborhood's residents have Irish ancestry and 8.1% have French ancestry.
is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 1.2% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Japanese at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 98.0% of the neighborhoods in America.
There are two complementary measures for understanding the income of a neighborhood's residents: the average and the extremes. While a neighborhood may be relatively wealthy overall, it is equally important to understand the rate of people - particularly children - who are living at or below the federal poverty line, which is extremely low income. Some neighborhoods with a lower average income may actually have a lower childhood poverty rate than another with a higher average income, and this helps us understand the conditions and character of a neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in West Stockbridge are upper-middle income, making it an above average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 69.2% of the neighborhoods in America. With 27.6% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 77.8% of U.S. neighborhoods.
The old saying "you are what you eat" is true. But it is also true that you are what you do for a living. The types of occupations your neighbors have shape their character, and together as a group, their collective occupations shape the culture of a place.
In the neighborhood, 55.8% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants, with 23.0% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (17.9%), and 3.3% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 93.5% of households. Some people also speak Spanish (2.9%).
Culture is shared learned behavior. We learn it from our parents, their parents, our houses of worship, and much of our culture – our learned behavior – comes from our ancestors. That is why ancestry and ethnicity can be so interesting and important to understand: places with concentrations of people of one or more ancestries often express those shared learned behaviors and this gives each neighborhood its own culture. Even different neighborhoods in the same city can have drastically different cultures.
In the neighborhood in West Stockbridge, MA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Irish (24.1%). There are also a number of people of Italian ancestry (15.7%), and residents who report English roots (15.5%), and some of the residents are also of German ancestry (15.3%), along with some French ancestry residents (8.1%), among others.
Even if your neighborhood is walkable, you may still have to drive to your place of work. Some neighborhoods are located where many can get to work in just a few minutes, while others are located such that most residents have a long and arduous commute. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (42.7% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (76.4%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.