Welcome to Amherst ...
Amherst is located in Hampshire County<1>.
Amherst was settled in 1703 and was incorporated in 1775.
From the Census Estimates for 2019, Amherst has a population of 40,411 people<2> (see below for details).
Amherst is 260 feet [79 m] above sea level.<3>.
Time Zone: Amherst lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time
Area Code for Amherst: 413
The ZIP codes for Amherst: 01002-01004<4>
Population Details ...
Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Amherst had an population of 40,411 people. This is an increase of 6.85% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 15.88% since the 2000 Census).
At the time of the 2010 Census, Amherst had a population of 37,819 people (or 23.74% of the total population of Hampshire County). This makes Amherst the county's most populous community.
The population of Amherst represents 0.58% of the total population of Massachusetts (which has 6,547,629 people), making it the state's 42nd most populous community.
With a 2010 count of 37,819 people, the population of Amherst increased 8.44% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 34,874 people).
More information can be found on the Census Page for Amherst.
Communities Also Named Amherst ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 24 communities that are also named Amherst - they are located in Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Kansas (2), Maine, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York (2), North Carolina, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Ontario, Quebec, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas (2), Virginia (2) and Wisconsin.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Amherst.
Websites for Amherst ...
Official Website: www.amherstma.gov/
Communities near Amherst ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Amherst.
- Springfield
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springfield
- Springfield is located in Hampden County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 152,646 people
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Springfield
- From Amherst to Springfield
- Chicopee
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chicopee
- Chicopee is located in Hampden County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 54,825 people
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Chicopee
- From Amherst to Chicopee
- Holyoke
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holyoke
- Holyoke is located in Hampden County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 39,921 people
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Holyoke
- From Amherst to Holyoke
- West Springfield
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Springfield
- West Springfield is located in Hampden County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 28,397 people
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to West Springfield
- From Amherst to West Springfield
- Northampton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northampton
- Northampton is located in Hampshire County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 28,362 people
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Northampton
- From Amherst to Northampton
- Ludlow
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south) - South Hadley
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Hadley
- South Hadley is located in Hampshire County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 17,539 people
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to South Hadley
- From Amherst to South Hadley
- Greenfield
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield
- Greenfield is located in Franklin County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 17,241 people
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Greenfield
- From Amherst to Greenfield
- Easthampton
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Easthampton
- Easthampton is located in Hampshire County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 15,750 people
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Easthampton
- From Amherst to Easthampton
- Belchertown
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Belchertown. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<6>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belchertown
- Belchertown is located in Hampshire County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 15,103 people
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Belchertown
- From Amherst to Belchertown
To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.
We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Amherst. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Amherst.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Amherst. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Amherst.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Amherst. Our list includes 10 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Amherst.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Amherst ...
Looking for more information about Amherst? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.
While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to Amherst, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Amherst.
Adding Amherst to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Amherst in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.
From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Amherst was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<7>
X2X - From that list, the Amherst post office opened in 1806.
We also found Amherst in the book titled U.S. Post Offices (Oct. 1846).
For more details, see References and Mentions for Amherst.
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Amherst: www.amherstma.gov/
The official website for State of Massachusetts: https://www.mass.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of Massachusetts' counties, including Hampshire, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Amherst. |
| <3> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Amherst - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <4> | ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a community (such as Amherst). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Amherst or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS). Our list of ZIP Codes for Amherst includes: 01002, 1003 & 01004. |
| <5> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <6> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <7> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at: https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |