ZIP 01002 vs ZIP 01027

This side-by-side compares ZIP 01002 (Amherst, MA) and ZIP 01027 (Easthampton, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 01002 has a population of 29,049 at 204 people per square mile, while ZIP 01027 has 17,660 at 168 per square mile. That difference in population size and density alone reshapes how every other metric should be interpreted — a higher-income ZIP with 1,200 residents behaves very differently from one with 45,000.

On income and education, ZIP 01002 reports a median household income of $70,818 against $74,146 in ZIP 01027, with per-capita income of $45,416 vs $46,384. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 75.4% in 01002 and 38.9% in 01027. Poverty rate reads 22.6% vs 7.8%, and unemployment 4.0% vs 4.9% — these four fields alone drive most of the difference in the scorecard grades you will see for each ZIP.

Housing separates these two ZIPs further: median home value sits at $481,100 in 01002 versus $375,700 in 01027, with median rent of $1,664 and $1,292 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 46.9% vs 61.0%. When reading the comparison table below, focus on paired metrics rather than single winners — a ZIP with lower home values and lower income is not strictly "worse" if rent-to-income ratios and commute times land in the same zone. Every value is pulled from the exact same ACS table so the two columns are genuinely comparable.