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BRPC: Berkshire Population Declining Rapidly

Mark Maloy presented the study on Thursday to the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshires have been losing population at a rate of 450 per year and when the baby boomers start to die off, that number will accelerate.

BRPC Planner Mark Maloy presented a study Thursday night showing that the county has a gap in the age bracket behind the baby boomers worse than state and national averages.

Thus, at this rate, when 2030 comes, the population is expected to be 12,420 people fewer — a number he feels is manageable but one towns should be aware of and set plans to curb.

"Really the only thing to do is to change that migration pattern," Maloy said. "We need 800 more people every year in the 20-30-year-old age bracket to prevent this decline."

Since 1970, the population in the Berkshires has declined from 149,402 to just 131,219 in 2010. In 50 years, the population trends show the county would be down to 80,695 if the decline continues.

Th declining population has been widely known concern in the Berkshires for local officials and business leaders, but the magnitude has been somewhat cloudy. Maloy says the current trends need to change in order to avoid problems in the future such as housing.

There are about 1,288 births per year but 1,519 people are dying per year — decreasing the population by some 250 per year.

"Births have been declining while deaths have been staying relatively stable," he said.

While 2,977 people per year are moving into the Berkshires, people are moving out at a rate of 3,262 per year. The age brackets show a massive gap in people in their 20s and early 30s. For people in their 40s, the county seems to see that group moving back.

"We have a much older population. We have a higher percentage of people over 50 than the state and the nation," Maloy said.

Without the 20-30s age bracket, the numbers of school-aged children will drop significantly, Maloy said. By 2030, the trend shows a 28 percent decline in school-aged children.

A main reason for that, Maloy said, is because there is a lack of opportunities. After earning a college degree and getting experience in the Berkshires, there is often nowhere else to move up. That lack of college graduates is already causing problems for businesses looking to hire.

Pittsfield Planner C.J. Hoss added that it isn't just the opportunity, it is the pay. While the Berkshires have long been known for a lower cost of living, that is only true for housing. While an apartment rental may be lower than in other regions, other costs such as groceries, are not more inexpensive here and salaries aren't keeping pace.

"At City Hall, we lose a lot of good, professional people that we'd like to keep," Hoss said, because they can get paid more elsewhere.

These trends are spelling "doom and gloom" for everywhere from Pittsfield north (except Williamstown). Housing will become an issue because there will not be enough people to fill the homes. Maloy says at this rate, it will be difficult for homes to be sold, so values will be down and there will be abandonment.

Meanwhile, South County is seeing a lot of second-home owners and wealthy retirees. So the demand for housing and new construction in the part of the county is expected to continue.

The trend is alarming but can be changed. BRPC Executive Director Nathaniel Karns said a focus on retaining students could curb the exodus. With the baby boomers moving onto retirement, there will be an array of manufacturing jobs opening up — all of them start at $40,000 a year, he said.

"We can do some things to overcome some of it," Karns said. "I think we need to change some messaging that we are giving our kids."

He added that both North Adams and Pittsfield's push to develop their downtowns will also help keep the 20-30 age bracket.

Lanesborough representative Jack Hickey said the dropping population is not just a Berkshire County issue. He said there are many programs employed in other states that could help curb the trend here. But, it is getting the elected state officials to tell those in Boston that those program are needed here.

"This is a problem that is not unique to Berkshire County. It is traditionally spoken about in the entire rust belt of this country," he said. "Our problem is that our counterparts in Boston and Worcester don't see the problem. They don't have the problem. They are not aware of it."

Karns said Maine and Vermont are both seeing similar trends and have raised concerns.

Maloy said that while the trends are going downward, anything can change those numbers — such as the influx of people.

"The focus really should be on the trend and the magnitude and not the specific numbers," he said.

Sheffield Craftsman Offering Workshops on Windsor Chairs

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
10:30AM / Sunday, March 29, 2026

Andrew Jack uses hand tools in his wood working shop. 

SHEFFIELD, Mass. — A new workshop is bringing woodworking classes and handmade items.

Andrew Jack specializes in Windsor chairs and has been making them for almost 20 years.

He recently opened a workshop at 292 South Main St. as a space for people to see his work and learn how to do it.

"This is sort of the next, or latest iteration of a business that I've kind of been limping along for a little while," he said. "I make Windsor chairs from scratch, and this is an effort to have a little bit more of a public-facing space, where people can see the chairs, talk about options, talking about commissions.

"I also am using it as a space to teach workshops, which for the last 10 years or so I've been trying to do out of my own personal workshop at home."

Jack graduated in 2008 from State University of New York at Purchase, and later met woodworker Curtis Buchanan, who inspired him.

"Right after I finished there, I was feeling a little lost. I wasn't sure how to make the next steps and afford a workspace. And the machine tooling that I was used to using in school." he said, "Right after I graduated, I crossed paths with a guy named Curtis Buchanan, and he was demonstrating making really refined Windsor chairs with not much more than some some flea market tools, and I saw that as a great, low overhead way to keep working with wood."

Jack moved into his workshop last month with help from his wife. He is renting the space from the owners of Magic Flute, who he says have been wonderful to work with.

"My wife actually noticed the 'for rent' sign out by the road, and she made the initial call to just see if we get some more information," he said. "It wasn't on my radar, because it felt like kind of a big leap, and sometimes that's how it's been in my life, where I just need other people to believe in me more than I do to, you know, really pull the trigger."

Jack does commissions and while most of his work is Windsor chairs, he also builds desks and tables, and does spoon carving. 

Windsor chairs are different because of the way their backs are attached into the seat instead of being a continuous leg and back frame.

"A lot of the designs that I make are on the traditional side, but I do some contemporary stuff as well. And so usually the legs are turned on a lathe and they have sort of a fancy baluster look to them, or they could be much more simple," he said. "But the solid seat that separates the undercarriage from the backrest and the arms and stuff is sort of one of the defining characteristics of a Windsor."

He hopes to help people learn the craft and says it's rewarding to see the finished product. In the future, he also hopes to host other instructors and add more designs for the workshop.

"The prime impact for the workshops is to give close instruction to people that are interested in working wood with hand tools or developing a new skill. Or seeing what's possible with proper guidance," Jack said. "Chairs are often considered some of the more difficult or complex woodworking endeavors, and maybe less so Windsor chairs, but there is a lot that goes into them, and being able to kind of demystify that, or guide people through the process is quite rewarding."

People can sign up for classes on his website; some classes are over a couple and others a couple of weekends.

"I offer a three-day class for, a much, much more simple, like perch, kind of stool, where most of the parts are kind of pre-made, and students can focus on the joinery that goes into it and the carving of the seat, again, all with hand tools. And then students will leave with their own chair," he said.

"The longer classes run similarly, although there's quite a bit more labor that goes into those. So I provide all the turned parts, legs and stretchers and posts and things, but students will do all the joinery and all the seat carving the assembly. And they'll split and shave and shape their own spindles, and any of the bent parts that go into the chair."

His gallery is open Wednesday through Sunday 10 a.m to 2 p.m., and Monday and Tuesday by appointment.