The book's checklist
- Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 4.9% below the U.S. average in the Pittsfield metro area.
- More house for the moneyA typical home costs 3.6 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
- A safer neighborhood0 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 0 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 3.1 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
- Schools in town1 public school. No public high school in town: the nearest is Lee Middle/high School, about 11 miles away.
- A hospital close byFairview Hospital in Great Barrington, about 15 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
- Within reach of a big cityHartford is about 37 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.
A check means Otis meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.
What kind of town
Tourist town. About 1 in 2 homes is a vacation or seasonal home, a sign of a visitor economy. More restaurants, shops and weekend events than locals alone could support, with the small-town basics intact.
The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.
For a lifetime
Homes and money
- Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
- $396,700U.S.: $332,700
- Home prices since then
- Up 23%Berkshire County, 2022 to 2025
- Typical household income
- $108,898U.S.: $80,734
- Typical property tax bill
- $2,408 a yearMassachusetts: $5,992
- Homes built before 1940
- 18%U.S.: 12%
- Homes built since 2010
- 1%U.S.: 11%
- Vacation and seasonal homes
- 51%U.S.: 3%
- Everyday prices
- 95.1U.S. average = 100 (the Pittsfield metro area)
Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 23% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Pittsfield metro area, not Otis alone. Check current listings before you budget.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.
The people
- Population, 2025 estimate
- 1,6102020: 1,632
- Median age
- 51 yearsU.S.: 38.9
- Age 65 and older
- 28%U.S.: 17%
- Under 18
- 15%U.S.: 22%
- Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
- 39%U.S.: 36%
- Moved here from another county or state in the past year
- 3%U.S.: 6%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.
Work
- Biggest lines of work
- Schools, health care and social services (17%); retail (14%); professional and business services (12%)
- Unemployment rate
- 6%U.S.: 5%
- Average commute
- 34 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
- Work from home
- 22%U.S.: 15%
- Below the poverty line
- 1%U.S.: 12%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.
Health care
Nearest emergency room: Fairview Hospital, Great Barrington, MA, about 15 miles away. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare gives it 5 of 5 stars.
Nearest general hospital: Baystate Noble Hospital, Westfield, MA, about 18 miles away. Medicare gives it 2 of 5 stars.
Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.
Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.
Schools
1 public school in Otis, run by Farmington River Reg. The nearest public high school is Lee Middle/high School, about 11 miles away.
See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Massachusetts's school report card.
Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.
Internet
- Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
- 73%U.S.: 76%
- Homes with any internet subscription
- 93%U.S.: 91%
Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.
Weather
- January average low
- 12°F
- July average high
- 80°F
- Days 90°F or hotter
- 2 a year
- Nights at or below freezing
- 168 a year
- Rain and melted snow
- 54.1 inches a year
- Snow
- 77 inches a year
- Elevation
- 1,446 feet
Weather station: Worthington (15 miles away). Averages for 1991 to 2020.
Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.
Getting around
Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Fairview Hospital, Chicopee, Hartford.
Berkshire County is in a metro area of fewer than 250,000 people (USDA rural-urban code 3, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).
For a day
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Otis Center Historic District.
National Park Service sites within about an hour:
- Appalachian National Scenic Trail5 miles
- New England National Scenic Trail21 miles
- Springfield Armory National Historic Site26 miles
- Martin Van Buren National Historic Site33 miles
- Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site51 miles
Read about Otis's history on Wikipedia.
Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.
Nearby
Straight-line miles.
Small towns
- Becket, MA1,900 people, 6 miles
- Blandford, MA1,200 people, 7 miles
- Monterey, MA1,100 people, 7 miles
- Chester, MA1,200 people, 9 miles
- Lee, MA5,700 people, 10 miles
- New Marlborough, MA1,500 people, 11 miles
Smaller places
- Tyringham, MA422 people, 6 miles
- Sandisfield, MA983 people, 7 miles
- Tolland, MA476 people, 8 miles
- Middlefield, MA392 people, 12 miles
- Washington, MA502 people, 12 miles
- Montgomery, MA838 people, 13 miles
- Peru, MA791 people, 14 miles
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
- Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
- National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
- National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
- NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
- U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
- National Park Service, park unit boundaries
- USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
- U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas
Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.