Amherst is a medium-sized city located in the state of Massachusetts. With a population of 40,277 people and seven associated neighborhoods, Amherst is the 41st largest community in Massachusetts. Housing costs in Amherst are among some of the highest in the nation, although real estate prices here don't compare to real estate prices in the most expensive communities in Massachusetts.Amherst is a decidedly white-collar city, with fully 90.89% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Amherst is a city of professionals, service providers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Amherst who work in teaching (18.35%), food service (13.64%), and office and administrative support (9.89%). Also of interest is that Amherst has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. A relatively large number of people in Amherst telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 19.28% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. 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. Amherst is also a major college town with a large number of people who are 18 years or older and attending college. As is often the case in college towns, the many students that live in Amherst have a strong influence on the local culture and entertainment scene, which may seem dormant by comparison in the summer months when much of the student population is away. In the fall, the return of students has a reinvigorating effect on the community. Because colleges are lasting institutions, they have a stabilizing effect on the economy by providing direct local benefits such as jobs for faculty and staff and spending by students. Amherst’s economy is one such example of this. For the size of the city, public transportation in Amherst is quite heavily used. Mostly, people who use it for their daily commute are taking the bus. For Amherst, the benefits are reduced air pollution and congestion on the highways.Do you like to read, write and learn? If you move to Amherst, you'll likely find that many of your neighbors like to as well. Amherst is one of the more educated communities in America, with a full 73.78% of its adults having a college degree or even advanced degree, compared to a national average across all communities of 21.84%. The per capita income in Amherst in 2022 was $29,347, which is low income relative to Massachusetts, and lower middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $117,388 for a family of four. However, Amherst contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Amherst is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Amherst home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Amherst residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Amherst include Irish, Italian, English, German, and Polish. Foreign born people are also an important part of Amherst's cultural character, accounting for 15.76% of the city’s population. The most common language spoken in Amherst is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Chinese.
