ZIP 01005 vs ZIP 01074

This side-by-side compares ZIP 01005 (Barre, MA) and ZIP 01074 (South Barre, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 01005 has a population of 5,079 at 44 people per square mile, while ZIP 01074 has 319 at 1,448 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 01005 reports a median household income of $111,148 against $79,583 in ZIP 01074, with per-capita income of $42,899 vs $52,613. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 33.7% in 01005 and 5.0% in 01074. Poverty rate reads 8.8% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 2.3% vs 0.0% — 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 $392,600 in 01005 versus — in 01074, with median rent of $1,591 and $962 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 80.2% vs 24.8%. 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.