Hampshire County, Massachusetts

Hampshire County is a located in the  of. As of 2000, the population was 152,251. Its is.

Law and government
Like an increasing number of Massachusetts counties, Hampshire County exists today only as a historical geographic region, and has no county government. All former county functions were assumed by state agencies in 1999. The sheriff and some other regional officials with specific duties are still elected locally to perform duties within the county region, but there is no county council or commissioner. However, communities are now granted the right to form their own regional compacts for sharing services (Hampshire County's communities, in toto, have entered into such a compact). See also: MassGov page on counties and.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,413 (545 ). 1,370 km² (529 sq mi) of it is land and 42 km² (16 sq mi) of it (3.01%) is water.

Hampshire County is the middle section of the.

Adjacent Counties
Hampshire County is the only county in Massachusetts surrounded in all directions by other counties of Massachusetts: all other counties in the state are adjacent to at least one other state or the open ocean.


 * (north)
 * (east)
 * (south)
 * (west)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 152,251 people, 55,991 households, and 33,818 families residing in the county. The was 111/km² (288/sq mi). There were 58,644 housing units at an average density of 43/km² (111/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 91.10%, 1.96% or , 0.19% , 3.40% , 0.05% , 1.50% from , and 1.80% from two or more races. 3.42% of the population were or  of any race. 14.7% were of, 12.8% , 9.6% , 9.5% , 8.5% , 6.9% and 6.4%  ancestry according to. 88.8% spoke, 3.4% , 1.7% and 1.4%  as their first language.

There were 55,991 households out of which 28.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.40% were living together, 9.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.60% were non-families. 28.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.96.

In the county the population was spread out with 19.60% under the age of 18, 19.30% from 18 to 24, 26.80% from 25 to 44, 22.20% from 45 to 64, and 12.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 87.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.90 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $46,098, and the median income for a family was $57,480. Males had a median income of $39,327 versus $30,362 for females. The for the county was $21,685. About 5.10% of families and 9.40% of the population were below the, including 8.20% of those under age 18 and 6.70% of those age 65 or over.

Cities, towns, and villages*
*  Villages are census division, but have no separate corporate existence from the towns they are in.
 *  (a village of Amherst)
 *  (a village of Amherst)
 *  (a village of Amherst)
 * (disincorporated for the creation of the )
 * (disincorporated for the creation of the Quabbin Reservoir)
 * (Formerly named Norwich)
 *  (a village of Northampton)
 *  (a village of Northampton)
 * (disincorporated for the creation of the Quabbin Reservoir)
 *  (a village of Williamsburg)
 * (disincorporated for the creation of the Quabbin Reservoir)
 * (Formerly named Norwich)
 *  (a village of Northampton)
 *  (a village of Northampton)
 * (disincorporated for the creation of the Quabbin Reservoir)
 *  (a village of Williamsburg)
 *  (a village of Northampton)
 *  (a village of Northampton)
 * (disincorporated for the creation of the Quabbin Reservoir)
 *  (a village of Williamsburg)
 * (disincorporated for the creation of the Quabbin Reservoir)
 *  (a village of Williamsburg)
 *  (a village of Williamsburg)
 *  (a village of Williamsburg)
 *  (a village of Williamsburg)
 *  (a village of Williamsburg)
 *  (a village of Williamsburg)
 *  (a village of Williamsburg)

The Five Colleges
Hampshire County is notable for the presence within its borders of the "," comprising the University of Massachusetts flagship campus and four well-known private colleges: A consortium, Five Colleges, Inc., provides easy course cross-registration and free bus service between the campuses.