Williamstown is a somewhat small town located in the state of Massachusetts. With a population of 7,385 people and two associated neighborhoods, Williamstown is the 214th largest community in Massachusetts. Williamstown has an unusually large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic towns.
Of important note, Williamstown is also a town of artists. Williamstown has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Williamstown’s character.
Also of interest is that Williamstown has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.
Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 25.22% 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.
Williamstown is a small town with a large college student population. Because of this, there is a real youthful, hip vibe to the place, and much of the life in the town is centered on the college. This has helped Williamstown to buck the trend of other small towns that have suffered declining populations over the past 20 to 30 years. Spending by students, and faculty and staff jobs, are a big part of the local economy.
For a small town, there is also a high proportion of single, often educated, people living in Williamstown. This is not typical for smaller communities in America, and adds a feeling of vibrancy to Williamstown.
One of the benefits of Williamstown is that there is very little traffic. The average commute to work is 16.83 minutes, which is substantially less than the national average. Not only does this mean that the drive to work is less aggravating, but noise and pollution levels are lower as a result.
If knowledge is power, Williamstown is a pretty powerful place. 68.40% of the adults in Williamstown 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 Williamstown in 2022 was $47,853, which is lower middle income relative to Massachusetts, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $191,412 for a family of four. However, Williamstown contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Williamstown is a somewhat ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Williamstown home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Williamstown residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Williamstown include English, German, Irish, Italian, and French.
The most common language spoken in Williamstown is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Chinese.