The story everyone tells about Western Massachusetts is decline. The mills closed, the people left, the population has been falling for sixty years. It is repeated in planning documents, in news copy and by people who live here, and against the census it is mostly wrong.
90 of the 101 towns are larger than they were in 1960. Only 11 are smaller.
The people did not leave. They moved uphill.
What happened here was not depopulation. It was redistribution, and it was dramatic.
The fastest growth since 1960:
- SHUTESBURY: 265 to 1717, up 547.9%
- MOUNT WASHINGTON: 34 to 160, up 370.6%
- TOLLAND: 101 to 471, up 366.3%
- HOLLAND: 561 to 2603, up 364%
- PERU: 197 to 814, up 313.2%
And the decline, which is real where it is real:
- MONROE: 210 to 118, -43.8%
- NORTH ADAMS: 19,905 to 12,961, -34.9%
- ADAMS: 12,391 to 8,166, -34.1%
- HOLYOKE: 52,689 to 38,238, -27.4%
- PITTSFIELD: 57,879 to 43,927, -24.1%
Those are the mill cities, and their losses are substantial: a third of the population in some cases. But they are eleven towns out of 101, and the small towns around them absorbed a great deal of what left. A hill town going from a few hundred people to nearly two thousand is a percentage that looks absurd and describes something real: a town that was effectively abandoned farmland in 1960 and is now a place people commute from.
The counties tell it plainly
- Hampshire County: 103,229 to 162,308, +57.2%
- Franklin County: 54,864 to 71,029, +29.5%
- Hampden County: 429,353 to 465,825, +8.5%
- Berkshire County: 142,135 to 129,026, -9.2%
Hampshire County grew by more than half. Franklin grew by nearly a third. Hampden, which contains most of the region's cities and most of its people, still grew. Berkshire is the one county that is genuinely smaller, and even there the decline is under ten percent across sixty years, which is a slow leak rather than a collapse.
The recent decade is more evenly split
Between 2010 and 2020, 47 of 101 towns gained population. That is close to an even split, and it is a different pattern from the long run: the growth is no longer concentrated in the hilltowns, and several of the towns that grew fastest over sixty years lost ground in the most recent ten.
Small-town percentages in a single decade should be read with care. A town of four hundred people that gains fifty is up more than twelve percent, and fifty people is one large family and a converted barn. The percentage is arithmetically true and tells you very little.
Why this matters if you are buying
- A shrinking town is not a failing town. Several of the region's cities have lost population and gained amenities, and their housing is the cheapest in the state for a reason that has nothing to do with whether it is a good place to live.
- A growing town is not a growing housing market. Population growth in a town that permits almost nothing means competition for existing stock, which is a price story rather than a supply story. See which towns are actually building.
- The direction of income matters more than the direction of headcount. Berkshire County lost people and gained $30.8 million in a single tax year. That is a rising market by every measure a seller cares about.
Every town, 1960 to 2020
Sortable and filterable. Sort by the sixty-year column to see the redistribution, and by the recent column to see what is happening now.
Population Change by Town, 1960 to 2020
Download CSV, same columns, same definitions
Decennial census counts for 1960 and 2020 with the percentage change across sixty years, and the change across the most recent decade. Small-town percentages rest on small absolute numbers.
| Town | County | Population 1960 | Population 2020 | Change Since 1960 | Change 2010 to 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ADAMS | Berkshire | 12,391 | 8,166 | -34.1% | -3.8% |
| AGAWAM | Hampden | 15,718 | 28,692 | +82.5% | +0.9% |
| ALFORD | Berkshire | 256 | 486 | +89.8% | -1.6% |
| AMHERST | Hampshire | 13,718 | 39,263 | +186.2% | +3.8% |
| ASHFIELD | Franklin | 1,131 | 1,695 | +49.9% | -2.4% |
| BECKET | Berkshire | 770 | 1,931 | +150.8% | +8.5% |
| BELCHERTOWN | Hampshire | 5,186 | 15,350 | +196% | +4.8% |
| BERNARDSTON | Franklin | 1,370 | 2,102 | +53.4% | -1.3% |
| BLANDFORD | Hampden | 636 | 1,215 | +91% | -1.5% |
| BRIMFIELD | Hampden | 1,414 | 3,694 | +161.2% | +2.4% |
| BUCKLAND | Franklin | 1,664 | 1,816 | +9.1% | -4.5% |
| CHARLEMONT | Franklin | 897 | 1,185 | +32.1% | -6.4% |
| CHESHIRE | Berkshire | 2,472 | 3,258 | +31.8% | +0.7% |
| CHESTER | Hampden | 1,155 | 1,228 | +6.3% | -8.2% |
| CHESTERFIELD | Hampshire | 556 | 1,186 | +113.3% | -2.9% |
| CHICOPEE | Hampden | 61,553 | 55,560 | -9.7% | +0.5% |
| CLARKSBURG | Berkshire | 1,741 | 1,657 | -4.8% | -2.6% |
| COLRAIN | Franklin | 1,426 | 1,606 | +12.6% | -3.9% |
| CONWAY | Franklin | 875 | 1,761 | +101.3% | -7.2% |
| CUMMINGTON | Hampshire | 550 | 829 | +50.7% | -4.9% |
| DALTON | Berkshire | 6,436 | 6,330 | -1.6% | -6.3% |
| DEERFIELD | Franklin | 3,338 | 5,090 | +52.5% | -0.7% |
| EAST LONGMEADOW | Hampden | 10,294 | 16,430 | +59.6% | +4.5% |
| EASTHAMPTON | Hampshire | 12,326 | 16,211 | +31.5% | +1% |
| EGREMONT | Berkshire | 895 | 1,372 | +53.3% | +12% |
| ERVING | Franklin | 1,272 | 1,665 | +30.9% | -7.5% |
| FLORIDA | Berkshire | 569 | 694 | +22% | -7.7% |
| GILL | Franklin | 1,203 | 1,551 | +28.9% | +3.4% |
| GOSHEN | Hampshire | 385 | 960 | +149.4% | -8.9% |
| GRANBY | Hampshire | 4,221 | 6,110 | +44.8% | -2.1% |
| GRANVILLE | Hampden | 874 | 1,538 | +76% | -1.8% |
| GREAT BARRINGTON | Berkshire | 6,624 | 7,172 | +8.3% | +1% |
| GREENFIELD | Franklin | 17,690 | 17,768 | +0.4% | +1.8% |
| HADLEY | Hampshire | 3,099 | 5,325 | +71.8% | +1.4% |
| HAMPDEN | Hampden | 2,345 | 4,966 | +111.8% | -3.4% |
| HANCOCK | Berkshire | 455 | 757 | +66.4% | +5.6% |
| HATFIELD | Hampshire | 2,350 | 3,352 | +42.6% | +2.2% |
| HAWLEY | Franklin | 251 | 353 | +40.6% | +4.7% |
| HEATH | Franklin | 304 | 723 | +137.8% | +2.4% |
| HINSDALE | Berkshire | 1,414 | 1,919 | +35.7% | -5.6% |
| HOLLAND | Hampden | 561 | 2,603 | +364% | +4.9% |
| HOLYOKE | Hampden | 52,689 | 38,238 | -27.4% | -4.1% |
| HUNTINGTON | Hampshire | 1,392 | 2,094 | +50.4% | -3.9% |
| LANESBOROUGH | Berkshire | 2,933 | 3,038 | +3.6% | -1.7% |
| LEE | Berkshire | 5,271 | 5,788 | +9.8% | -2.6% |
| LENOX | Berkshire | 4,253 | 5,095 | +19.8% | +1.4% |
| LEVERETT | Franklin | 914 | 1,865 | +104% | +0.8% |
| LEYDEN | Franklin | 343 | 734 | +114% | +3.2% |
| LONGMEADOW | Hampden | 10,565 | 15,853 | +50.1% | +0.4% |
| LUDLOW | Hampden | 13,805 | 21,002 | +52.1% | -0.5% |
| MIDDLEFIELD | Hampshire | 315 | 385 | +22.2% | -26.1% |
| MONROE | Franklin | 210 | 118 | -43.8% | -2.5% |
| MONSON | Hampden | 6,712 | 8,150 | +21.4% | -4.8% |
| MONTAGUE | Franklin | 7,836 | 8,580 | +9.5% | +1.7% |
| MONTEREY | Berkshire | 480 | 1,095 | +128.1% | +13.9% |
| MONTGOMERY | Hampden | 333 | 819 | +145.9% | -2.3% |
| MOUNT WASHINGTON | Berkshire | 34 | 160 | +370.6% | -4.2% |
| NEW ASHFORD | Berkshire | 165 | 250 | +51.5% | +9.6% |
| NEW MARLBOROUGH | Berkshire | 1,083 | 1,528 | +41.1% | +1.3% |
| NEW SALEM | Franklin | 397 | 983 | +147.6% | -0.7% |
| NORTH ADAMS | Berkshire | 19,905 | 12,961 | -34.9% | -5.4% |
| NORTHAMPTON | Hampshire | 30,058 | 29,571 | -1.6% | +3.6% |
| NORTHFIELD | Franklin | 2,320 | 2,866 | +23.5% | -5.5% |
| ORANGE | Franklin | 6,154 | 7,569 | +23% | -3.4% |
| OTIS | Berkshire | 473 | 1,634 | +245.5% | +1.4% |
| PALMER | Hampden | 10,358 | 12,448 | +20.2% | +2.5% |
| PELHAM | Hampshire | 805 | 1,280 | +59% | -3.1% |
| PERU | Berkshire | 197 | 814 | +313.2% | -3.9% |
| PITTSFIELD | Berkshire | 57,879 | 43,927 | -24.1% | -1.8% |
| PLAINFIELD | Hampshire | 237 | 633 | +167.1% | -2.3% |
| RICHMOND | Berkshire | 890 | 1,407 | +58.1% | -4.6% |
| ROWE | Franklin | 231 | 424 | +83.5% | +7.9% |
| RUSSELL | Hampden | 1,366 | 1,643 | +20.3% | -7.4% |
| SANDISFIELD | Berkshire | 536 | 989 | +84.5% | +8.1% |
| SAVOY | Berkshire | 277 | 645 | +132.9% | -6.8% |
| SHEFFIELD | Berkshire | 2,138 | 3,327 | +55.6% | +2.1% |
| SHELBURNE | Franklin | 1,739 | 1,884 | +8.3% | -0.5% |
| SHUTESBURY | Franklin | 265 | 1,717 | +547.9% | -3% |
| SOUTH HADLEY | Hampshire | 14,956 | 18,150 | +21.4% | +3.6% |
| SOUTHAMPTON | Hampshire | 2,192 | 6,224 | +183.9% | +7.5% |
| SOUTHWICK | Hampden | 5,139 | 9,232 | +79.6% | -2.8% |
| SPRINGFIELD | Hampden | 174,463 | 155,929 | -10.6% | +1.9% |
| STOCKBRIDGE | Berkshire | 2,161 | 2,018 | -6.6% | +3.6% |
| SUNDERLAND | Franklin | 1,279 | 3,663 | +186.4% | -0.6% |
| TOLLAND | Hampden | 101 | 471 | +366.3% | -2.9% |
| TYRINGHAM | Berkshire | 197 | 427 | +116.8% | +30.6% |
| WALES | Hampden | 659 | 1,832 | +178% | -0.3% |
| WARE | Hampshire | 7,517 | 10,066 | +33.9% | +2% |
| WARWICK | Franklin | 426 | 780 | +83.1% | 0% |
| WASHINGTON | Berkshire | 290 | 494 | +70.3% | -8.2% |
| WENDELL | Franklin | 292 | 924 | +216.4% | +9% |
| WEST SPRINGFIELD | Hampden | 24,924 | 28,835 | +15.7% | +1.6% |
| WEST STOCKBRIDGE | Berkshire | 1,244 | 1,343 | +8% | +2.8% |
| WESTFIELD | Hampden | 26,302 | 40,834 | +55.3% | -0.6% |
| WESTHAMPTON | Hampshire | 583 | 1,622 | +178.2% | +0.9% |
| WHATELY | Franklin | 1,037 | 1,607 | +55% | +7.4% |
| WILBRAHAM | Hampden | 7,387 | 14,613 | +97.8% | +2.8% |
| WILLIAMSBURG | Hampshire | 2,186 | 2,504 | +14.5% | +0.9% |
| WILLIAMSTOWN | Berkshire | 7,322 | 7,513 | +2.6% | -3.1% |
| WINDSOR | Berkshire | 384 | 831 | +116.4% | -7.6% |
| WORTHINGTON | Hampshire | 597 | 1,193 | +99.8% | +3.2% |
What These Columns Mean
- Town
- The municipality.
- County
- One of the four western counties.
- Population 1960
- The decennial census count in 1960, the peak year for most of the region's cities.
- Population 2020
- The most recent decennial census count.
- Change Since 1960
- Percentage change across sixty years.
- Change 2010 to 2020
- Percentage change across the most recent decade.
Cite: RE413. “Population Change by Town, 1960 to 2020.” Updated August 5, 2026. https://www.re413.com/news/fastest-growing-towns-western-mass/, underlying sources at https://www.re413.com/sources/.
Every town's full population series, back to the earliest published counts, is charted on its own page. Start at the town list, or read the regional picture in the state of housing.
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau. Decennial census population counts by town, 1960 through 2020.
"Figures through" is the period the publisher's data describes; "checked" is only when we last asked. The full sourcing: sources and method.