Berkshire County Income Charts

This section shows the Berkshire County Massachusetts economy using the most recent economic analysis from the 2022 Census Bureau. Starting with Figure 1 which shows the median earnings per worker, Berkshire County shows it has a Median earnings of $55,295 which is less than most other counties in the metropolitan area. The county with the highest median earnings per worker in the area is Hampshire County which shows a median earnings of $62,962 (13.9% larger). Comparing median earnings per worker to the United States average of $53,269, Berkshire County is only about 3.8% larger. Also, compared to the state of Massachusetts, median earnings per worker of $69,105, Berkshire County is about 25.0% smaller.

In Figure 2 a more complete view of income is shown which aggregates income from all members in the household and it has a Median household income of $63,159 which is the second smallest when ranked by median household income of all the other counties in the metro area. The county with the highest median household income in the area is Litchfield County which shows a median income of $84,797 (34.3% larger). Comparing median household income to the United States average of $69,021, Berkshire County is about 9.3% smaller. Also, benchmarked against the state of Massachusetts, median household income of $89,026, Berkshire County is approximately three-fourths the size.

The next section examines a variety of different income statistics for the Berkshire County metropolitan area. In Figure 3 we see that it has the smallest proportion of earnings between $50,000 and $74,999 at 8.6% of the total. Dividing median annual worker earnings by the average number of hours worked in a year in Figure 4 shows that it has a Avg Hrly Earnings of $29.13 which is in the center range of other counties in the greater region. The county with the highest average hourly earnings in the area is Hampshire County which depicts an average hourly earnings of $35.72 (22.6% larger). Comparing average hourly earnings to the United States average of $26.40, Berkshire County is 10.3% larger. Also, in comparison with the state of Massachusetts, average hourly earnings of $34.97, Berkshire County is about 20.0% smaller.

Figure 5 examines the number of self employed people in the Berkshire County metro area based on the number of people who reported any self employment income. Berkshire County depicts it has a Self Employed of 14.2% which is less than most other counties in the metro area. The county with the highest percentage of people self employed in the area is Franklin County which depicts a percentage self employed of 16.6% (16.9% larger).

Figure 6 breaks down the source of income and Berkshire County has the largest proportion of investment and retirement income at 9.6% of the total and is ranked #1.

The next chart (Figure 7) shows the percentage of households that had retirement income over the last 12 months and it has a With Retirement Income of 28.2% which is the third most households with retirement income of all other counties in the greater Berkshire County region. The county with the highest households with retirement income in the area is Columbia County which depicts a households with retirement income of 29.9% (6.0% larger).

The percentage of full-time workers are compared to the number of part-time workers in Figure 8. Berkshire County shows full time employees approximately 2.4 times bigger as the part time employees.

Similar to the last chart is Figure 9 which shows the number of people who are self employed but in more detailed industry categories such as manufacturing, retail sales, residential real estate, commercial real estate, health care, exports/imports, and advanced industries, etc. Berkshire County depicts it has the hightest entrepreneurs of 21% for the self employed in construction grouping.

Figure 10 shows the cost of living and other consumer spending categories for a variety of cost components from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Berkshire County shows it has the hightest cost of 161.9 for the cost of utilities classification.

Berkshire County Poverty Charts

In Figure 11 the percentage of people earning less than the poverty level is shown and compared across the group of places. Berkshire County shows it has a Percent of Population In Poverty of 10.1% which is less than most other counties in the surrounding region. The county with the highest percent of people earning less than the poverty level in the area is Hampden County which shows a percent of people in poverty of 15.9% (57.4% larger). Additionally, Figure 12 looks at the percentage of people who receive some form of public assistance including general assistance, temporary assistance or food stamps (i.e. SNAP.) Berkshire County depicts it has a Public Assistance Percent of 15.0% which is the second most households with public assistance of all the counties in the greater Berkshire County region. The county with the highest households with public assistance in the area is Hampden County which depicts a households with public assistance of 23.6% (57.4% larger).

Berkshire County Labor Force Charts

The table in Figure 13, shows Berkshire County employment data in terms of job categories and salary data.

The next two charts look at monthly trended employment related performance using data estimated by economists at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The BLS tracks unemployment statistics for a large number of areas throughout the country on a month to month basis. However, not every location in the U.S. is tracked by the BLS so the chart will only show the closest location available (which may be the same location.) Figure 14 shows the monthly unemployment rate for the area as well as a comparison to the overall national economy measure for the United States. Note that in March to April 2022, the Covid 19 recession occurred and affects this metric. The monthly unemployment rate depicts that from February 2017 to before the Coronavirus Pandemic it went from 5.6% to 3.1% in December 2019. This represents a decrease in the monthly unemployment rate of 44.6%. Since that time, the monthly unemployment rate has gone to 3.1%. This represents an increase in the monthly unemployment rate of very little.

Berkshire County Jobs Charts

In the jobs section of economic activity charts in Figure 15 shows the average annual earnings for very high level job industry categories for full time and year round employed.

Figure 16 shows the average median earnings for different categories of jobs.

Berkshire County Work Commute Charts

Figure 19 is provided for comparison purposes to the previous chart. It shows how people get to work overall on average in the United States.

The average commute time is shown in Figure 21. Berkshire County shows it has a Avg Commute Time of 20 which is the smallest as measured by average commute time of all the other counties in the greater region.