AreaProfile

01027Northampton, Massachusetts

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 01027.

68
Area Score
Top 28% of 3,833 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 27% of 4,073 published ZIP areas66
Growth2583rd of 3,947 published ZIP areas40
Housing affordability2624th of 4,553 published ZIP areas70
Climate3940th of 4,621 published ZIP areas60
Physical resilienceTop 21% of 4,554 published ZIP areas82
AccessTop 4% of 4,623 published ZIP areas100
Economic stabilityTop 41% of 4,591 published ZIP areas65
The quick read

Residential permitting has slowed: 28 units authorized over the past twelve months, 54% below the prior year.

Natural-hazard exposure is lower than in most comparable published ZIP profiles, placing 01027 in the top 21% for physical resilience.

A major airport is 10 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
17,716
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$74,146
Top 46% nationally
Density
436/sq mi
40.6 sq mi of land
Median age
46.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Northampton
Massachusetts
Metro area
Amherst Town-Northampton, MA
Nearest major airport
BAF
10 mi · Westfield-Barnes Rgnl
Median home value
$375,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.5% is lower than 87% of the 4,387 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment fell 1.5% over the past year, to 15,685 employed residents.

39% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 78% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$6,543$74,146Top 46%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$3,529$46,384Top 25%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate7.8%Bottom 35%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute24.4 minBottom 32%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher38.9%Top 22%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment15,685Bottom 10%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)1.3%Top 34%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-1.5%Bottom 37%June 2026
Labor force16,250Bottom 9%June 2026
Labor force participation64.0%Top 36%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$70,730Top 35%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$57,030Top 22%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.3%Bottom 32%June 2026
Unemployment rate3.5%Bottom 13%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202474k64k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $74,146 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — Amherst Town-Northampton, MA
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides2,350$41,700
Fast Food and Counter Workers2,080$34,350
Retail Salespersons1,790$36,630
General and Operations Managers1,600$98,200
Office Clerks, General1,400$52,190
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive1,250$51,100

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Northampton, MA, the city containing this ZIP code.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,292 takes 21% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 5.1 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
20.9%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
5.1×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,292
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$375,700
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income5.07Top 16%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate61.0%Bottom 17%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3348,937Top 18%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$69$1,292Top 31%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$14,441$375,700Top 23%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income20.9%Top 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate7.3%Bottom 34%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
40/ 100
Ranks 2583 of 3,947 published city profiles

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

At 0.9 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
28
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.9
Bottom 19% nationally
Year over year
−54%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
35.7%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Northampton, MA, the city containing this ZIP code.

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 85°F and January a low of 16°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 45.2 inches.

0°20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station WESTFIELD BARNES MUNI AP, 9.7 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation45.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low16°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high85°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing48°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

82 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, tornado and earthquake.

HurricaneElevated
Ice stormModerate
LandslideModerate
EarthquakeModerate
LightningModerate
DroughtModerate
Heat waveModerate
TornadoModerate

Low or minimal exposure: inland flooding, strong wind, cold wave, hail, winter weather, wildfire, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

7 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 10 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Westfield-Barnes RgnlBAF10 mi9,000 ft
Bradley IntlBDL25 mi9,510 ft
Albany IntlALB62 mi8,500 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
68
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 29, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

01027 vs Northampton

How this ZIP area compares with Northampton as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

01027
Northampton
Median household income
$74,146
vs
$80,288
Per capita income
$46,384
vs
$50,705
Population density
436/sq mi
vs
904/sq mi
Median home value
$375,700
vs
$429,700
Median gross rent
$1,292
vs
$1,439
Homeownership rate
61.0%
vs
57.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher
38.9%
vs
62.7%
Poverty rate
7.8%
vs
13.4%
Median age
46.3
vs
41.3

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.