East Brookfield is a very small town located in the state of Massachusetts. With a population of 2,202 people and just one neighborhood, East Brookfield is the 298th largest community in Massachusetts. Much of the housing stock in East Brookfield was built prior to World War II, making it one of the older and more historic towns in the country.
Unlike some towns where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, East Brookfield is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, East Brookfield is a town of professionals, sales and office workers, and production and manufacturing workers. There are especially a lot of people living in East Brookfield who work in sales jobs (12.71%), healthcare (11.79%), and office and administrative support (11.60%).
One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 9.56% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. 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.
Overall, East Brookfield’s crime rate is one of the lowest in the nation, which makes a great place to live if safety is an important concern.
Residents will find that the town is relatively quiet. This is because it is not over-populated, and it has fewer college students, renters, and young children - all of whom can be noisy at times. So, if you're looking for a relatively peaceful place to live, East Brookfield is worth considering.
One downside of living in East Brookfield is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In East Brookfield, the average commute to work is 36.31 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average.
Being a small town, East Brookfield does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.
The overall education level of East Brookfield is somewhat higher than in the average US city of 21.84%: 26.03% of adults 25 and older in the town have at least a bachelor's degree.
The per capita income in East Brookfield in 2022 was $41,738, which is low income relative to Massachusetts, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $166,952 for a family of four.
The people who call East Brookfield home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of East Brookfield residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in East Brookfield include French, Irish, English, Italian, and German.
The most common language spoken in East Brookfield is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Portuguese.
When you see a neighborhood for the first time, the most important thing is often the way it looks, like its homes and its setting. Some places look the same, but they only reveal their true character after living in them for a while because they contain a unique mix of occupational or cultural groups. This neighborhood is very unique in some important ways, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive exploration and analysis.
If you're planning where to retire, the neighborhood in East Brookfield is a great option to consider. According to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive retirement dream area analysis, it's peaceful and quiet, has above average safety ratings compared to other neighborhoods in MA, offers a wide range of housing options, and has already attracted an enviable mix of college educated seniors. This neighborhood ranks as better for retirement living than 88.2% of the neighborhoods in Massachusetts. If you are considering retiring to Massachusetts, this is a good neighborhood to look at.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more French and French Canadian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 14.0% of this neighborhood's residents have French ancestry and 4.7% have French Canadian ancestry.
is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 2.4% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Portuguese at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 98.1% 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 East Brookfield are middle-income, making it a moderate income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 56.1% of the neighborhoods in America. With 11.7% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 53.3% of U.S. neighborhoods.
A neighborhood is far different if it is dominated by enlisted military personnel rather than people who earn their living by farming. It is also different if most of the neighbors are clerical support or managers. What is wonderful is the sheer diversity of neighborhoods, allowing you to find the type that fits your lifestyle and aspirations.
In the neighborhood, 42.0% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is manufacturing and laborer occupations, with 27.9% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (15.5%), and 14.1% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
The languages spoken by people in this neighborhood are diverse. These are tabulated as the languages people preferentially speak when they are at home with their families. The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 94.5% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Portuguese.
Culture is the shared learned behavior of peoples. Undeniably, different ethnicities and ancestries have different cultural traditions, and as a result, neighborhoods with concentrations of residents of one or another ethnicities or ancestries will express those cultures. It is what makes the North End in Boston so fun to visit for the Italian restaurants, bakeries, culture, and charm, and similarly, why people enjoy visiting Chinatown in San Francisco.
In the neighborhood in East Brookfield, MA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as French (14.0%). There are also a number of people of Irish ancestry (13.1%), and residents who report English roots (10.4%), and some of the residents are also of Italian ancestry (7.0%), along with some German ancestry residents (6.9%), among others.
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 45 minutes and one hour commuting one-way to work (37.7% of working residents), longer and tougher than most commutes in America.
Here most residents (86.1%) 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.