Amherst Town, MA
Amherst Town-Northampton, MA Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Amherst Town-Northampton, MA Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Amherst Town ranks 138th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 99th for income. A household earns $81,732 a year while median rent runs $1,425/mo, making it moderately affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 0% above the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is education (8th of 300), while home prices is the soft spot (226th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 190th and home prices 226th among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Amherst Town, your take-home is worth about $57,424 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it less than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 99th of 300$81,732
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 226th of 300100 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $81,534
- Per-capita income
- $43,603
- Full-time pay
- $35,592
Housing
- Median rent
- 190th of 300$1,425/mo
- Home value
- 226th of 300$413,400
- Property tax
- $5,702/yr · 1.4%
- Sales tax
- 6.25%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 109th of 3004%
- Bachelor's+
- 8th of 30054.6%
- Avg commute
- 95th of 30022.6 min
People
- Population
- 165,399
- Median age
- 37.4 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 8.5%
- Broadband
- 95.6%
Environment & risk
- Natural-hazard loss
- 83rd of 300$10/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 11th of 30014.1%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 4.5%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Household income
- + Education
- + Commute
- + Hazard safety
- + Health
Watch-outs
- – Cost of living
- – Home prices
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — westfield barnes muni ap.
What jobs pay in Amherst Town
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $226,710
- IT managers
- $156,040
- Financial managers
- $144,950
- Pharmacists
- $140,650
- Software developers
- $126,670
- Lawyers
- $122,670
- Civil engineers
- $103,350
- Registered nurses
- $101,270
- General & operations managers
- $98,200
- Accountants & auditors
- $84,390
- Secondary school teachers
- $81,660
- Elementary school teachers
- $79,900
- Plumbers
- $78,570
- Web developers
- $77,830
- Electricians
- $76,980
- Police officers
- $73,480
- Carpenters
- $66,830
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $61,260
- Construction laborers
- $58,150
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $51,640
- Customer service reps
- $43,560
- Janitors
- $40,600
- Waiters & waitresses
- $36,650
- Retail salespersons
- $36,630
- Cashiers
- $35,130
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Amherst Town metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in Massachusetts are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- New York929
- California712
- New Jersey307
- New Hampshire238
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Amherst Town
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Amherst Town metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Amherst Town metro?
- Median gross rent across the Amherst Town-Northampton, MA Metro Area is $1,425 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Amherst Town.
- What is the median household income in the Amherst Town metro?
- A typical household in the Amherst Town-Northampton, MA Metro Area earns $81,732 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Amherst Town expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Amherst Town-Northampton, MA Metro Area runs about 0% above the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are higher than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Amherst Town metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $81,534 (versus its face value of $81,732). CityLedger rates the Amherst Town-Northampton, MA Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Amherst Town metro?
- The median home value across the Amherst Town-Northampton, MA Metro Area is $413,400 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Amherst Town metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Amherst Town-Northampton, MA Metro Area is 4% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).