Berkshire County, MA jobs, unemployment and layoffs

Berkshire County’s unemployment rate is 3.9%. No layoff notices here in the last 12 months. 44 open professional jobs are in its cities.

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Berkshire County economy

3.9%
unemployment, Sep 2026
4.0% the month before
64,387
in the labor force
Source: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics
128,047
people in Berkshire County
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
$72,565
median household income
Source: Census ACS
46%
of workers in white-collar occupations
Management, business, financial and professional; Census ACS

Where Berkshire County ranks

Where Berkshire County placed in our monthly rankings, month by month. Each month stays online at its own address.

November 2026

#5Counties with the most job openings per unemployed person in New England5 per 100 · of 12
#9Best county job markets for job seekers in New England41 / 100 · of 12
#10Best counties for laid-off professionals in New England36 / 100 · of 12
#10Counties with the most job centers per unemployed person in New England4.0 per 10,000 · of 23
#14Counties with the most job openings per unemployed person in the Northeast5 per 100 · of 51
#15Counties with the highest share of white-collar workers in New England46% · of 42

Berkshire County outlook: Cooling

Built from public Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census figures. It describes the area, not any one employer in it.

Private-sector jobs down 0.9% from 2022 to 2025
Population down 1.2% from 2020 to 2025
Unemployment 3.9%, down 0.1 points from a year ago
Sectors adding the most jobs: health care (+615 jobs)
Sectors losing the most jobs: professional & technical (−410 jobs), retail (−393 jobs)

Learn and get funded in Berkshire County

Which AI skills each kind of job asks for, with the pay premium.
Your local workforce board and American Job Centers: training vouchers and re-employment help.
Grants and funding for job seekers, ranked for your state and situation.
Unemployment benefits by state, if you are between jobs.

Berkshire County layoffs

No layoff notices naming Berkshire County in the last 12 months are on file. The WARN Act covers employers with 100 or more workers, so smaller layoffs are not in it.

All layoff notices in the state

Employers hiring most in Berkshire County

Employers with the most open professional roles in this county’s cities. The county is taken from each job’s city, so roles with no city are not counted.

Greylock Credit Union4 open roles
Williams College4 open roles
Cintas3 open roles
Northeast Grocery3 open roles
Austen Riggs Center2 open roles
Berkshire Health Systems2 open roles
Sharp Sterile Manufacturing2 open roles
Appa1 open role
Barrington Stage1 open role
Berkshire County Head Start1 open role

Largest employers headquartered in Berkshire County

Williams College1,001–5,000 employees

Employee counts with a year are published figures (Wikidata). Other sizes are estimates from our company directory, not payroll counts.

Colleges in Berkshire County

Colleges in Berkshire County
College	City	Type	Students
Williams College	Williamstown	Private non-profit 4-year	1,000–4,999
Bard College at Simon's Rock	Great Barrington	Private non-profit 4-year	Under 1,000
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts	North Adams	Public 4-year	Under 1,000

Workforce development and job centers

The public workforce board and American Job Centers serving Berkshire County. They offer free help with job search, training and filing for benefits.

Laid off in Massachusetts? How to file for unemployment in Massachusetts (steps, weekly amount and the appeal deadline).

MassHire Berkshire Workforce Board
Towns: Adams, Alford, Becket, Cheshire, Clarksburg, Dalton, Egremont, Florida, Great Barrington, Hancock, Hinsdale, Lanesborough, Lee, Lenox, Monterey, Mount Washington, New Ashford, New Marlborough, North Adams, Otis, Peru, Pittsfield, Richmond, Sandisfield, Savoy, Sheffield, Stockbridge, Tyringham, Washington, West Stickbridge, Williamstown, Windsor

MassHire Berkshire Career Center
Pittsfield · Comprehensive · 413-499-2220
Monday through Thursday, 8:00am - 4:00pm, Friday 9:00am - 4:00pm

Cities in Berkshire County

Other Massachusetts counties

All of Massachusetts

Laid off or looking for work in Berkshire County?

See what to do first and the jobs open near you.

See your options after a layoff

Sources: Census Bureau and BLS (county unemployment is not seasonally adjusted); layoff notices from Massachusetts’s published record; job counts from our live job board; IPEDS for colleges; CareerOneStop for workforce boards and job centers. Massachusetts unemployment benefits and severance rules.

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