Palmer is a medium-sized city located in the state of Massachusetts. With a population of 12,315 people and three associated neighborhoods, Palmer is the 159th largest community in Massachusetts.
A relatively large number of people in Palmer telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 8.08% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.
It is a fairly quiet city because there are relatively few of those groups of people who have a tendency to be noisy. (Children, for example, often can't help themselves from being noisy, and being parents ourselves, we know!) Palmer has relatively few families with children living at home, and is quieter because of it. Renters and college students, for their own reasons, can also be noisy. Palmer has few renters and college students. But the biggest reason it is quieter in Palmer than in most places in America, is that there are just simply fewer people living here. If you think trees make good neighbors, Palmer may be for you.
One downside of living in Palmer is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In Palmer, the average commute to work is 30.70 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average.
The population of Palmer overall has a level of education that is slightly above the US average for all US cities and towns of 21.84%. Of adults 25 and older in Palmer, 24.00% have at least a bachelor's degree.
The per capita income in Palmer in 2022 was $44,562, which is low income relative to Massachusetts, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $178,248 for a family of four. However, Palmer contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Palmer is a somewhat ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Palmer home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Palmer residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Palmer include Irish, Polish, French, English, and Italian.
The most common language spoken in Palmer is English. Other important languages spoken here include French and Spanish.