ZIP 01003 vs ZIP 01002

This side-by-side compares ZIP 01003 (Amherst, MA) and ZIP 01002 (Amherst, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 01003 has a population of 10,372 at 5,630 people per square mile, while ZIP 01002 has 29,049 at 204 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 01003 reports a median household income of — against $70,818 in ZIP 01002, with per-capita income of $5,774 vs $45,416. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 47.2% in 01003 and 75.4% in 01002. Poverty rate reads 21.1% vs 22.6%, and unemployment 18.2% vs 4.0% — 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 — in 01003 versus $481,100 in 01002, with median rent of $2,643 and $1,664 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 0.0% vs 46.9%. 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.