Hampden County, Massachusetts

• White (non-Hispanic) 274,463 59.3%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race) 125,188 27.0%
• Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 35,228 7.6%
• Asian (non-Hispanic) 11,580 2.5%
• Two or more races (non-Hispanic) 14,340 3.1%
• American Indian / Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) 205 0.0%
• Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) 23 0.0%
• Some other race (non-Hispanic) 1,788 0.4%

• Under 18 96,761 20.9%
• 18–24 45,123 9.7%
• 25–44 119,037 25.7%
• 45–64 117,371 25.4%
• 65 and over 84,523 18.3%

Median household income

$71,287

90% interval $67,495–$75,079

−$33,282 vs MA · 14th of 14

Below poverty line

16.0%

90% interval 14.5%–17.5%

+6.2 pp vs MA · 1st of 14

Unemployment (12-mo)

5.6%

+0.95 pp vs. state

County GDP

$30.6B

3.93% of state

Avg. annual pay

$64,686

Establishments

19,250

• Education & health services 72,503 36.0%
• Trade, transportation & utilities 37,145 18.5%
• Leisure & hospitality 19,620 9.8%
• Manufacturing 16,592 8.2%
• Professional & business services 15,394 7.7%
• Financial activities 8,681 4.3%
• Construction 8,681 4.3%
• Other services 6,472 3.2%
• Public administration 5,683 2.8%
• Information 1,700 0.8%
• Natural resources & mining 598 0.3%

The sectors listed cover 96.0% of covered employment; BLS withholds the rest to avoid disclosing individual employers.

Home ownership

62.2%

−0.3 pp vs MA · 12th of 14

Median gross rent

$1,136

−$626 vs MA · 13th of 14

Owner-occupied

114,780

Renter-occupied

69,691

• Moderately concentrated

  Top three sectors employ 64% of the county workforce. Substantial intra-sector overlap among panelists is likely; confirm employer relationships before sector-specific framing.

• Moderate wage spread

  Highest-paid sector (Financial activities, $114,338/yr) pays 4.0× the lowest (Leisure & hospitality, $28,678/yr). Expect meaningful income variation across the panel.

• Mixed business scale

  Average establishment employs 10 workers, a mix of institutional employers and small businesses. Both employed-by-large-institution and small-business-owner perspectives are likely on the panel.

• Democratic 110,937 53.4%
• Republican 92,474 44.5%
• Other / third-party 4,336 2.1%

• Spanish 76,433 17.4%
• Russian, Polish, or other Slavic 8,433 1.9%
• French, Haitian, or Cajun 2,773 0.6%
• Arabic 2,092 0.5%
• Vietnamese 1,567 0.4%
• Chinese 1,332 0.3%
• German or other West Germanic 898 0.2%
• Tagalog 287 0.1%
• Korean 220 0.1%

Households

184,471

Family households

113,970

61.8% of households

Married couples w/ children

24,419

21.4% of families

Single-mother families

17,026

14.9% of families

Veterans

20,195

5.5% of civilians 18+

• Catholic 150,078 32.2%
• Evangelical Protestant 27,225 5.8%
• Other (non-Christian + minor traditions) 20,833 4.5%
• Mainline Protestant 15,225 3.3%
• Black Protestant 4,074 0.9%
• Orthodox 2,140 0.5%

Health insured

97.0%

±0.3 pp

Uninsured

3.0%

±0.3 pp

4th of 14

With a disability

16.9%

±0.6 pp

2nd of 14

Bachelor's or higher

29.3%

±0.8 pp

−18.0 pp vs MA · 14th of 14

Uninsured, under 65 (2024)

3.8%

90% interval 3.4%–4.2% · Census SAHIE

The under-65 uninsured rate is not comparable to the ACS insurance figures, which cover all ages.

Trial court

Hampden County Superior Court

Judges

5 (Superior Court Justice base assignments per county (general civil + felony criminal jurisdiction); vintage 2026 mass.gov/orgs/superior-court. Under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 212, Justices may be reassigned across counties by the Chief Justice of the Superior Court Department; counts here reflect typical base allocations rather than a permanently-fixed roster. Other Trial Court departments (District Court, Boston Municipal Court, Probate and Family Court, Juvenile Court, Land Court, Housing Court) handle limited-jurisdiction matters and are not counted here.)

Court seats

Springfield

Traffic fatalities

35

9.56 per 100k adults (18+)

Fatal crashes

35