In 2019, the Berkshire Leadership Impact Council (BLIC) – a countywide organization representing key organizations, sectors, and initiatives – resolved to incorporate data to better inform their work. They enlisted the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, which has managed Berkshire Benchmarks since 2010, to develop indicators on the region and update this website.

The goal of Berkshire Benchmarks is to work with the community to understand priorities and help inform the region on how we are doing and if we are improving. Berkshire Benchmarks enhances the region’s access to quality data and analysis. We can make more informed decisions and track performance over time through better data.

Our sources are publicly available data, including the U.S. Census Bureau, the American Community Survey, various Massachusetts data sets, and periodic surveys of Berkshire County residents.

We present information two ways:
Indicators: We work collaboratively with the community to define what is most important and track progress in improving those items. We also highlight what people and organizations are doing to make improvements.

Data: We gather reliable data on the region using a variety of local, state, and national data sets. We do the footwork and quality control so that you don’t have to! We created this one-stop-shop to assist decision-makers, service providers, and others who need reliable data to inform their work.